Back in the Pool

It's been nearly 9 months and I finally got signed off by the Physio this week for the shoulder injury sustained in November. Truth be told it's still sore every day and I still have strengthening exercises to perform every day but Physio says its 99.9% there and I have to just keep doing the exercises. Bonkers. I guess it would have been better to break something as that could have been be put back together and would have healed a lot sooner.

Since then I have been unable to perform anything but the very gentlest upper body work outs, or ironing as I like to call it, so I have a wobbly upper half. Nice! I have therefore been doing nothing other than running. Half marathons, hill races, hilly half marathons that sort of thing and 2 weeks ago my first marathon which was quite hilly also. Lovely.

I have also been on a quest to find some sort of decent lessons or teacher. It has taken all this time to actually find something. It is incredible to believe that it could take so long to find something but it has. I can't even remember who it was that finally sorted me out with a teacher as I have rang so many different places and left so many unanswered emails. Last night, in a health club in Edinburgh, I had a 1 on 1 lesson with a nice lady called Naomi.

Keeping it simple and streamlined I wanted to work on Breast stroke, as that to me seems to be less stressfull on the shoulder. We worked on gliding and doing the leg work then gliding and working on the arms. It was surprising how quick the time passed. It is good to find someone who 'gets' where I am and who I feel we are on a similar wavelength. Of course I started a bit rubbish but with each attempt it got better and let's get working on getting that committed to 'muscle memory'.

I could still float, I was pleased to find out, and could still stick my face in the water without any huge panic. I wanted to work on getting back to a standing position without my panic/flounder manoeuvre and I am pleased to say that after about 10 bad attempts I finally managed it twice on my own without any dramas. More about the technicalities of it next week when I can remember what on earth I did.

All this will be worked on again on Monday, as that is my next lesson.
Only problem with this pool is it doesn't have a deep end so how do I learn to tread water?
I am delighted to be back in the wet stuff, however, and determined that I can and will do this.

What is it with blokes in locker rooms though? Wandering about in the buff like they totally want you to see them, young/old fat/thin/blessed/unlucky. One guy was even watching himself towelling dry in front of the big mirror. I just don't get it. Put it away for goodness sake.

I have toyed with the idea of scrapping this blog as really last year was virtually a complete waste of time and none of it, I imagine, would be of any help to anyone but if nothing else it is interesting for me to read back and see what has changed. What has changed, I think, is my fear of the water is receding and my confidence increasing. Technique will surely follow.

A holiday at Centre Parcs in 5 or 6 weeks time and as the only thing that is free is the pool tonight I feel confident that by then at least I should be able to do a few strokes and stand up.

Currently watching Tom Daley and co. diving at the Olympics.
I wonder if I could do that....

Hit the tarmac!

Ouch! On Tuesday, on my last run before my first half marathon this Saturday, smack! Down I went. Hit  the pavement. Landed on my right shoulder.

Trip to the hospital, not broken, not dislocated just f@@@in' sore, thank you very much.

I have been neglecting this of late as I have binned my second teacher.

I have made a Total Immersion friend however who indulged me a couple of weeks ago. I will write about that next week. Suffice to say another injury will probably keep me out the pool for a few weeks.

Still running on Saturday though....hopefully!

Not much to report. Didn't blog last week as I just totally flippered out and had a not so good session. Who thought flippers were a good idea for someone who can't swim?

I am enjoying reading my Total Immersion book and watching my Total Immersion DVDs however when I get back into the pool nothing has changed.

Knowledge is power but practice and technique are proving to be very hard walls to climb right now.

My concentration is also more or running again at the moment as I have managed to get myself onto a very exciting Half Marathon at the end of November, and I really need to up my training for that as I am a couple of months behind schedule due to the summer injuries. I need to do very well indeed or risk looking like a fool infront of some people who could really help me next year in my quest to run up and down the hills.

Back in the pool tonight. Who knows what may happen?

Pip pip!

Splosh!

I have been looking into Total Immersion this week, check it out: Total Immersion

Inspired by Aquamillie's brilliant blog, check it out: Aquamillie's blog

Fascinating huh?

I have got my hands on a copy of the o2 in h2o dvd, like Aquamillie, but didn't get it in time to watch it all the way through before my lesson tonight. I will definitely get involved in the coming days. I like what I see regarding total immersion and simple, obvious things like practicing a skill until you have mastered it then building from it onto a new skill and so on just help to remind me to try and get some sense and forward planning into this. So far it has been all over the place, like a mad lady's breakfast.

