Question: So Rusty, how’s the teaching yourself to “swim” going? Short answer: I’m teaching myself the Crawl stroke in a 25 yard lap pool that’s only 4.5 feet deep. At least the “Oh, god, oh god, I’m gonna die” part of the ordeal is gone. In fact, “just stand up” is my favorite survival technique ever.
Longer answer: It’s slow going. I’m still learning to exhale underwater. There is a series of online videos that have been very helpful* and I can visualize what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s just not happening yet. I have until December 13th (the date of the Tinsel Triathlon).
The Plan
I’ve been working under the theory that if I just practice exhaling enough times, I’ll get it. My plan was to stay in the water a minimum of ½ hour two days a week and practice exhaling under water. When I could do that I’d move on to perfecting the kick and stroke. (Both of which are easy for me compared to that breathing thing.)
Good theory — Poor execution. This is about as much fun as learning multiplication tables. Both are useful skills that will eventually be combined with other useful skills so that you can do fun stuff, but on its own — not fun. Rote learning sucks ass no matter what you’re trying to learn. I’ve been finding ways to get through the ½ hour in less productive ways, “Hey I wonder how long I can tread water?” Treading water is important, but it’s not my focus right now. I want to focus on breathing.
Change of plan. Instead of giving myself a time limit of 1/2 hour, I gave myself a task limit. As soon as I make the length of the pool and back 10 times I can get out of the pool. This works much better; I've stopped screwing around with time sucks. Do 10 and get out.
And Also
The 10 and get out approach works great once I get to the pool; unfortunately it's too easy for me to find excuses not to go. This morning I dragged myself to the pool and knew I had to figure out a way to make it more fun. I finished my workout and noticed a water aerobics class about to start. What the hell. It looked like a small class and my mom swears by water aerobics. After her back surgery, her insurance company stopped paying for her physical therapy (f'tards) so she supplemented on her own with water aerobics and it worked wonders for her.
Lesson Learned
That.Was.Fun. We worked with weights and ran in the pool and did all sorts of things that didn’t involve swimming.
I had so much to think about that I forgot how much I hated the water. I got my cross training in (bonus) and figured out a way to look forward to getting in the pool (another bonus). I added two water aerobics classes to my training regimen. But I still have to “swim” laps first.
*The online swimming series is good, but it says nothing about exhaling through your nose. It's not all that obvious to everyone. Just sayin.
Posts
I love Dory............
ReplyDeleteRusty, I've never quite mastered the breathing technique for freestyle swimming so you are probably farther along than me. Good on ya!
ReplyDeleteYep, health insurers suck. They should have paid for physical therapy.
My Moms swears by water aerobics too Rusty. I'm proud of your progress! It's incredably difficult for someone who's uncomfortable in water to learn to swim and breath with any syncronicity to kicks and strokes and not suck in tons of water and choke. Keep up the good work and update us often!!
ReplyDeleteG, I can't guess how many times the words, "Just keep swimming" go through my head.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Minnie and Speedy but I was kind of hoping to hear, "anybody can do it."
"I added two water aerobics classes to my training regimen. "
ReplyDeleteGod, Rusty! You ADDED!!!! I bet you are a more strict trainer as me. Do you want me to be your personal trainer ?
I've heard also that water aerobics are no piece of cake, it can be hard work out!