Train-n-Tri: Never Swim Alone...But Swim!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Never Swim Alone...But Swim!

Never Swim Alone!

That is the safety adage lifeguards always teach to kids when they are taking swim lessons.

No worries here.

I would never swim alone.

I always swim with someone near me and with my swimsafe belt on.

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-swimming-security-blanket.html

But that's not what this blog is about.

It's about the change in my swimming.

For the longest time I was a pool swimmer.

And that is a joke.

That sounds as if I had been swimming FOREVER in a pool.

Nope, not the case.

I don't think I started swimming until about four years ago, when I was 49. If someone out there (Carolyn) remembers the first time I jumped in a pool and tried to swim 25 yards across the pool and then clung to the edge in disbelief as I sputtered and tried to catch my breath, please comment below.

Today Robert and I went to Lake Perris and I swam happily and easily for 45 minutes straight....and it was choppy.

Now for some of my triathlete friends,who pile on the miles of swimming, this is not much of an accomplishment. But when I think of how I could NOT swim and now I can swim EASILY and JOYFULLY for 45 minutes in open water, it sure seems like an accomplish me to me.

I am not afraid to swim in a lake.

I am not afraid to swim in a bay.

I am learning to swim in an ocean.

Step by step.

So today Robert and I invested in the California State Park Foundation's Touring Membership. I can now go to any State Park for the next year with my membership and enjoy the park and the WATER they have for me to swim in.

So I guess this blog is not just about swimming, but my swimming accomplishments.

I looked over my training logs for the past couple of months and while in April I swam 7 miles (almost all in the pool), this month I've put in about the same, but all in open water. Except for one time, I have not touched pool water since the end of June.

I love OWS.