Swim a mile – me?

Last night I swam at the pool. My plan was to do 25 laps. Over time I had noticed a sign that said “32 laps = 1 mile” and figured at some point I’d go for it. But not now. Because, that’s a MILE in the pool. And I’m really bad at counting my laps past 5. I get too confused to keep it straight and forget where I am.

I have found the best way for me to keep track of the laps is to do them in batches of 5. 5 breast stroke, 5 freestyle, 5 with the “peanut thingy”, 5 this way, 5 that way. I really need a swim counter or a fancy/shmancy device to track it but that’s just one more thing I can buy one day later on.

So I was able to make it to 25 using this batch counting method. And it hit me – if I just do 7 more laps, I’m at a mile. Really? Can I actually do this tonight?  And I thought about this TriMafia group I’m in through Velocity Sportswear. And I thought about adults in their 50s that I’ve connected with who are just learning how to swim. I thought about people with more challenges than myself who are doing awesome and challenging things. And I thought about coming home & telling my boys that I just swam a mile!

The answer was HELL YES I can do this! It was a mix of different strokes, with a couple of stops for goggle adjustments or extra breaths, but I did it consecutively. Holy moly! That’s a lot of swimming for me. Some days I feel the mojo, and some days it’s definitely absent. But last night it was fantastic. I did the mile in 52 minutes. I think that was what the clock said, or pretty close. Not exactly a speed record but it’s MY record, so there.

My next bigger goal will be to do the mile using only freestyle, and leave the other strokes out of it. Small goals lead to bigger goals. It’s a moving target but I’m loving the improvements I’m seeing. It was great getting support and cheers from the Velocity team too!!  #trimafia #iamvelocity #neverstopever