Swimming Lesson No. 2

I had my second swimming lesson and all I did was laps!  I think I swam about 20 laps and I now know that I just need to practice.  Out of those laps, probably about 5 of them I managed to swim the whole length without stopping.

What I have learnt though, is that I stop myself from doing it.  I think 'I am doing it wrong', or 'I can't breathe' even though I am doing fine.  I'm not doing my breathing perfectly, I am taking too long to do it because I am not letting all the air out under the water so while my head is out I have to breathe out and catch my breath as well.  By then my arm is pointing down and I have to use up all my energy to keep my head up long enough to take my breath!  No wonder my arms are killing me!  I will get there though, I just need to relax and just concentrate on improving a little at a time.  Rome wasn't built in a day and I am not giving up! 

I did wear my HRM as well - and yes, the Polar FT4 is waterproof - and it was great!  I didnt' get my heart rate up very high which makes sense given it was the breathing I am struggling with and not the endurance side of things, and I was also resting between each lap to calm my breathing.  Still, in the hour I was in the pool I managed to burn off 240 calories!  My heart rate average was only 105bpm with a max of 135bpm so even from that you can see I took it pretty easy. 

Next week I will keep with the swimming each lap and I am pretty sure M is going to try and get me to do a couple of laps without stopping for a break in between!  As she said, when I can do two or three laps, then a single lap will seem easy peasy!   I wish I could pop in and practice in the pool once or twice during the week so I could surprise her next Saturday!

I am so proud of my progress so far. 
And so happy that I took the plunge and booked that first lesson.  I just know it won't be long until I 'graduate' to just swimming laps!