Swimming!

[cjsmith]

I did it. I finally went out and got in a pool.

I take back about 45% of the things I said about cold. A properly heated pool, once I get in it, really isn't too bad. If I were in shape enough to get warmed up it would be downright comfortable. The pool also looks nifty sitting there steaming in the early morning light! (Getting OUT of the pool, on the other hand... outdoors... brr.)

I am very out of shape. Two years without any cardio exercise whatsoever, plus I've never done much with my upper body in my life. (Except when I was in the Army. I could knock out those pushups then.) This is humbling.

I was very thankful that it wasn't crowded. I had a lane to myself. There are benefits to going to an outdoor pool shortly after the rainstorm stops! (Or is it that it's January?) Maybe by summer, when it'll be crowded again, I'll be able to swim at a decent pace.

I have water in both my ears. Despite arms like noodles, I would have continued swimming longer this morning except that both ears were hurting. I need help on this!

And now for the bad news. My feet are KILLING ME. It seems there's a certain amount of standing up that happens. There's probably more for me than for most, because I haven't been swimming in twenty years. In between laps, arms hooked over the edge, panting -- those feet are down and they've got the toes bent back (the worst). Rats! I can NOT be doing that! Grrr! I sure hope this isn't yet one more form of exercise that I shouldn't do because of my feet. That would leave one last fitness option: just generally being tense.

I've found a wonderful image to use as a swim icon. I've written for permission. It is a CAT! Swimming! Is that me or what? :-) Check out this page. I hope I'm allowed to use it.

Comments

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I found it really helped me to use a heart rate monitor while swimming, as a way to get me to swim slowly enough, and not pant nearly so much. Yay! for getting in the pool.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I could probably go a lot longer if I abandoned the crawl stroke. I do ... I don't know what to call this stroke. It's sort of like the breast stroke, except a) I scissor-kick because I've never learned the proper kick for the breast stroke, and b) I don't have much of a glide, I just go right into the next pull. As a result I move very slowly. I can do it for a long time though. Maybe my heart rate is lower for that one -- probably because I'm breathing more! As a bonus, my ears never tip up to pour water in as they do in the crawl.

Next time I'll try a lot more of that.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Yay for swimming!

A few things...

If the water is really irritating your ears, you can buy waxy ear plug things that will keep out the water. Also, when you are done swimming be sure to put ear drops like "Swimmer's Ear" in your ear to dry out the water.

As far as your feet, try kicking with a kickboard when you are tired to help you catch your breath rather than resting at the wall standing up. You can also use the board to keep you afloat when resting so you don't have to stand.

Hope this helps.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo, clearly I need to go shoppin'. :-) These all sound like good ideas. I particularly like the kickboard idea: I could keep exercising my legs when my arms can't do any more, and gradually use it less and less as I get better.

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you will adjust with the standing issue. I second the suggestions in the comments, and have a couple of my own: rest at the deep end if you can, so your feet will stay all floaty, while you hang on with your arms. Or, when you rest, pull yourself up until you're hanging off the side of the pool by your elbows, so that your feet dangle instead of resting.

I totally want that cat.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right. It'll just take time. I feel guilty for not babying my feet, though. Grr! I'm trying to, but I'm still learning what not to do!

There's no deep end in these lap lanes -- it's an Olympic pool divided widthwise, with diving boards on the deep side and little cones marking "Slow People Can Swim Here" in the four-foot-deep area. The laps still wind up being 25 meters, which is respectable.

That cat is awesome. I want a Turkish Van cat next. I think it would be wonderful to have a cat that liked water!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

That swimming cat is just too cute.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't he adorable? I'm wanting a Turkish Van cat now :)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

ooh - that would indeed make a lovely icon! and as you say, the more practice you get swimming, the less time you'll be spending on your feet. can you float on your back, or do you sink?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I really like that cat! I'm itching to get a Turkish Van now. (As if I ever had a purebred anything. I get mutt cats from places like parking lots, the pound, and the little grassy area in between runways.)

I mostly float, better if my legs are kicking. I did the backstroke for one lap :)

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Yay CJ!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm feeling all proud of myself.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Yay for starting!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It feels good to have done it.

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

I love swimming. I hope you can solve your problems with the feet. And YAY for that icon! I hope you can use it... I agree that it's perfect!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! At the very least I can build back a little bit of fitness again, which will improve both my health and my mood.

[firecat]

Congrats on going swimming! When I am out of shape for swimming I do more breaststroke and less crawl. As I improve I change the ratio.

When you say "toes bent back" do you mean pointed toward your shin or pointed away from your shin?

