A lot of my mental energy recently has been focused around my injured shoulder (cool exercise discussion forthcoming!), but I’ve also been considering how to incorporate swimming into my workouts. I love swimming as a opposite to running–it’s much more upper-body intense, and doesn’t have all the impact. Seems like a deadly duo.
I haven’t really been a swimmer since I was a pre-asthmatic child, when I could do pretty much any stroke other than the breathing coordination-requiring freestyle, as well as all sorts of diving-esque things that make my lungs seize up in horror to even think of now. The new apartment has a nice little pool just long enough for short laps, though, and the water’s been wonderfully warm both times I’ve been in. The hours are lousy, alas: 10:00 to 20:00. No early morning swim.
As part of a wedding gift card, I even bought myself a swimsuit that’s both adorable and stays put when I swim.
My last one… didn’t. It tended to catch water in the chest area. And be buffeted around a bit. Eep.
Skill-wise, I’m limited to a doggie paddle now, although it’s not a bad doggie paddle. Actually, I’m pretty limited by the shoulder, too, but I’m still hoping that’s temporary. I can’t do any broad arm sweeps as a result of the cuff, which rules out a whole lot of the more official (and efficient!) strokes. I’ve got Swimming for Total Fitness on hold at the library so’s I can relearn what I’ve lost.
The pool’s often full of kids (making laps impossible), but I’m hoping now to leverage my new work-from-home Wednesdays to take a lunch break to swim. Unfortunately, I have a doctor’s appointment this Wednesday to check up on the numbness, which will eat into my swim time by my need to, you know, work. It’ll be a get-in-where-you-fit-in event this week, I guess.
