mwz: Day 39 Run and Swim lessons

This morning I ran my 3 miles outside. I did three laps of my 1 mile course. It took me a bit over 30 minutes.

For some reason it was tough today. I don't know if it was the cold, the head wind or the spin class yesterday but it wasn't nearly as easy as it was on Monday. My left leg felt really tight for the last 1.5 miles. It doesn't feel bad now. I'm hoping that a little stretching will help it.

I started my swim lessons today. It was me and 4 ladies and I was the best swimmer of the group.

The instructor (a woman who couldn't be out of college yet) asked our experience levels. Then later, she asked me to swim the free style so she could see where I stood. When I got back, she said I was "awesome"...

That's not what I was looking for. I asked her what I was supposed to be doing under water with my hands. She told me about the "S" thing that I had read about and then she demonstrated. I learned a quite a bit watching her swim (as well as I could without my glasses).

Apparently, I've been doing everything wrong. I didn't realize that you should bring your back arm out of the water before your next stroke. I've been doing them simultaneously (like you pedal a bike). Once I started doing this, I discovered that it is easier to breath when you are bringing your arm out, before the next stroke. I had been breathing during a stroke (on the opposite side of the arm that is under water).

While practicing some of that, I actually had a few strokes that made me feel like I was a swimmer. I still have a lot of bad habits that I need to break. Maybe all that pre-lesson swimming wasn't a good idea.

I don't know if I will swim tomorrow. I put in a fair amount of distance tonight and I'm pretty tired (sleepy). I don't know if I'm going to want to get up super early and swim. We'll see.

mwz