Or maybe it’s a big win, for me at least. I swam all the way from one end of the YMCA pool to the other in a front crawl. Go, me!
This is big for me because while I learned the basics of swimming as a kid, and managed to pass my college’s swim test as an adult, I did the latter all on my back, because I never really learned how to breathe / crawl properly.
A few years ago, I got tired of not knowing how to swim well enough to share a lap lane at the Y (because there are often 2 people in a lane at the time I want to swim), and I traded curry for swim lessons with my friend Amanda.
And then I practiced off and on, interrupted by pandemic. I had a tendency to get panicky halfway across the pool about starting to feel tired (I have terrible cardio conditioning generally, working on it), and I’d flip over onto my back to gently kick myself the rest of the way.
But I kept practicing, and in Hawai’i, I got to practice in Alex‘s pool, which is only half the length of the Y pool, but it was easy to swim there somehow, so I practiced a bunch (and even some swimming in the ocean). And today, I went to the Y, and I went all the way across in a front crawl without getting panicky and flipping over; I did steady breathing every four strokes, just the way Amanda showed me, and it was just fine.
I did the rest of my 20 minutes more in the mode I usually do; halfway across crawl, then halfway on my back, because I was tired and low on cardio capacity. It’s pretty slow; I only did 5 laps in 20 minutes that way. (A lap is back and forth, right?) I’ve reserved swim times for Wed / Thurs / Fri this week, so I’m hoping to slowly increase capacity.
But anyway, a win. 
Swimming can feel like such a hassle compared to going downstairs and jumping on the treadmill. To go swim, I have to:
– have my tea and meds and remember to eat something so I have enough energy to swim
– get my waterproof music thingie from the charger
– put my suit in my gym bag
– put on shoes and scarf and coat
– walk over to the Y (which is less than a block away, a big incentive for buying this particular house, but that’s still a little hard to motivate in the Chicago winter cold)
– get a towel from the front desk
– change into suit, not forgetting music and goggles (and storing glasses on top shelf of locker)
– swim (!)
– shower and condition hair so it doesn’t turn to straw
– sometimes take a few minutes for eucalyptus sauna
– put lotion on my dry face
– sometimes take a few minutes for dry sauna
– dry off and get dressed
– put swimsuit in suit spinner to get most of the water off
– put on scarf and coat and don’t forget the glasses on the top shelf of the locker
– return damp towel
– walk home
– take off coat and scarf and shoes
– take suit out of gym bag and hang up so it finishes drying
– plug music thingie into charger
WHEW. It takes about 45 minutes, which seems like a lot of time for 20 minutes of exercise.
But the thing is, I actively enjoy swimming — I love slipping into the water, and taking those first long strokes, and when I’m in the groove with my music, it really is fun. It’s good self-regulation too, for my ADD; it calms me down and helps me think better. Swimming is a good time to sort out story problems. And I sleep better at night if I’ve exercised that day, which is a big bonus.
So I’m going to call swimming a good trade-off, time-wise, and if my life is feeling too busy for an hour / day allocated to exercise, I need to try to slow down the rest of my life, instead of dropping the exercise.
I’m sure I’ll fall off the wagon again, but I am trying to accept that that’s part of the process too, periodically climbing back on again…
(This is me, age 51, finally learning how to swim.)