Well that was a humbling experience

[Wines Not Whines]

I've been wanting to get back into swimming, and after lots of excuses and hemming and hawing, I finally got back in the pool this morning. When I say "get back into swimming," I mean I haven't really swum laps in *years*. I LOVE being in the pool, but holy hell, that was hard. I don't know why I wasn't expecting it to be that hard! I had to stop at the wall every couple of laps to catch my breath. I felt like I was doing the equivalent of C25k for swimming (although there's not really a "walk" equivalent, so I just stopped at the wall to catch my breath). Almost everyone else in the pool was a senior citizen, and they were literally swimming laps around me. (But this obviously wasn't their first time in the pool.)

Please tell me swimming is like running, in that it can be difficult and slow at first, but you can improve quickly with regular practice. I'm hoping to go twice a week if I can make it work with my schedule.

After I get my endurance up a bit, I'm going to look into a couple of private lessons so I can get help with my form.

[Susie]

If you've been a swimmer before, then yes, you will be able to build up relatively quickly like with running.

If you've never really been a swimmer, alas, it's a lot slower. There's a lot more to swimming, technique wise, and feel for the water-wise, than running.

[Susie]

Dup

[kams]

You'll get there wines, don't worry! Getting out there regularly and some work on technique will do the trick.

[mainewifey]

I felt the same way when I got back into swimming. I went to the gym with H, and told him that I'd meet up with him in 45 minutes to an hour after I was done swimming. After about 20 minutes I was beat. I stayed in the water for a bit longer doing super slow backstroke laps, just so that my walk of shame to meet up with H wasn't quite so embarrassing. He razzed me a little about it, but its not like he could have done any better.

It didn't take long to get back in the groove though and to build up my endurance.

[shelbyann]

I feel exactly like this every time I try to swim laps. Which is not often. Because, see previous.

[finallykrisb]

This is word for word what I text to KITH after my first attempt at swimming.

[Wines Not Whines]

Thanks, I feel better after reading these replies! I can run a half marathon with no problem, so I thought I could easily swim half a mile, easy peasy. Ha! Not quite.

[finallykrisb]

Apr 30, 2013 9:03:50 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Thanks, I feel better after reading these replies! I can run a half marathon with no problem, so I thought I could easily swim half a mile, easy peasy. Ha! Not quite.

Yes, but while we're running those 13 miles we can breathe whenever we want!  That's the most difficult part for me.

[shelbyann]

Apr 30, 2013 9:08:45 GMT -5 finallykrisb said:

Apr 30, 2013 9:03:50 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Thanks, I feel better after reading these replies! I can run a half marathon with no problem, so I thought I could easily swim half a mile, easy peasy. Ha! Not quite.

Yes, but while we're running those 13 miles we can breathe whenever we want!  That's the most difficult part for me.

Yes. For some reason I can only breathe on one side when I swim. It's like my neck doesn't turn the other way. So I breathe on every stroke because when I try to go every third I get all panicky.

I have massive respect for proficient swimmers. It's truly a skill!

[Wines Not Whines]

Yes, you're absolutely right about the breathing. While I was swimming, I kept thinking, "If I could just breathe whenever I wanted, this would be a lot easier!"

I've also always only breathed to my right.

[arch01]

You'll get there! There is a C25k-ish program for swimming... ruthkazez.com/SwimWorkouts/ZeroTo1mile.html

[coconutbug]

It definitely gets easier and I think you can improve pretty quickly, esp if you work on technique. You can do it!

[katinthehat]

the good thing about being a beginner is it's easy to make improvements just with practice! good job getting out there!

[al320]

Thats exactly.how i felt.when i started swimming again (last year). Its VERY humbling. But yes, itll get easier, and your endurance will improve. Its definitely like running in that way.

[thebulldog]

I tried swimming for a bit and it was a lot harder than i thought.


i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.