Another good night in the pool. Teacher was on form tonight really pushing us, which is really what I need. Despite not being 100% successful in anything I tried and drinking most of the pool the positive thing was I tried, I had a go. I may have flailed but I didn't fail. So I have a fizzy nose and throat but I feel good. A cup of decaf and everything is rosy.

Tonight after the usual deep end dunk we did some treading water. Which I really wanted to do. We got noodles which was great as we could really concentrate on our legs and get that right without any fear. I got the hang of it eventually. It helps me to not look down. I practiced 3 different types of kick. Egg beater, breast-stroke kick and just a kind of swishy swishy thing. I did them all but I really concentrated on the swishy swishy one. As I had been watching some youtube clips and I like the idea of long relaxed slow moving legs, relaxed feet gentle movements trying not to kick far beyond the line of the body, as that is the kind of kick that I have seen used in some of the short Total Immersion promo videos I have watched. I never got a chance to go back and try without the noodle, as intended, as the rest of the lesson was action packed. So a skill to practice and master is treading water, until I can do it without a noodle. (1)

Next, float in 2 hands we did 4 widths of the pool, face in water and breathing as best we could. Now I haven't watched the o2 in h20 dvd yet so I just did it my way. Which worked as well as it has always done. I get half way across the pool and I either run our of breath or breathe wrong or my legs are not moving me any longer. I was trying this week to not kick too hard and not breathe too hard as I am sure that is what is going to be the way forward for me but my relatively new made up habits are hard to break. My kicking was less frantic and violent which did help a bit, as I was trying/hoping to keep my kicks all swishy swishy like and within my body line but then I would forget to breathe or breathe wrong so although I may have improved my technique by the minutest of details it wasn't enough to propel me any further than normal. It's a lot to think about and do.

So next we had one hand on the float and one hand 'swimming' 4 widths. Well this was OK providing I was swimming with my right hand, it was as successful as with 2 hands on the float but when I changed to the left hand I was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. I found it really tough to do, to be fair so did half of the others.

Next we had to do it without floats, I was nervous-not scared, but off I went. I did a width in 3 stages. But that is progress as last week I managed a third of a width twice, so to do 4 widths (albeit in 3 stages) feels like progress and to be only nervous and not scared was progress too. Delighted with that. Again my technique wasn't great and to be honest the majority of the time I didn't stick my face in the water as it was just all too much to think about and trying to survive at the same time. My front crawl feels like a doggy paddle, It would be interesting (or mortifying) to see a video of me doing it.

So while the others tried backstroke with hilarious consequences I wanted to try floating on my back. I'm OK floating on my front, floating on my back I struggle with so I gave that some attention tonight. Until tonight I had never floated on my back, never thought that it was possible but I have seen people do it on youtube so I had belief this week. Lie back, put ears in the water and mostly it works. Just remember to push tummy up.  My problem is that I don't find it easy to get back on my feet. Lift head up, lift bum up bend knees into chair position, don't panic and flail about.  I practiced and it got a wee bit better so I need to keep practicing  as I need to master that, that is skill number (2)

I'm thinking about a swimming cap too. Hmmm!

Some sites I have been looking at that I found helpful this week are here:

Total Immersion Forum this was interesting as there was a few beginners or frustrated swimmers who were battling with there breathing too. I am not alone!

Everybody Swim videos some good videos for very basic beginners techniques. Quick and simple.

Barefish blog I found the blog a good read.

It never stops bloody raining I love this site equally as much as I hate the constant Scottish drizzle.

One more cup of coffee before bedtime. 

Pip pip

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!

Splash!

Hurrah, back in the pool after quite a few weeks off with injury and illness. 

Just like starting all over again, again, again.

A couple of splutters underwater at the deep end, I am well out of practice. 

So tonight did some floating, getting my face back in the water. One of the girls told me just to put my face in the water, not my whole head. Apparently that's what I was doing. You should wear the water like a mask, not a helmet! Brilliant. I consciously tried to do just that. I also learnt that eyes should be looking forward, not down when in the water. So that's 2 things I learnt tonight that I did not know before. Makes sense if you think about it. 

So I need to try and put that into practice. 

