Swimming

Over the weekend, my friend Tori came over and helped me work on my swimming strokes. She taught swim lessons growing up and played water polo in hs. I have been desperate for someone to teach me how to swim all summer. The lanes in my pool and the residents who swim them really intimidate me. Before I braved the lanes I wanted to work on my skills.

I learned that my skills aren't terrible and my technique is fairly good. My biggest problem is breathing. I found that I raise my head out of the water instead of turning to one side. I'm still working on perfecting this. I'm practicing using the alligator method. In addition to the freestyle, I learned the breaststroke. I don't find it relaxing at all.

Finally today I ventured down to the pool after work to "swim" laps. Of course there was already two people swimming in the lanes and one person swimming to the side of the lanes. That's the spot I wanted. After a few minutes I put on my brave suit and jumped in the pool. Our pool is 25m long. After one lap I was exhausted. I made myself swim 5 more laps before exciting the pool. It was the hardest workout I've had in a long time. My plan is to swim at least three times a week and increase my distance to 12 laps before the pool closes in mid September.

I've decided I can't live without a pool!