I have been continuing to work on my swim breathing. I can do fairly well with breathing when I am just focusing on that. Unfortunately, when I do that I can’t get my swim stroke going. Once I start working on my swim stroke the breathing breaks down. It’s a vicious cycle and I don’t know what to do about it other than continue working hard at one of them until I get it down.
Last night I did some swimming after spin class, and I have to say, things felt much better. It didn’t feel like controlled drowning, but it wasn’t my most graceful effort to date. I knocked out 7 laps in no time. I wasn’t planning on doing laps, it kind of just happened, so I didn’t bother timing it when I started. By the time I got 4 laps in I regretted it not timing myself. I felt like I was really moving. I was able to complete the laps without stopping to catch my breath, and I think it all relates to me slowing the strokes down, and to the new breathing.
Having said that, I do still hold my breath at times, especially when I something goes wrong, like I take in a little water, or I don’t get much air. But I manage to recover while swimming, and then spend some time focused on breathing. All in all I do have to say I feel like last night’s swim was a good start in the right direction.
My next goal is to start swimming for distance. I’d like to get to the point where I can swim for 30 minutes straight with no stopping and see how many laps that works out to. I am also considering buying a lap counter just because it gets hard to figure out where you are after a while. Next swim is probably going to be Sunday. I also have my first ever cross counter skiing adventure this Saturday, I’m looking forward to that!