I forced the issue on swimming today. I wouldn’t recommend that.  It would have been better if I’d swum at a later time on a different day.  That is the way I’ll get swimming done in the future.

I have been wanting to swim that mile, because I was poised to swim the mile about a month ago before I injured myself.  I still came quite short of a mile today, but I didn’t swim elementary back stroke at all!  That was another goal of mine.

In the end then, I swam 1000 yards of free, back, breast, and fly.  I did one 100 IM, with a time of 2.52.45.  I felt like I was flying on the final length of the IM.  Even though my neck felt fine today, I didn’t push it by swimming another IM.

My next swim should be in a couple to three weeks, at a new time.  Stay tuned for the thrilling story of added yardage!

I really had my hopes up that I would be all healed and caught up in workout routine today. But when I woke up in the middle of the night to take care of the baby, my neck hurt. It was just a little bit, but it was sore. So I had this sinking feeling that the mile would elude me again.

I felt that familiar warmth in my neck and shoulder, so I decided to shoot for 1000 and call it a day. The good news is that the freestyle feels much more natural, and the breathing is becoming less of an issue. I swam one 100 IM, and my time was 2:58.79—faster than last session. So all trends lean towards improvement.

In the end, I swam 375 free, 375 back, 125 breast, 25 fly, and 100 elementary back. Looking at it from that standpoint, my session was a huge success! I cut my elementary back stroke dramatically, and swam mostly free and back. I did a four embarrassing flip turns. I was very glad my kids weren’t there to chastise me for the extra breaths, wild arm waving and horrifying flopping. It’s not junior high, though. I doubt if anyone at the pool cared much about my flip turn lack of form.

I again made a bee-line for the whirlpool after swimming, and the water was therapeutic as usual. I spied another pair of brown arms as I was leaving the pool deck. “Is my brother here, I wondered, and stopped and looked at this swimmer for a while. I noticed her braided ponytail as she neared the shallow end. She did a slow, smooth flip turn. I was humbled. I have much to learn. I’ll talk to her when I get the chance.

The warm water, the plump water baby, the exuberant first grader, the shyer 4 year old, and the exploratory third grader, not to mention the water loving mama make for a perfect outing to the pool.

Hold your baby close, bounce around in a circle. Listen to the soft coos, encourage the kicks, ever getting the small baby face closer to the water, letting her know that the water is fun.

It all goes a ways toward real swimming eventually.

But the real reward is the bond you build. Your eyes lock, your breath catches, time stops as you are the only people in the room.

Take your kids swimming. Relax and enjoy the water with them. You won’t regret it.

I consider it a triumph that I got back to the pool today. That would be the second time this week.

The only thing is that I had hoped to be back up to my yardage, ready for a mile today, and that just wasn’t to happen.

The good news is that I doubled my yardage from last time, swimming 700 yards this time. The bad news is that heat radiating down my left side forced an early retreat from the pool.

But it felt great while it lasted. I swam slowly, protecting my neck as best I could, and my freestyle just felt comfortable today. I did two IMs before I thought I’d better chill. My times were much slower than last time; I plead injury again. The first one clocked in at 3:06.29, and the second one at 3:00.76. That’s up from a slowest time of 2:55.88 last month.

If I continue my pace of doubling my yardage every session, I’ll be a mile in no time. I plan to swim again next week. I’ll keep you posted.

Over on my other blog, I told the story of trying to get in shape.   A tragic story, really, resulting in much pain and suffering.

I have laid off the working out for a few days, hoping my neck would stop hurting.  No such luck.  So I thought I’d go swimming today and knock that pain right on out.

I carefully, slowly swam a lap of  freestyle.  I thought I’d feel it in the neck when it came to breathing, and I did.  I switched to backstroke.  I imagined myself swimming a whole mile of backstroke–it felt so good to be in the water!

I swam on, and somewhere around the 250 yard mark, my neck started hurting even swimming backstroke.  I tried a length of breast stroke.  It still hurt.  I tried a length of elementary back, and even a length of sidestroke.  I got out of the pool after that one, having only swum 350.

I went to the hot tub and soaked my sore muscles.   Good news!  The pain is going away.  I hope to return to the pool on Thursday for a real workout.