Swimming

I swim two or three times a week.  This is the most swimming I've done since the winter I was 18.  After about six weeks, I'm still getting more comfortable each time I go.  It's a challenge to calibrate my effort.  How much power can I put into swimming if I want to be able to sustain it for 100 yards?  At first, it was as if I was running without much control, and a length or two would leave me gasping. I realized that I needed to learn the equivalent of strolling, and began to slow down.  Eventually I found a pace that I could maintain, and then my distance rose quickly.  My program currently is to swim a mile or more one day a week.  On the other days, I work on shorter intervals at a higher effort level, with twenty breath rest breaks between them.

I did one of the interval sessions today before lunch.  After eating, I stretched out on the floor for a nap.  When I woke up, I could feel how tired my whole body was.  There isn't the localized stress in some joints or muscles that I often feel from running.  Instead, the sensation is broad and more subtle.

When I can, I swim in the outdoor pool.  It was cooler today - in the 60s - but the water is about 82.  An acquaintance said that her husband swam outdoors in the winter anytime it was above freezing.  I'll have to see if I have as much cold tolerance.  The walk out to the pool is when I notice it the most.  Of course, the colder it is, the warmer the water will seem.