To be honest if left to my own devices I would have just practiced that for the whole hour but teacher kept up a brisk pace tonight for us, constantly trying out new things on us. It was all just to fast for me but the other 4 girls could just about keep up. We all tried, which was good. 

The things we tried was holding float with one hand and trying to do some strokes with the other hand. Then change over. I was useless with the left arm. There were other various things like that but to be honest it was going to fast for me and I can't even remember now. 

Biggest change tonight though was instead of getting a float and stepping out 1 then 2 then 3 lanes from the side and float/flapping back in I decided to kick off from the side and head across the pool, I just did it and guess what? I didn't drown. I may have stopped 3 times on the way across and stood up but that's OK. Very pleased with that. I got tired half way through though and it was quite hard work towards the end. 

So still need more time to practice before I dare take away my comfort float.

However I have learnt a couple of things about head in the water and I have turned round and headed out instead of in. That may be all but it's this weeks' step forward. O and remember to just breath normally.

More pool time is needed. Christmas is coming.

Pip pip.

Nothing to report:

Just a quick note to say nothing to report here. As it is Scotland in summer it inevitably rained for a whole month last Wednesday so I didn't make it to the outdoor Ceilidh and then on Thursday I uncharacteristically ate some skanky junk food from a greasy cafe. I suffered, alot. 

24 hours of pain and vomiting and 4 days in bed. Great! I even missed a performance, at the festival, by the Edinburgh Sitar Project  http://www.tablaalba.org/  Gutted! The next thing i'm going to do after I nail this swimming lark is join these guys. They rawk! Looking on the bright side, though, I got 2 days off work and I lost 5 lbs. Spiderman was not very well last week either, he was sick on Tuesday and Thursday so poor Spidermummy had quite a few days. Bless her.

Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since injury number 1 and I will be going out for my first jog. Should be interesting. 

On Sunday there is a great event in Edinburgh. Check dis!

http://www.edinburghrunningnetwork.co.uk/2ndAnnualERNLPRace.htm

An interesting afternoon is guaranteed, including a cake baking competition! Here are a few prize photos from last years race.

Hopefully I can win myself some crappy old lp too. However I intend just taking it easy and enjoying the experience. 33 1/3 minutes of running after 4 weeks off will no doubt be a small challenge. 

I have been checking out Barefish.com.au very interesting and quite informative. The advice would appear to be slow down, don't rush, listen to your senses. Your mind knows what to do, let your body do it. Interesting. It's hard to slow down when you are desperate to learn but there must be something in it as I have been in a massive rush and have got nowhere thus far. Paralysis by analysis. Groovy man!

OK I'm off to listen to the rhythm of the rain on the conservatory roof. Hopefully next week I should be back on that, err horse?

Busy week. Sunday LP run. Monday Ravi Shankar at the Edinburgh Festival. Tuesday running with the Jolly Joggers. Wednesday Swim club. Thursday Jolly Jogging again. Friday. Night off. Phew!

Pip pip!

week 10:

It is now 10 weeks after lessons began. I stupidly thought I would be swimming upstream like a salmon by now however things have not quite turned out the way I had hoped.

There are many times a chap like me would normally have just given up and walked away. Many times. 

There have been problems but compared to some people who have real problems they are just tiny little microscopic hic-ups. Nothing really.

I feel that I have changed tracks and now I am on the right one and I will get there in my own time. Success is always just around the corner.

I am nursing 2 injuries at the moment, one on each leg and haven't been for a run for nearly 2 weeks and decided to have another night off from the pool just so I can heal properly. Not running is annoying, especially as the weather has been just perfect.

Next week, I have just found out, is the last of the summer ceilidhs in the courtyard of Linlithgow Palace, just up the road. I would love to go but it's on swim night. So I may have another week off and start again again in 2.

Will see how I feel/heal next week. Meantime here is a few great pics of the ceilidh:

Here's the website: http://www.scotchhop.co.uk/

Bon Jovi's Revenge

Not for the first time Bon Jovi get a mention in my blog. Not that I am a fan, however after seeing this clip I am now a sympathiser. Haha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1jTwXo1je8


Anyway went to quack yesterday and he confirmed torn calf muscle. Ouch!

Rest was prescribed.

From the Top!

OK, so off I went tonight. Sufficiently rested and ready to go again. 

I have been gingerly testing my left leg after the thigh strain on Friday night. It's OK, just can't stretch it too far yet and running is probably still 2 weeks off. Should be OK in the pool though. 

