I Still Can’t Breathe Under Water

Most Tuesday mornings I have goggle eyes.  All it takes is about 35 minutes swimming 27 laps and it lasts until  lunch.  I can see other people in the weight room, where I go right after the pool, looking at me curiously, possibly with pity for my strange, puffy, slightly blue-ringed eyes.  Not that many people swim laps.  Sometimes I wear my t-shirt that says I swam 300 miles, without telling them it took me nearly 10 years.

I’m working towards getting my 700 mile t-shirt now.  So much for evolution.  I still can’t breathe under water.  I also haven’t developed any special eyelids to help protect my eyes from the chlorine, so I wear goggles diligently.  But if it’s not one thing, it’s another.  In order to keep the goggles from twisting painfully with my hair, I wear a swim cap.  This leaves its own wide mark on my forehead.  I do appreciate being able to see the black line on the bottom of the pool, though.  The cement walls can sneak up on you no matter how slowly you are swimming.

I have verified that it is counter-productive to sing or cry under water.  It is necessary to blow air out the whole time one’s head is submersed, so that maximum intake is possible when getting a breath.  Along the way I have increased my paltry lung capacity for things like flute playing and running, with minimal impact to my joints, not counting poor flip-turns.

Think of it like dancing.  Swimming is most enjoyable and effective when done in a fluid ( ahem) rhythmic manner.  Regular practice makes it more enjoyable.  I have lovely suits from swimoutlet.com that I highly recommend for utility and fashion.   I can’t wear make-up to my ball, but I can dress up.  Who wouldn’t want to go dancing first thing in the morning?

I am picking up some speed and can now swim 8 laps without a short break.  Sometimes I race the person in the lane next to me, but I never tell them.  Yesterday I even tried flip turns at both ends of the lane for a lap and a half.  That was challenging for me, causing leg and arms to burn.  I have to limit myself to only gradually gaining strength or else my heart goes into palpitations when I’m resting.  This distresses the life guards.  I am very familiar with my heart and its tendency to do this for 20 years, but they are young kids wondering when they will have to use CPR.  I don’t want to accidentally have them practicing on me.

The swim team coach asked me a couple of months ago if I was training for races and wanted information about certain competitions.  I take this as encouragement.  I have 10 months to get fully prepared for the  4 lap swim-4 mile stationary bike-1 and 1/2 mile run mini-triathlon and things are looking hopeful.