Splish!

2 weeks ago I got a bit carried away after a 4.5 mile run. I was feeling great, feeling strong.  I decided to top it up to 6 miles. Mistake! At 5.5 miles pop went the same calf that I tore in the pool 5/6 weeks earlier.

So I have been sat at home feeling angry with myself for a couple of weeks.

Today the leg was pain free so I decided to give the pool a try. I am glad I did.

There was a good turn out tonight. 6 ladies, me and another bloke. A 69 year old guy who wants to swim before he is 70. Brilliant, I thought, some good old fashioned competition. That's what we blokes need. 

I took it quite easy at first tonight, making sure the leg was up to it. It was fine. 

So an interesting thing happened tonight. After all the usual stuff, float for a bit, noodle for a bit managing  half a width before stopping,  I was encouraged to try and just swim. I wasn't convinced it was a good idea but I went with it. 2 Lanes out from the side off I went. Interestingly the first few times were quite a success. I actually managed to swim. OK it was quite a short distance, only the width of 2 lanes, but that is the first time I have moved through the water without any aid. Sure it wasn't graceful and may well have looked like anything but swimming. But it was. I swam. Hurrah! I was obviously feeling cocky so I stepped out 3 lanes and had a go. That was less of a success as I managed 2 and a half lanes before  It went a bit wonky, I think I must have felt a bit silly after that as I lost a bit of confidence and struggled a bit to regain my original glory.

I spent some time practising breathing again going across the pool with float or holding out a noodle in front. It's not brilliant. I can get half way across and then it seems to go a bit rubbish. Most of the 'new' folk seem to be unable to stick their face in the water so I am very pleased that although I still can't do it perfectly at least I have a really good go. I was trying to help some folks with the advice that nice folks have given me but mostly everyone was just adamant they couldn't do it. So they weren't really listening. I will try again next week.

It seems that half the time it is all alright. Good kicks, OK breaths etc etc and the other half of the time it is awkward and wrong. I keep going because I hope that with time the 'alright' bits will be greater than the rubbish bits and I will be able to get from one side to the other without it going the same way as a clown's car when he slams the door and honks the horn!

So another hour flew by and again I feel that I have made some tiny progress, with a long way still to go. 

The last 2 Sundays I have taken Spider-man for his swimming lesson. After Sunday's lesson I decided it would be fun to have a go in the big scary slides. I think they called them flumes when I was a kid. So before he could talk us both out of it we climbed the steps. Up and up to the ceiling, wow I forgotten how scared I used to be of heights. I sat down and gently positioned the wee super hero on top of me, I laid down and whoosh! down we went, like a double decker torpedo of fun. It was the first time either of us had done such a thing and I had no idea what to expect. What fun. We landed in a small pool at the bottom of the slide giggling like, well like a kid and his daddy. We went straight back up the steps and did it again and again. Brilliant!

Tonight coming out of the pool it was dark and cold. The first time since I started this, that I have come out in the dark. Time is marching, Christmas is coming, and I won't be 36 for ever! At least it was calm, though,  after 2 nights of 70+mph winds and horizontal rain as Katia paid the UK a visit. Or summer as we like to call it in Scotland.

Pip pip!