Swimming, Swimming…

I have the worst earworm. You know the camp song “swimming, swimming, in our swimming pool, when days are hot and days are cold, in our swimming pool…” Yeah. That one. Do you have the earworm now too?

~ 1 ~

I finally got back into training last week, and back into the pool. It was my first series of swims since around Christmas. Ouch. Thankfully we are focusing mostly on technique still, and not too much speed work. But what little speed work we do shows how swim unfit I have become! It will get there.

~ 2 ~

I’m super lucky that we get to swim outdoors year round. This is going into my third season swimming with Red Top Swim in London, and our “home pool” is mostly the London Fields Lido. Winter swimming is great – cold open air, steam coming off the water, and warm water. Really, I feel spoiled. The open air swimming also lets me continue to get a good dose of natural vitamin D (winter tanning) even in the cold months. You might not believe it but I do have swimsuit strap marks year round, busting the myth that northern climates do not have strong enough sun in the winter. Or maybe it is just my skin that is busted, permanently tanned from too much swimming?

~ 3 ~

Speaking of busted, that is probably a more accurate description of my right foot. I’ve been waking up to take the pup out for mid-night bathroom breaks. As a result, I have been slightly sleep deprived. And when I get overtired, I am prone to accidents. Late Friday night / early Saturday morning, I wound up missing a few stairs at about 2am. Instantly I knew that I had landed too hard to just “shake it off”, and after taking little Mr Felix 3Spot out to take care of his needs, I took care of mine pulling out the gel ice packs I have in the freezer (always on the ready, welcome to a house of triathletes prone to injury) and helping myself to ibuprofen.

So yeah, a busted right foot.  Thank goodness for swimming.

~ 4 ~

Not that I mind about the swimming, really. In fact, it is a great kick off to my first challenge for 2014 – the Swimathon 5k. 

I am incredibly excited to have been selected to be one of the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Swimathon Top 15 Bloggers.  It is such a great fit for me – I have participated in the Swimathon since 2010 when I decided to do what at the time was unimaginable for me – the 5k challenge.  I hadn’t even swum a continuous half mile until 2007, and had major reconstructive elbow surgery that same year. The Swimathon showed me that with consistent training and a good sense of humour, big dreams and goals can become reality. The past few years I have opted to do the 2.5km swim as a part of my regular training, but in 2014 I’d like to reach again for 5k, and I’d like to shave 10 minutes off my previous best time.

Let’s see if we can turn this goal into reality. While balancing life with a little puppy.

~ 5 ~

And on that note, here’s a gratuitous puppy photo for you.

The Korthals Griffon is known for its affinity to water as well as land. Apparently they are good water dogs… AKA they are swimmers.  So far the closest Felix has gotten to water is a bath.  But we can’t wait to introduce him to West Reservoir and a bit of the open water madness this summer.  Maybe he will become the Red Top mascot? One can only dream…

One response to “Swimming, Swimming…”

  1. Yikes! I do the same thing when I’m tired! I hope your foot fetes better fast. I smiled at the “Shake it off” observation. smile I’m the same after a fall.
    Swimming looks lovely! Inspirers me to get back in the local indoor pool. Your outdoors one looks wonderful!

Leave a Reply to Lenka Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *