Back in the pool soon.

I may have mentioned that I like to swim a lot.

I don't think I've mentioned that I've actually gone swimming about three times in the last 4 months. New baby, having a job and demanding toddler have just meant something had to drop.

I've been doing the gym and getting on the bike, but to be honest, it's been killing me not doing what I really love.

Which is why I'm extremely thankful the mini sabattical is nearly over and we're in a place where I can start to go on a morning again.

To be even more truthful, I'm also a little nervous. For a while, by body will fiendishly resist what I want it to do. It will hurt. I'll be slow and weak.

Which will mean patience and a little determination, and there's nothing like a meaty goal to keep you going.

Not like The Great North Swim and chasing times I did when I was a kid, like before. Something both realistic and sufficiently out of reach. So I'm going to work towards doing a 400 metre medley.

That's four lengths of each stroke in succession - butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle.

The last three are easy, it's the butterfly bit that's the challenge. I reckon right now, I'll just about be able swim two lengths. Rubbish (to put it in context, when I trained as a kid we used to do 5 x 8 lengths with about 15 seconds between as standard training).

So the first challenge is just to get strong enough to do four lengths fly.

Then be able to continue and do the whole thing without my lungs bursting.

I used to be able to do it in around 5 and minutes. I'll never get close to that again.

Lets see if I can do 7 minutes by the end of the year.

No reason, just because.

Comments

[Lee]

Nice post. Also loving that after a delay, the three blogs I check in daily with (you, Canalside and Musings...) are back.

Like you I've got two littluns, and also a past-time I get to do much less now. I used to race triathlon way too seriously pre kids... and still haven't quite got to terms with the fact that I'll never be as good as I used to be (or thought I was...). Thought this post dovetailed nicely with your last one - for me at least - as I constantly combine grand plans for how I'll get properly fit again, with the realism that I'm also not prepared to devote the time to it, as it'll mean time away from my kids. Maybe I'll just start playing golf...

You also gave me a bit of advice about leaving London a few months ago and hoped I wouldn't find it too much of a culture shock being a planner in the Midlands. Have to say I'm loving it and if anything have found a more open minded attitude to it up here... and much less resistant (which apes another recent post) to "research" not meaning an internal survey or focus group of just agency staff... and actually getting out to talk to people.

Anyways.. good luck with the IM... sounds painful!

[northern]

Hi
Glad it's working out. It is a breath of fresh air without the force fields around departments.
Always intended doing triathlons until my dodgy hip stopped me running. Probably a lucky escape.