December swimming (Read 982 times)

I'll be swimming soon. Your clock situation is about as ridiculous as my pool situation. I have a Bally's membership, but I'm afraid of what nasty micro-organisms live in the cloudy water. The other options are a few local schools that charge on a per-swim basis and are not open when shcool is not open. Can't wait to get going though. Once you get over the initial hump, swimming is a great x-training exercise.

Sometimes it's not just the live stuff. From my log entry on 2/25:

I also had a rather unpleasant surprise on the 500 pull set at the end. A stray, presumably female, hair found a temporary home on my face at about 250. Having paddles strapped to my hand made it impossible to pinch the hair and set it free. And no contortion of my face, or expolsive exhalation did anything to jar it loose, so I finished the last 250 of the interval with my new friend. Disgusting.

Granted, that could happen anywhere. But during that time, I was swimming more and more and I started getting a rash on my arms. I quit swimming there and the rash subsequently went away. The correlation freaks me out too much to give it another chance.

I hate indoor swimming. How do you keep sane?

I hate indoor swimming. How do you keep sane?

Structure. Time flies when you have a workout planned. And swimming, like runnning, has a zen-like quality to it once you develop some proficiency at it. That in itself makes it enjoyable to be in the water.

What's a good way to ease into swimming, other than the obvious need of finding a pool.

#1 - Learn stroke efficiency. Seriously, swimming can become as easy as a slow run once you iron out the wrinkles in your form. Usually though, even if runners have access to a pool, they don't have access to a coach or someone to give them some pointers on their form. #2 - Short intervals with frequent breaks. If all you can do is get to the other side, do that. Recover, and do it again until you've hit 20-30 minutes in the water. Your swimming stamina will improve somewhat automatically. Keep it very easy and keep the recoveries short (15-20 seconds), as you recover quicker in the water.

Yea! We woke up Cross Training!!!! A swim buddy really helps with swimming. Another ex-CR'er, Waterlily, swims with me. We are very close in speed, but being the jerk I am, I put my man muscles to work in the final length, regardless of distance, and edge her at the wall. Oh yea, I should tell her I am here. Getting started is mostly a mental thing. In 2003 I could not swim. Not even one length. My running partner told me that the pool director could get me started. I've never taken a formal lesson. His first words to me were, "You have to put your head in the water." I was a panic breather. I tried to breath out AND in during the breathe part. Learning to breathe came first. After that, the pull buoy was my biggest help and crutch. Good luck with new pools Mishka and Liz. Yes a bike! And Carrie, you should practice sighting in the pool. Getting the process of breathing/looking down to a smooth routine really helps. Wetsuit out there? Next we talk bikes! Criag

Get your NY tush in the pool, hally! I love the smell of chlorine in the morning...