Saturday, December 15, 2007

I finally stopped putting it off!

Today I got back in the water for the first time since the end of last summer. Boy do I suck at swimming! In fact, I didn't really swim at all today. I did some lengths of aqua jogging, some kickboard, and some side swimming with a little buoyancy thing. Earlier this year I was doing little half-lengths of Oriental Bay, but that was in a wet suit in salt water. Put me in a swimming pool and I magically transform into granite.

So, in the pool there's the flotation issue. On its own I could work that out, but at the same time I'm trying to not suffocate. How on earth do you people swim and breathe at the same time? Perhaps I'm just expending so much effort trying to keep on top of the water that I'm getting too out of breath to breathe properly.

Oh well, I'll go easy on myself and just be happy that I finally got back in the pool. I'll keep going now and I'll get back to where I was at the start of the year again soon enough. I think though that swimming is the hardest thing I have ever tried to learn to do. It all feels so completely foreign to me.

I loved being back in the water again. It felt wonderful and I remembered why I enjoyed my lessons so much. However I just can't seem to work out the mechanics of it all. My sessions with Duck lately have made it clear to me that I learn best by doing, not by watching, and I usually manage to work out most physical activities by making little adjustments to the way my body moves and noting the result. Swimming feels like it should be easy. I understand the theory of it all, but I can't get the knack.

I'm on a roll now though, so I'm sure that I'll either be back at the pool tomorrow or on my bike. My ankle's also feeling healed enough that I'm contemplating trying another run some time this week. It would be nice to think I will be able to run around Cornwall Park while I'm up in Auckland over Christmas.

No comments: