I Warned You!

Here is that post that I totally deserve. I really have to brag about myself because I am seriously awesome. I have made the biggest accomplishment this summer and I have to share. I warned you here. I said if I could pull this off that it would deserve a post all of its own. And I so pulled it off. It wasn't easy. And that is why I am so excited to share.

I learned to swim.

What's the big deal about that? I have tried to swim over the years, never been able to. I could doggie paddle, float on my back, but I could not swim. I have watched my children for the past four years in swim team accomplish something that I could not do myself. And I was so pleased with how well they did.

This spring I signed up for the Summer of Seals competition. I knew I was crazy when I did it. It required swimming 500 meters in under 17 minutes. Following the swim was 2 minutes each of push ups, sit ups, and pull ups. And then to top it off, a mile and a half run completed in under 15 minutes. And all that was the minimum.

Let me break it down a little more. I couldn't swim. Push ups? Not even the girly kind. Sits-ups? I've had 6 kids in the last 10 years. Think those muscles still exist? I couldn't do even one while keeping my hands on my head, yet another requirement for this competition. And the pull ups? That would require lifting all my body weight. I can lift a baby, not a full grown woman. And the run? I can run. But in under 15 minutes completing a mile and a half after just doing all that other stuff? That'll be pushing it.

Crazy me. Why on earth would I sign up for something as ridiculous as this? Because I wanted to. I wanted a challenge, something to break up the monotony. I wanted to force myself to do something that would be healthy for my ever weary body. And I really wanted to push myself to accomplish something hard. I figured I could end up doing the sit ups, push ups, and pull ups. But the swimming? That in itself would deserve a blog post all to it's own.

And now I can.

I learned to swim.

It started by doing laps at the pool at 5:30 in the morning. I will never forget that first morning. I left the pool crying. I showed up with all these novice swimmers that were parents to the children on my kid's swim team. they were doing lap after lap after lap. And here I was choking on water, trying to kick my feet while I held onto a kick board and attempt to reach the other end of the pool and still leave some water in the pool, not drinking it all. I had the head swim coach in the lane next to me giving me pointers. Everyone was being so kind and trying to help me, but I simply did not know how to swim or even where to get started.

But I didn't give up. I came back the next morning. And I put my face in that water, blew some bubbles, took my face out, took a deep breath, and repeated. I did this for a few weeks. Still no progress. And then a beautiful thing happened. I was at our neighborhood pool and my friend, Megan, who also joined Summer of Seals, had me watch her children while she did a few laps. And she did this stroke that my children did and almost always got DQ'd on. I thought I could try it because the rules to our swimming competition was that any stroke goes, just don't walk it. So after she finished, I gave that stroke a try, and it worked!

I can swim the breast stroke!

I could breathe, I could swim. It was a beautiful combination. I had Taneal give me some pointers. I worked this stroke for a few weeks, alternating between this and back stroke. And I could complete the 11 laps required to make 500 meters.

I finally decided to time myself. And this is where it gets even more exciting. I was swimming the 500 meters in 15 minutes. The minimum was 17 minutes, so I was well under that time. I couldn't believe that I was actually doing it. I really didn't believe it, so I timed myself again the next day and I really was doing it.

I still haven't given up on the free style stroke. You know the one where you put your face in the water looking down at the bottom of the pool and only come up for a breath about every ten minutes and then quickly put your face back in the water looking down at the bottom of the pool for another ten minutes while you hope you don't die. I can do that stroke for 50 meters and then I have to switch to the breast stroke. But I can swim. And I can swim sort of fast. I still plan to accomplish and master the freestyle. But for now I am so proud of myself because I can really swim.

Last night I did a run through of the competition. Want to know how well I did on my swim? Yah, I nailed that thing at 13:36 minutes. If I drop 6 seconds, I will move to the next tier and earn 4 points instead of two. I think I can accomplish that.

Did I mention I learned how to swim?