One way to avoid standing is to get a floating device, maybe a noodle or some water dumbbells, and float without allowing your feet to touch the pool floor.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh cool. I'm not the only one who thinks breaststroke is easier, then! :-)

Toes: dorsiflexion. The way they are in high-heeled shoes. Plantarflexion hurts too, but less, and I can gently stretch them that direction with my hands. Dorsiflexion is awful and when there's any weight on my feet that way, they'll definitely flare up for a day or two.

I definitely need to go shopping. I can imagine how much gear I will accumulate. At least swimming gear is relatively inexpensive! Things could be worse (on the wallet) -- I could be taking up woodworking!

[sharya.livejournal.com]

That is seriously the best icon!

I hope they give you permission to use it :D

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo I hope so too! No reply yet...

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I have taken up weightlifting this week. Wanna play? www.stumptuous.com is my guru. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow. I was thinking of saying "Yeah!" and then I followed the link. That web site author positively REVELS in having a nonbroken body. After fifteen or twenty minutes of reading I'm pretty convinced she'll have nothing to say that a gimp can use. Too bad...

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Yay for you! Man, when I started swimming again after years without doing it I was pathetic. And I was in shape. Swimming is hard. But you will get better. You shouldn't really need to stand, should you? I mean, people swim in water too deep to stand, they just hang off the edge when they need to rest. You could try keeping your legs in a kneeling position & then you wouldn't be tempted to put weight on your feet.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I am now: pathetic. I'm glad my body tends to show noticeable improvement early on. (At least it did for running.) Otherwise I'd very likely give up!

Yeah, I shouldn't need to stand. I just did 'cause I could; it felt natural. I gotta remember not to do that.

I'm really glad to hear you can swim again. I know how annoying it was for you to run.

Where do you swim? I'm shopping for price and temperature. :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Time to start swimming with just your arms. My niece and I are those people who swim the crawl mostly with our arms. Of course, she's faster than I am!

And invest in some SwimEar. I love that stuff, and it keeps away the swimmer's ear!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think I need to work up to swimming with just my arms. Today I was using both arms and legs and I had to stop a lot.

Yes, it sounds like I need that SwimEar.

warm pool & toys

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Hey CJ, you happy catty fishy person....

I just wanted to mention that there is a warm therapy pool on Middlefield, called the Betty Wright (sp?) Center. It's just south of Cubberly on the same side of the street. I love warm water so I tried it out a couple of years ago there. There are some classes and specific times for open use (as opposed to restricted uses.) I also really liked the attitudes of the people working there when I called to ask questions, but that is kinda a different topic. So: warm water, lots of pool toys and floaty things. The folks there swimming are not the same folks as at the Y, and I mostly liked that (although it is differnt)(Many people at the therapy pool had some apparent limitations of various kinds, [which I expected] and also a couple people in the pool were working one-on-one with coach-type-people directing them/helping them.)(I did find I thought about really different kinds of things swimming there, but I also really liked the different body-sense I felt there. If that makes sense.) Bad points: pool is HEAVILY clorinated (which really bugged me); dressing rooms are too small. It is the chlorine that has kept me from going back, but I feel conflicted because I really LOVE warm water.

So there is one place you could play with and try out various water toys and floaties. I wonder if the Y has stuff you could try out. I think I'd need swimming lessons if I was gonna try to "really" swim....

oops, and another thing

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

I have some flippers you can borrow if you want, but I don't know what size they are. They are just sitting in storage so yell if you'd like to try them out. Also a snorkel and mask :)

Re: oops, and another thing

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

apparently I can't stop....

http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~mnogin/catswim.html

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=%22swimming+cats%22

http://images.google.com/images?q=%22cat+swimming%22&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&start=0&sa=N

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for swimming -- I hope the foot thing works out. I had never thought of that -- but of course you stand when you swim, at least I do.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Y'know, learning what not to do would be a lot easier if I didn't HAVE feet. Grr. Swimming is the last possible thing, the very last, and even though I don't like it I'd really be ticked if even this was not going to work.

[therobbergirl.livejournal.com]

Sorry to be late to this party. I was not 40 minutes from downtown Seattle last week yet THERE WAS NO INTERNET. I have no idea how I survived.

Anyway, as you get more in shape, you'll be able to consider treading water a rest. I don't know how long it will take you to get to the point where just hanging out with a hand lightly touching the wall and your legs gently treading will feel like rest, but I don't think it will be long. Each time I try to get into shape, it takes me about a week to get to that point.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Excellent! That's a very hopeful thought.

I tried out the Y this morning. Another post coming later, when, um, I've actually gotten some work done here. But already I'm feeling less out of shape (which is REALLY weird, this is swim number two).