I'm just back from the pool. Three years at this job and this is the first time I've gone to the pool on campus. You know why? Because I hate swimming! I hate wearing a bathing suit, and I hate the temperature of the water (which is always too cold or too warm) and I hate the temperature of the air as soon as you get out and I hate the chlorine, the way it burns your eyes and makes it look like you've been crying for about six hours straight and the way it dries out your skin and makes you smell terrible, I hate not being able to breathe properly and getting water in my nose and lungs when I miscalculate my breathing just a tiny bit, I hate getting water in my ears no matter what I do, I hate not being able to see where I'm going very well or see what I'm doing wrong because I can't see myself.
But I kinda sorta told Connor's old teacher (not old at all--she's all of 26 I think, but "old" as in "last year's teacher") that I'd do the Iron Girl triathlon with her next year. She just did it on Sunday. She is not a competitive athlete. Far from it--she has a form of lupus and all of the steroids she was on made her gain all kinds of weight, so she started exercising to counteract that and has managed to lose 60 pounds (but still has a ways to go) and is off most of her medications but is still subject to pain and joint inflammation and all that fun stuff. In any case, she did the Iron Girl against her doctor's recommendation and then turned around the next day and started teaching a class of autistic six year olds. This was one of those "if she can do it, I can do it" moments, so she said she'd help me get ready for next year's Iron Girl.
I'm not concerned about the biking or the running. I can already run (well, trudge/jog) a 5K, and I can bike 17 miles at a very slow pace, but I can't swim. I told Claire I could--I was telling her what a triathlon was and she said "but Mom, you can't swim." I said "yes, I can swim, I'm just not very good at it." But I think Claire was right. I can't swim. I can just not-drown. The swim portion of the Iron Girl is .6 miles, give or take. Sara (Connor's teacher) says that that works out to 22 laps/44 lengths of the pool. Today I only managed 11 laps/22 lengths, and only managed THAT by resting for 20 or 30 seconds after each length. And I only did 8 of those lengths freestyle because that's the stroke that has me gasping and sucking in water and not getting enough air and stopping halfway to recharge. I did 11 lengths with breaststroke and the other three were just on my back kicking. Not even using my arms. There was a woman in the far lane with a weighted belt who was pool walking because of mobility problems, and I swear she was going faster than me. I almost wimped out and didn't go to the pool at all. You know what my reasoning was? It's raining, and I might get wet on the way over and back! OK, even I realized what a lame excuse that was so I forced myself to go.
So I said I'd do this, so I have to figure out a way to not-drown my way through .6 miles of open water (oh, ugh, even worse than chlorine!), and then a way to do that and follow it up with 17 miles on the bike and 3.4 miles (the route is a bit longer than a real 5K) running. I think I could manage two in a row at this point, but not three. Maybe I'll see if I can slowly work my way up to only stopping to rest after each lap and not each length, and then I can start adding on more laps. I should be ready by my 50th birthday. But the first order of business will be to get some goggles (which I hate wearing--did I mention that?). I can't believe how badly my eyes are burning right now, and I've been out of the pool for more than an hour. If I had tried swimming after work instead of at noon, I wouldn't have been able to drive home!
3 comments:
Yeah, googles are huge. They will save your eyes. Googles have improved A LOT since you probably last wore them (eons ago ... yes I know I'm older than you) but they are better and come in all kinds of cool shapes and colors. Ooohh, nice. I've trained several triathletes to improve their swimming endurance. I could give you a lesson or two at some point and you could go from there. Also, look into a class that focuses on triathlons. There should be tons out there and they should be pretty cheap. They'll explain not only how to improve all three parts but how to transition. You should have a local running/tri shop near you that offers something. There are a lot of great training exercises for swimming so you're not just swimming freestyle until you puke. Try swimming on your back just using fins. Burns your gut like crazy. There also are a bunch of books out there to help you along. Mostly you can't give yourself a hard time after one outing. Swimming is hard, especially when you're trying to swim a distance. People seem to think it's easy and that it doesn't require much cardio or hard work. Then they get in the pool and are proven wrong pretty fast.
For the chlorine prob just make sure you take a shower right after you swim. It can really dry out your skin and, you're right, it smells gross.
But it does have its advantages so it's worth the hard work.
That's right! I forgot you're a swim instructor! Thanks for the tips.
There's a class on campus about improving technique and endurance, but the meeting time (8:30 to 10:00 on Mondays) is bad, so I'm going to plug along on my own and if I don't improve, I'll sign up for the class in the spring. And Princeton Sports (who sponsors the Iron Girl) is right across the street from work, so they probably have training sessions as well.
Goggles are definitely essential -- indoor pools have WAY more chlorine than outdoor, so even Mary and Alexander won't go in the water without goggles at our pool. And Vicki's right that goggles have improved a lot in the last two or three decades: (1) they're more comfortable and (2) they actually work.
Every time I return to lap swimming after a long absence it is torture the first time out. Once I get past the first ten lengths (if I can talk myself into that much) it's better, but it's still a slow crawl, not to mention painful and exhausting. I'm using muscles that I forgot existed, in ways they were apparently never intended to be used. But the very next time there's a huge improvement. By two or three weeks into swimming I can easily do a mile -- a very, very, very, very slow mile, but a mile nonetheless.
You're making me miss swimming! I can't wait until the kids are old enough for me to leave them in the shallow end so I can hit the lap lanes. As it stands now I get to do laps maybe once a year, which isn't enough to get over the hump. Why don't pools have childcare the way gyms do? Or why don't gyms with childcare in Blacksburg have pools?
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