I became a fish today

I got reacquainted with the smell of chlorine today.

Yes folks. I made it to the pool today. And I didn't die.

I was hoping to make the initial pool visit yesterday, but it was a rough morning, so I opted to head north and have lunch with my mom instead and run later in the afternoon, when the pool was closed for lap swimming. On the plus side? I did log 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday, my longest run since I almost died from head issues in December.

But anyway. Today. I swam. And I kind of enjoyed it.

I headed over to the YMCA after I got up this morning. Before heading down to the pool, I went up to the cardio room and took a 2-mile run on the treadmill. The run itself wasn't too bad, even though I have a kind of achy knee.

Then it was time for the water.

And let me tell you, putting on a swimming suit when you're a bit sweaty after running? It's kind of hard. The suit doesn't just pull on easy like it does under normal circumstances.

But once the suit was on I was ready. I wandered down the hallways from the locker room to the pool deck. And if I thought putting my swimming suit on while sweaty was a pain, I wasn't quite prepared for the swim cap. For a moment I thought I'd just go without, but then I finally got the cap on and it stayed in place.

Swimming suit. Check. Swim cap. Check. Goggles. Check. I was ready to jump in.

I didn't have any big plans for a workout today. I just wanted to get myself reacquainted with the pool, since I can't remember the last time I swam laps. Heck, I can't remember the last time I went swimming period. It's been that long.

I admit, I was a bit nervous. There were two other lap swimmers in lanes next to me. Hardcore swimmers. And me? I was worried about making it to the end of the lane and back without dying. But I took a breath, pushed off from the wall and started swimming.

And it was actually kind of relaxing at some points. Yes, it was hard. The first 100 yards or so weren't too bad, but eventually I found myself having to take a short rest break after every 50 yards. But from what I've read, that's OK. At least that's what the triathlon for dummies authors say. They incorporate rest breaks into their swimming workouts.

I ended up swimming 550 yards today. Which was 22 laps and it took me a little less than 20 minutes. Not too bad. And if I keep up with swimming I know it'll get easier. And I'll be able to swim farther and not have to take those rest breaks so often.

And by July? That half-mile swim I'll start the triathlon with will be no problem.