first. loved all the running comments and help. thanks you guys. totally helpful. my mother even found a way to quote scripture. she's such a saint.
second. today. i took some advice and gave my shin-muscles a rest. i swam. i swam and i know nothing about swimming. i got a swim cap and a pair of goggles and just went for the big dunk. and i was totally WAY more nervous than i thought i'd be... because i hate when i don't know the social etiquitte of a new situation.
a list of my major concerns:
how to put on the swim-cap
do i wear the goggles over or under the cap?
what if all the lanes are full? do i share a lane? how does one approach that?
okay i guess there weren't as many concerns as i thought, but i was still way nervous i'd walk my belly out to the pool and look like an idiot. luckily there was an empty lane and i don't think anyone really cared how i wore my cap & goggles. shocker. isn't that always the case? you fret and worry and in the end, everyone is too concerned about themselves to even notice what you're doing. it's nice.
my results:
i swam freestyle, breathing every other stroke(over the same shoulder....is that what you're supposed to do?) for fifty minutes. there was a big pile of kick-boards and some other floatie things people had stuck betwixt their thighs, but i wasn't sure if i was allowed to use those, and was equally unsure of what to do if i had one.
when i was done, i was surprised at how weak i felt hefting my bod out of the pool. guess you don't realize you have spaghetti-muscles til gravity returns to them.
moving on to the q&a portion:
1. how do you keep track of distance? counting laps seemed tedious, so i just didn't do it....but it'd be nice to know how far i traveled.
2. is the cap supposed to go over your ear-holes? my exhaled bubbles were super loud as they rolled past my ears. it was kind of annoying and now it feels like my ears are plugged.
3. what if all the lanes WERE full? do you wait for one to open? or share? how do you ask someone to share?
maybe google will tell me....
I Loooooove swimming. I swam on the team in HS and Jess and I once trained for a mini tri so it's something I enjoy lots.
ReplyDelete1-Counting laps IS tedious
2a-Cap goes over just the tops of your ears (think aerodynamics)
2b- My bubbles are loud too, that's when I count my lap over and over in my head to the bubble noise.
3- If there is someone in the lane you can still join. The usual way is to do it like a road where you stay to the right and swim both ways and if they are faster than you hang out on the wall and let them pass. more than 2 people can do it this way because everyone stays to the right side of the direction they are going. Another way that some of the rookies do is that you just (the old peeps love this one) split the lane down the middle and stay on the same side the whole time.
MORE
-Goggles OVER cap
-Spit slimy saliva into your goggles then dip them so they don't fog up.
-There are sooo many old folks and new swimmers that you should never be nervous about what you look like when you're swimming, you look better than most I am sure.
I time myself on a couple laps to give me an idea of how long it takes me then just do some good ol' math at the end by dividing your total time by how long the 1 or so laps takes you and you'll have a good idea of how many or how far.
ReplyDeleteI also breath every other stroke even though you are supposed to do every 3rd b/c for some reason one of my ears ends up hurting...
Agree with Darci above on the lane etiquette, treat it like a road. People are usually pretty cool about sharing, I just try and find someone that looks like they are similar in pace...you don't want someone being all crazy speedy next to you or super slow mo head above the water lazy breast stroke...
Remember the more confident you act the more the people think you know what you are doing!
Do you know what kills me about swimming? I swam my face off for a half an hour, I could barely breathe I was so exhausted and all total I think I swam 1/2 a mile. It is a lot of work and becuase I measure everything in running and miles, it felt like i hadn't accomplished anything
ReplyDeleteIf it would make you feel better I can go down to the pool with you and help you with all the etiquette a few times. Rest assured the weight of getting out is because your pregnant. It's not nearly as bad when you're not
ReplyDeleteput baby powder in your swim cap. It makes it MUCH easier to get on and off and you can just shake your hair out after.
ReplyDeleteSwimming is the BEST exercise. Not that I have done it in years.....
I use cornstarch in my cap. I hate the smell of baby powder.
ReplyDelete