I Swam! Laps! In a Pool!

It had been nearly 18 months since my last *actual* swim! But now that I'm teaching at the U of M, I hopped in their pool yesterday.

Good news: I didn't forget how to swim!

I navigated my way through the weight room and all the tunnels to get to the old, small pools in Cooke Hall:

Old school tile. Nearly there.


Eek! There's the pool!

There was only 1 person in lane 2, and I hopped in lane 5. I figured I'd do some 200s (NOT TOO HARD) to make sure I was still able to swim. My regular watch is no longer waterproof (after a battery change), so I wore my Garmin. But after 100 yards when I glaced at my split, all I saw was a blank Garmin that had water behind the screen. It died yesterday!

After a warm-up and changing goggles as I realized I was wearing my "old" pair that leaked, I was ready to just glance at the big clock to check some splits to see where I was. That first 200 was untimed as my Garmin died, but then I did 3x200 (with a big 0:45 rest) in roughly:

- 1:36, 1:37 = 3:13
- 1:37, 1:37 = 3:14
- 1:36, 1:35 = 3:11

And you know what? I don't hate those times. I figured I could easily be in the 1:40s, so I'll take it! Then I did a few kick drills, and then another 200 cool-down (slower in 1:43, 1:43 = 3:26).

All in all, that was 1150 of swimming in about 25 minutes. And my legs felt OK kicking, and my shoulders felt fine from pulling. Nice.

Leaving wet tracks from lane 5 on the left, with the lifeguard giving me a stink eye on the right.


Goggle marks on my forehead from my kick drills. But happy to have swam!!

Maybe I can make this a thing at the U! I haven't missed swimming, but I wouldn't mind getting back in the pool more regularly as well. Whatever I do, it won't be "random" - I'll either continue not swimming, or I'll try to hit the pool twice a week pretty routinely. It would not be smart for me to go for a while, then stop for a while, then pick it back up again - that would just tick off my shoulder I'm sure.