The usual start, off to the deep end, a few dunks. First one a bit spluttery but a few more and everything was fine, back off down to the middle of the pool. Had a wee chat about various bits n bobs and decided I would like to try, with a float, just to do some kicks and put face in water. So that's just what I did. Just like the first lesson one however this time it was actually a success. It is so true that an adult just can't learn to swim in a baby pool. In a big pool the body is just more buoyant. It would not have believed it if i hadn't experienced it myself. So there you go. Legs up no problem and with little effort virtually horizontal and when face goes in it just all feels so right, so balanced. I just can't believe the effort I was putting in in the baby pool and really getting nowhere and feeling very frustrated about it. I started 1 lane then 2 then 3 from the side and kicked my way in, it was alright. Not brilliant but alright. At then end I was managing 3 breaths in the water before reaching the side. Quite pleased with that. I must admit I am not really getting Adam's breathing technique just right tonight but it's probably just the excitement of getting back in the pool again and I have done it before so I know I can do it again. 

It has been 4 weeks since I have been with the ladies in the pool and I do feel like it's all new. This time however I know I can stick my face in and I know I can float so I am a few steps ahead then I was the first time round. Brilliant.

I tried some more floating, just face down and limbs out and its all so nice and serene and floaty woaty  and TWANG!!!!! OWWWWW!!!!!

Disaster struck! The 'good' leg stiffened up and I panicked a wee bit thinking maybe I'd done the hamstring. But it was actually the calf that was hurting. I had to get out. Which wasn't easy. I managed to hop out and sat at the side. Perhaps it was cramp. Anyway after a couple of minutes it loosened off so I went for a walk in the water and it felt OK, a little tight but I felt I could go on. So I did something new. Hold the float with one hand and kind of doing some sort of home made stroke thing with the other kicking as we go. It was a partial success then the leg tightened up again. I gave it a few minutes tried again and it was getting tight so I just called it a day. Don't want to chance another injury. Shame as I could have achieved just a little bit more.

I consider tonight to be a success. I managed to do more than I thought I would and although I have still a long way to go I feel the foundations are a little bit stronger and I am still confident that I can crack this. 

I have a sneaky suspicion that I think that teacher thinks that I could actually swim if I only tried, but I'm not ready to give up my comfort blankie just yet.  Maybe it's psychological, I'm sure it could well be. I proved I can float, if I can just figure out this treading water lark then maybe I would believe a bit more. 

A few weeks off and I haven't been doing any homework so as school is back on I will be checking out other swimming related sites and if I find any useful I will let you know what they are. 

OK fingers crossed it was just cramp. 

Pip pip

Annoyance and Pain

First the annoyance:

Wednesday's lesson cancelled. Quite annoyed actually.

Now for the pain:

Friday night at the running track. 2nd grade quadriceps tear during warm up. Bloody sore. 2-3 weeks off. Not sure if I can go to the pool or not in the meantime. Hmm quite annoyed with myself.

Another wee rest, back in the saddle next week.

Decided again to have another week off, as teacher is on holiday, and try something different. So I joined the Lothian Running Club, for the first time, for their Wednesday night run up and down a wee hill and joined them again on Friday for my first ever go on a running track. Much fun was had however knees and hamstrings were hurting on Sunday morning, still, for my quick run before taking Spiderman to his swimming lesson.

New teacher for him today. Teacher asked all the kids for their names, to take register, predicatably my wee monkey said "Spiderman" which led to an argument with another kid who considered himself to be Spiderman also. So we had Spiderman 1 & Spiderman 2 in lessons today. Crikey!

Before and after the lesson both Spidermen were inseparable and my Spiderman followed the other Spiderman and copied everything he did. The other Spiderman is very good in the water and is happy to go under and come back up blowing bubbles which interestingly my Spiderman did too but during lessons he won't entertain it, and he seems to lack confidence in lesson time. I'm a bit confused about that I can only assume he doesn't like being told what to do and when to do it. A bit like his Spiderdaddy. So I will try and take him to the pool as often as is possible in between lessons to keep up the confidence.

Back to lessons tomorrow night and I am quite looking forward to it. I am refreshed and ready to start again (again).

I thank Aquamillie for her comments on my blog and I am hopeful of a continuation of her story too. I think the comments are spot on, to date my lessons have been all over the place, like a mad lady's breakfast, and I need to get a grip and get some kind of road map. I think it will be a good idea to try the float and practice the breathing in water thing and see what happens. It has been a few weeks so it makes sense to go right back to the start.

