Practicing practice

To avoid repetition, I'll just say it now, "CK swam further and faster than I did". I'll keep that in my clipboard and paste it into every post. Believe me, I'll trumpet the day that's not true, maybe even start a new blog.

But Sunday was supposed to be an "off-day" for me. I had to go to the pool for CK's (and 2 friends') workout but I wasn't planning on swimming. Sure, I watched the 8, 9, and 12 year old closely to see their techniques but that was it for me. After their workout, we spent a couple of hours up at the club enjoying the beautiful weather, having lunch and looking for the mysterious junked car in the ravine.

But then I spotted my opening: a lane open, all kids busy, and nothing for me to do. I was going to practice swimming (not swim laps but practice for swimming laps, believe me, I can abstract this further, don't dare me). So, I set off to see if my breathing was getting better from all the tips I've been picking up. Sure enough, I was able to do 50 yards straight without swallowing water even though it was at an "easy" pace. That's progress.

I did another couple of laps to see how alternating freestyle and backstroke would allow me to maintain my lungs and that, too, seemed like a good idea. At this point, I had a question. Once you breathe in, do you hold the breath, then breathe out right before breathing again or do you let it out in measured doses the whole way? The 8 year old (CK) says she breathes out the whole time and then takes a breath. The 12 year old prefers to hold her breath then exhale completely right before taking a breath. I tried both ways and think that CK's method works better for me for now. I am open to suggestions right here on the blog.

So, no real yardage to report, but I did 250 yards in preparation for tomorrow's attempt at 500 (umm, yeah, the kids all did 1700). The plan is to not experiment but try to keep a consistent breathing technique the whole time. And not breathe water.