Today I practiced swimming for my triathlon for the first time. Robert, in the next lane, soon started watching me. I stopped and asked him if I was in his way at all. "Oh, no," he said. "Has anyone ever taught you how to breathe while you swim?" "Um,no." "Well, the reason you're kind of dog-paddling like that is..." So many thoughts were running through my head at this point. The foremost being that somehow I must have dog-paddled my way through my first triathlon in 2005 and in that case it was a miracle that I had finished at all. Not so miraculous how much water I swallowed.
We proceeded to have a 40 minute lesson that including kicking (this was also "all wrong and weird," how to not swim "crazy" - also known as diagonal with my eyes shut- and to pick my arm up when my thumb hits my hip. And mostly breathing. Breathing INTO the water with my head down and sucking in air with my head tilted. A lot.
Have I mentioned that Robert is 70 and in great shape? What a fun time!
I say this, and I mean it, but it was also really hard. Learning in general is kind of hard I've realized. School stuff is semi-hard. Wrapping my head around my guitar lessons, how to drive a standard, and how to swim well, are VERY HARD. I am so happy to be learning all these new things, but it's kind of rough, you know? I stood there in the pool trying to think of good learning quotes, but none came to me. Maybe I'll look them up tonight. :o)
8 comments:
now you just have to practice so you can impress him next time you go swimming. :]
(how cool is this, I just found out my Grandma has a blog! sweet.)
That is awesome that your grandma has a blog. What if I still have a blog when I'm a grandma? That would be so cool.
Wait, can you clarify...a random guy in the next lane started critiquing your style!? I mean, it sounds helpful but also very presumptuous...I guess thats what people who have been around for 70 years get to do.
LOL about the dog paddling...who knew?!
From the girl that doesn't know how to swim, just want to say i think this is so so funny. Maybe Robert can come to Idaho and teach me how to swim. :-) He sounds like a pro.
Um, I'm pretty excited about your High Magistrate of the church of Serendipidous Love. No other title could have fit you better. And I got a serious kick out of your swimming story. Hey, maybe you can shave some time off!
What is the distance that you'll be swimming in your triathlon? Where is this triathlon going to be?
This is the website for the triathlon. http://www.redrockco.com/womens-triathlon
It's a 750 meter swim (I don't know how long that is), a 12 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run.
One of these days I'll do an Olympic, which is about twice as long. The one I did before was 1/4 mile swim, a 6 mile bike, and a 2 mile run.
750 meters is 15 full laps across a 25 meter pool (by full I mean there and back).
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