This weekend, I did something that I haven't done in years. Something that I have been avoiding like the plague. That I don't do unless absolutely necessary.
I went swimming.
Okay, I may be exaggerating how much I dislike swimming, but I strongly prefer to do other activities that don't involve being submerged in water. I used to swim on my community swim team for two years, but I never took it seriously, I rarely went to practice, and I dreaded racing in swim meets. Especially in the IM. And butterfly. Or anything longer than 50m. This was back in middle school, by the way, so I didn't really swim much after that.
I just didn't like gasping for air and that leaden feeling in my limbs. I hated being cold when I first get into the pool. Water and I just don't get along very well.
I've been toying around with the idea of doing a triathlon lately. The swim is the most intimidating part, but that's all part of the challenge. Instead of running (or biking) the other way, I tend to face the things that scare me the most. Maybe not such a great survival strategy, but whatever.
So yesterday, I decided to give swimming another chance. I was planning on doing a long bike ride, but it was freaking hot (88 degrees wtf?!) and I had no desire to suffer in the heat. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to go swimming (it was probably the heat messing with my head), so I headed to the aquatic center. I did a 20 minute hard workout on the recumbent bike machine (the center has a gym with a few machines, but no treadmill nor cycling machines :( ) Then I headed to the pool and swam about 1.1 km.
Swimming is so hard for me. I probably have poor form, but I'll try to work on that. It seems a lot more technical than running or biking. It was a good workout, though.
I think I'll give this whole swimming thing another chance. Heck, when I first started running, it was painful and not very enjoyable. But I kept at it because I refused to give up. Maybe I'll feel the same way about swimming. Someday. Eventually...
I went swimming.
Okay, I may be exaggerating how much I dislike swimming, but I strongly prefer to do other activities that don't involve being submerged in water. I used to swim on my community swim team for two years, but I never took it seriously, I rarely went to practice, and I dreaded racing in swim meets. Especially in the IM. And butterfly. Or anything longer than 50m. This was back in middle school, by the way, so I didn't really swim much after that.
I just didn't like gasping for air and that leaden feeling in my limbs. I hated being cold when I first get into the pool. Water and I just don't get along very well.
I've been toying around with the idea of doing a triathlon lately. The swim is the most intimidating part, but that's all part of the challenge. Instead of running (or biking) the other way, I tend to face the things that scare me the most. Maybe not such a great survival strategy, but whatever.
So yesterday, I decided to give swimming another chance. I was planning on doing a long bike ride, but it was freaking hot (88 degrees wtf?!) and I had no desire to suffer in the heat. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to go swimming (it was probably the heat messing with my head), so I headed to the aquatic center. I did a 20 minute hard workout on the recumbent bike machine (the center has a gym with a few machines, but no treadmill nor cycling machines :( ) Then I headed to the pool and swam about 1.1 km.
Swimming is so hard for me. I probably have poor form, but I'll try to work on that. It seems a lot more technical than running or biking. It was a good workout, though.
I think I'll give this whole swimming thing another chance. Heck, when I first started running, it was painful and not very enjoyable. But I kept at it because I refused to give up. Maybe I'll feel the same way about swimming. Someday. Eventually...
