Swim like a fish...uh not quite

Hey hey!

So I had my second open water swim today with a new found friend from my open water swim class. Let me tell you I honestly felt sooo much better this time around. I swam 2 sets of a 1/4 mile. On the second set I surprisingly was able to shave almost a minute off my time. I don't want to mislead you though my time isn't fast...it took me 21 min. and change the first set and 20 min. and change the second set. I definitely feel more optimistic about my race next weekend, that is I don't think it'll take me an hour to get through the 1/4 mile hehe. :)

Swimming I am coming to realize is much much harder than you could think. You are definitely going against what your body wants to naturally do and that is to keep your head above water and GET OUT. Swimming is scary especially when you've never fully grasped how to breath properly in the water. I used to swim my freshman year of HS on the swim team, but I wasn't fast and I didn't do distance. I did the races that were 50's and 100's, that's NOTHING compared to what I'm doing now and what I will do in my future races. I could never quite get the flip turn, and my teammates and coaches used to call my stroke the minute stroke because I took such a long time to get a breath in during the stroke. I didn't really care then but I definitely care now. I want to start taking swim classes so I can be a more efficient swimmer. It really makes a difference.

I used to think I was a good swimmer....now not so much. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I put my wetsuit on for the first time and started swimming I felt like I was suffocating. Gasping for air during each stroke, slow as a turtle and trying desperately not to freak out with anything I saw in the ocean :). Regardless, I love the water. I always have and always will. When I was a kid and we lived in FL during the summers I was in the pool from morning to night. My mom would bring us lunch by the pool cuz I didn't even want to get out to eat; and when I did get out my hands and feet were all crinkly like a prune. haha the other thing I used to always do was pretend I was Ariel from The Little Mermaid...I wanted to swim like her. I think I can get there with some classes ;).

So the goal....take some classes and learn to swim like Ariel.

Til next time,
-J