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Friday 27 May 2016

Smug swimmer alert!

Kids were off today and I'm working from home so decided to take my youngest swimming for an hour.We just went to the local pool again and were both decked out in new suits and goggles so we were looking pretty fab!

When we got there we started off in the little pool as there was an aqua aerobics class on which was good cause the music was great..old skool and I was singing along.

Today was one of the first times I've found the water a bit shallow in the little pool but I still got some practice in. A lot of backfloat, breastroke and also playing about with my 5 year old. The pool was fairly busy and I soon realised that I was the only mum. The other five were dads with their kids and the mums were at the viewing bit. This used to be me so I felt a bit smug...check me out swimming with my daughter! You wouldn't have caught me doing this a year ago and we had a great time.

After the class had finished we moved into the big pool which was nearly empty and we had a good swim in there before getting out.

Was a great trip. I'm so glad I went and got some practice in and also some special time with my little girl.



Tuesday 24 May 2016

Double bubble

Honestly? I wasn't looking forward to tonight's lesson. All my positivity from last week had sapped away after an exhausting couple of days at work.
I arrived at the pool a bit hot and sweaty after cooking in the heat of the office and the car. So the thought of the cool pool was quite welcoming. 
After getting changed and poking all my hair into a swim cap I was ready to go.
The pool was busy with a group of lads playing in one corner, a couple of swimmers and a pair getting jiggy in the corner.
So my lane seemed narrower than normal but off I went.
Started with breast stroke. A couple lengths then trying with taking a breath. Didn't manage much so I defo need to practice. Then onto leg kicks with the board and without the board while trying to tilt to each side a bit.
Then the best bit. I managed a couple of lengths of back float and kicking my legs right to the deep and back again.
Lastly diving for sharks and managed to get them in deeper water than ever.
So a good lesson today 😁
Also mega disappointed that my hair was wet after wearing a swimming cap 🏊

Here is a pic of me with dry hair :) 


Wednesday 18 May 2016

Weird week

Last week was all exciting with the radio show and after a great weekend I was a bit stressed out about a week of jury duty.
I haven't actually been swimming since  the little paddle about with my friends.
I ended up being selected for jury duty so it was a bit of a stressful day and I honestly wasn't feeling great when I turned up for my lesson.
Lesson started with a bit of a catch up on all that had been going on and I admitted that I hadn't had much practice so was feeling a bit nervous.
First I did a bit of diving for the sharks. Started ok but my god I was out of breath! Once we got to the deeper bit of the pool I was really struggling and started to feel sick. I hated that. I don't like making excuses, but I felt awful.
Then went into some kicking with the kickboard and then a bit of breaststroke. Also did a couple of tries of going from sitting at the edge to in the pool.
It was just an odd lesson full stop. I think the feeling rubbish didn't help and I really need to get back and practice at the local pool.
Next week will be fab!
 
 

Friday 13 May 2016

Scary biscuits

Well I did my radio interview this aft...it was terrifying. I was led into a wee studio and put on some giant headphones and sat in front of a microphone. Then I could hear everything from the Aberdeen studio and a wee voice came on and told me I would be on in five mins.
When the presenter eventually introduced me I was so terrified that my mind would go blank but luckily the words flowed and I treated it like a telephone conference at work. Also was really great hearing advice from Tom the sports psychologist and the competitive side of swimming from Hannah Miley.
It was great to tell my story and hopefully someone will go learn to swim off the back of it.

Here it is at about 13 mins in
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079rbmw

I have my lessons with Vivienne www.swimmingmasters.co.uk 


Thursday 12 May 2016

Radio gaga

 
Ok, so not a particularly swimming based post today but a milestone none the less! I was contacted by a lovely BBC person and asked if I would mind talking about my learning to swim journey as part of a programme on Radio Scotland called 'Out for the Weekend.' Its part of a BBC initiative called #makeyourmove to get people moving and this month it is about swimming.
 
I'm looking forward to it as I have never done anything like this before but also a bit nervous that I clam up and nothing comes out my mouth. Hopefully all will be good and I can get a photo of me with my headphones on at the BBC Glasgow studio to put on the blog.
 
It was a week off lessons this week as my teacher is on holiday so I haven't been, but planning on going at the weekend to get some practice in before next week.
 
Will post after the radio show....wish me luck!

Friday 6 May 2016

A bit of deep reflection


Tuesdays lesson was fine again. I have been feeling that the lessons are becoming a bit samey (is that a word?)  I think I expect too much but in my head i've had a lot of lessons (17) and i'm still not properly swimming (i'm not sure how I define properly swimming!). My husband says its a consolidating stage so i'll trust him with that.

I had a bit of time before the teacher arrived and I was very aware that I was swimming up the side (where the training lane is ) but only to the stairs so always in shallow (ish) water. I'm still not happy in the deeper water but once the teacher arrives I just get on with it.

I did some freestyle legs so kicking and tried to remember to keep them straighter and together which seemed to go better than last week but once I try to add the arms in, the legs go to pot...i'm not good at concentrating on both things but i'm sure that will come at some point. I still have to stop when I run out of breath as I dont know how to breath in between strokes yet and I can't not put my legs down and take a breath. This is where I get frustrated. I can't complete a length without stopping a couple of times.

For the rest of the lesson I did a little bit of floating on my back, then turning in the water and floating on my front which I liked doing and a bit more diving for the little sharks (always my favourite bit). I'm getting better at going into deeper water to get the little sharks although its getting harder to get to the bottom. But again i'm always at the wall which is like a safety net.
So I think I felt a bit rubbish after that lesson, although usually I would have been swimming with the kids in between to the local pool and we hadn't been so that definitely made a difference.

So the other day my friends and I decided to go to a health club for a pamper evening and go to the sauna, steam and swimming. Im still a bit funny about swimming in front of friends cause i feel like they are waiting for a "tah da" moment.  Also not being used to the pool makes for a very different experience.

It turned out the pool was lovely with a glass roof and the sun was streaming in. It was 1.3 m all the way across which felt quite deep to me and that made me slightly uneasy but not enough to stop me going in. I was all prepared with my goggles too, cause being odd I can only swim with my head under water and not above, unlike everyone else!

My friends who can all swim like dolphins were quite happy to bob about in the water so we weren't swimming lengths anyway but I didn't feel happy away from the side and I definitely didnt feel as comfortable with the depth as I had hoped but I was still happy in the pool and it made a big difference to previous times when I would never have even got in.

I think this made me feel a bit disappointed that i'm not as far on as I had hoped but when my friend said to me that she thought it was great that I was learning to swim and how hard it is as an adult to do something new I decided it's not about how fast or slow i'm learning its just the fact that i'm doing it. I will get there in the end....I just dont know when the end will be. 

Maybe thats what keeps the journey interesting?