The Y had a sale on private swim lessons a couple of months ago. I picked up a six pack for a not so pricey price and I finally looked at the calendar and realized "holy crap, I'm doing this thing in 12 weeks!" so I promptly asked my bootcamp trainer guy (Tim) which swim instructor to trust to help me refresh my skills for the first time in the 25 years since I learned how to swim. I trust Tim when he tells me to do lunges and squats with an 85 pound sandbag on my shoulders or to do handstand pushups or to run up the hill by the walker with another person on my back, so it's easy to trust his recommendation when he says that this one instructor is who he goes to for swimming tips. I promptly scheduled my 6 pack of private half hour lessons, and today was the first one.
"Why don't you hop in the pool and just show me what you've got?"
"No pressure, right?" I say, half jokingly.
"No pressure." She's cheery. She's young. There's nothing wrong with cheery and young. I'm cheery and young. Right? Right (work with me here). It's been 2 weeks since I've been in the pool. I'm nervous. I swim down and back. 1, 2, 3, breathe. 1, 2, 3, breathe. Ugh, I'm breathing in water. I'm working too hard. I'm running out of breath. What is she thinking? What am I thinking? How did I ever think I'd swim 500 yards straight? No, I can do this. I've got it.
"That was good. No, really. It was."
And then we worked on the following: keeping my head face down and just rotating to the side when I breathe, leading with my elbows, keeping the other arm gliding forward until the arm that's leading with the elbow reaches the water, hands loose, shifting my weight forward and not kicking my legs (look, I can swim without kicking my legs!), kicking my legs but only focusing on the ankles so that way I actually end up leading from the hips not the knees, using my core to rotate my body and not work so hard. And in just a half an hour, I'm so much better. No, really. I am!
Alright, I like her. She's good. I can see why Tim recommended her. Bring on the swim lessons and time spent in the pool and lake over the next 12 weeks.
Yep, that's right. 12 weeks.
12 weeks until I Swim. Bike. Run. Try. for Upstream Arts!
I've got an official training plan (there's a calendar that maps out what I need to do 7 days a week for the next 12 weeks and now I've just got to figure out how to work my existing workouts into that routine and not overdo it!). I've got a trainer. I've got a swim instructor. I've got a workout partner. Heck, I've got a workout group! I've got people asking me daily how my training is going. I've got generous supporters who have already given $705 towards my $3750 goal. That means I've got 12 weeks to not only get ready for this triathlon, but to raise 3045 more dollars. Who's with me?!?
p.s. You can expect to hear from me more frequently from here on out. I'll be introducing you to some of the important people along this journey of Swim. Bike. Run. Try. Look forward to meeting Kari, my workout partner extraordinaire, soon!
"Why don't you hop in the pool and just show me what you've got?"
"No pressure, right?" I say, half jokingly.
"No pressure." She's cheery. She's young. There's nothing wrong with cheery and young. I'm cheery and young. Right? Right (work with me here). It's been 2 weeks since I've been in the pool. I'm nervous. I swim down and back. 1, 2, 3, breathe. 1, 2, 3, breathe. Ugh, I'm breathing in water. I'm working too hard. I'm running out of breath. What is she thinking? What am I thinking? How did I ever think I'd swim 500 yards straight? No, I can do this. I've got it.
"That was good. No, really. It was."
And then we worked on the following: keeping my head face down and just rotating to the side when I breathe, leading with my elbows, keeping the other arm gliding forward until the arm that's leading with the elbow reaches the water, hands loose, shifting my weight forward and not kicking my legs (look, I can swim without kicking my legs!), kicking my legs but only focusing on the ankles so that way I actually end up leading from the hips not the knees, using my core to rotate my body and not work so hard. And in just a half an hour, I'm so much better. No, really. I am!
Alright, I like her. She's good. I can see why Tim recommended her. Bring on the swim lessons and time spent in the pool and lake over the next 12 weeks.
Yep, that's right. 12 weeks.
12 weeks until I Swim. Bike. Run. Try. for Upstream Arts!
I've got an official training plan (there's a calendar that maps out what I need to do 7 days a week for the next 12 weeks and now I've just got to figure out how to work my existing workouts into that routine and not overdo it!). I've got a trainer. I've got a swim instructor. I've got a workout partner. Heck, I've got a workout group! I've got people asking me daily how my training is going. I've got generous supporters who have already given $705 towards my $3750 goal. That means I've got 12 weeks to not only get ready for this triathlon, but to raise 3045 more dollars. Who's with me?!?
p.s. You can expect to hear from me more frequently from here on out. I'll be introducing you to some of the important people along this journey of Swim. Bike. Run. Try. Look forward to meeting Kari, my workout partner extraordinaire, soon!