Kick,breath,stroke...

After watching Ben do all his triathlons I thought I would give swimming a shot. For those of you that don't know, I have a slight fear of water. I blame it all on the family vacations where my brother and dad would throw me around the pool for entertainment. I realized real quick that I don't like the feeling of water up my nose or down my throat. So relearning to swim was going to make me face one of my little fears.

I decided this weekend would be the weekend to give it a shot. After running we hit the indoor pool, where it was about 85 degrees in, and out of, the water. Ben and I were the only ones in the pool besides the life guard teaching two toddlers to swim. Perfect. The only difference in my capabilities and the two year old's was that Ben didn't have to hold me up and tell me to blow bubbles in the water.

I had a few obstacles to overcome. One, my bikini bottoms didn't want to stay on when I pushed off from the wall, but I guess a little crack never hurt anyone. Two, my new found bangs kept getting in my face and really pissed me off. Lastly, and probably one of the biggest obstacles, were the stupid goggles. They would either fill up or fog up. Very frustrating. Why did I think this was a good idea again?

Mind over matter. So I stuck it out and continued to take advice from Ben and plunged onward. Now, as someone who danced for the first half of her life, I feel like I should have been more coordinated. I felt frantic the entire ten meters that I swam. Kick, breath, stroke, kick, breath, stroke. Sounds smooth, as if I were gliding across the water. Wrong. I was sucking in air, kicking with my knees bent and stroking with jazz hands. After taking some advice from my very patient coach I was able to put more of it together and actually complete a full 25 meters without stopping. Once I did stop I could barely breath and my legs were jello. It was a good thing we were in the shallow end because I collapsed to my knees I was so exhausted. Needless to say, I have a new found respect for swimmers. And with that, I decided to call it a day. Actually, I think Ben was planning on staying longer to work on some of my quirks, but I feel you should always end on a positive note.

Today was day two of my lessons. We swam outside which I think helped matters. I was still sweating from my run, so the water was actually refreshing rather than making me sweat. I brought a bobby pin this time, so I really only had to deal with my swimsuit bottoms and goggles today.

My stroke got better, I think I had somewhat of a pace going. I still struggle with keeping my head in the water as I turn to breath and kicking from my hips instead of my knees. But the good news is that I swam 100 meters, with 50 of that being two sets of 25 non stop. Coach had his stop watch going and I swam each leg in 29 seconds. It really is hard to believe that I swam that fast. In my head it felt like eternity, and I SWEAR that the pool inside is shorter than the one outside, but Ben claims it isn't. I was still exhausted after my laps, but saw a glimmer of hope at the end of this lesson.

For those of you wondering, I have no plans to compete in any triathlons. While I have slightly overcome my fear of water, I have no interest in swimming laps in a pool with hundreds of others or being trampled in a lake by thousands of swimmers. I also don't have any interest in riding my bike 20 mph on busy roads with nothing protecting me but a helmet. Riding on dad's scooter is enough of a thrill ride for me. So yes, I am a sissy. I thought by picking up swimming it would give my joints a rest. We'll see how long I keep this up, but for now it's been a nice change. Now I need to go buy a cute Speedo, maybe a swim cap. Oh, and I probably need some matching goggles as well. I think Ben is already regretting his decision to introduce me to this sport.