OK, so here we go again.

Pip pip.

Change is equal to or greater than a rest

This week with my teacher on holiday and my family on holiday too we decided to just go to the pool and have fun, Mummy, Daddy and SpiderMan! A fantastic time was had by all and Spiderman, freed from the shackles and the pressure of intense toddler swim school, was happy to splash about and just enjoy being in the water. He even surprised us with arm bands and later on just with a noodle tied round him doing a kind of a doggy paddle thing from one side of the pool to the other. OK he wasn't swimming as such as he was more vertical than horizontal but all limbs were working in sync and he seemed perfectly OK getting his face wet and blowing bubbles. During swim lessons he sometimes get's a bit cheesed off with all the dunking and deliberate attempts to splash his face so he is a bit more defensive during lesson time. In the free water he just swam and enjoyed himself.

He even took Mummy round the deep bit and in the secret lanes under the slides monkey style, ie holding on to the side and moving sideways, err like a monkey. A crab monkey presumably.

Daddy was happy just to walk about, dunk my head a couple of times and just kind of hold on to the side and enjoy watching my little Spiderman have a ball.

To be honest, as it's first week of school holidays, the pool was hoaching with kids and even if I could swim I wouldn't anyway as there just wasn't any room for an adult to even get 2 strokes in. The pool is very small, it's really more of a kids fun pool, it's not at all like a proper pool. Funny really it's the only pool in town too. There are 4 high schools with pools of which 2 are open to the public which I guess are swimming pool size but you would think a town of this size could use a big proper swimming pool. Maybe I should build one.

So for me it's good to go to a pool without anything in mind other than enjoying my boy have fun. It's good for the soul too, my lessons have been a bit rubbish 'til late and I have been frustrated so it's good to have a week off, next week I haven't decided if I will go splash about with the girls or have another week off then get right back into it when teacher is back from holiday. I did fancy maybe doing a few breadths with the float and face in water, just to see if a change of pool would be any different and to make sure I'm keeping up to speed with the face in water breathing thing as after 2 weeks of breast stroke attempts I have probably been not pushing that too hard.

Last week was the first weekend of the year when we went to the beach, got as far as dipping my toes in the frozen north sea and was greeted by wave upon wave of tiny purple jelly fish, urgh! It would be just great to go down to the beach and dive in and go for a swim without getting frostbite and jellyfish kisses. But then Scotland has it's other charms. Pictured below is our trip to the beautiful sands of Fife, with the hills of Edinburgh across the water  in the background.

Pip Pip, Onk Onk!

Frustratience and the endless propulsion of positivity

Greetings again earthlings.

Although 6 weeks in to my blog, I am actually counting this as lesson 2. As you may recall I changed venue and teacher last week with an immense amount of joy, and this week I turned up full of excitement and reinvigorated.

It turned out to not be such a joyous occasion for various reasons but as it is only lesson 2 I will keep up the positivity. I read somewhere recently that when you are learning a new instrument you have some good lessons and some bad lessons. It happens. If you are having a bad lesson it doesn't mean that you are incapable it's just that the brain is working harder than the body this week and it is all being taken in and processed ready for next week. I Understand that somewhat as last week it was going in one ear and out the other, this week I feel I can remember just about everything teacher said, although I would give myself a C- on the practical. No biggy.

Frustratience, though, is a new word I invented which sums up how I feel after 6 weeks.  4 of which I wasted really. Frustration with my original teacher and my inability to see the obvious and change what wasn't good. However I did pay for 10 weeks up front  with no chance of a refund (that was part of the deal). My instincts told me not to sign up for something with not even a written plan or any goals whatsoever and with a no refund clause. I should have smelt a big dirty rat but I guess I was desperate. It makes me angry. However a good Buddhist would turn those negatives round and I am switching to patience and positivity. Patience as I am starting again and determined to see it through, no matter how long it takes and positivity as that takes no effort at all really.

So off we go to get changed and showered.

I am no longer the new kid. A new lady showed up tonight which initially I was pleased with but it turned out to be a mixed blessing as I was no longer centre of attention, and especially as I seemed to do OK last week most attention was on the new lady. Which is fair, however her inability to listen and do what teacher asked made her get into constant bother which on 2 occasions caused teacher to dash away from whatever we were doing to rescue the new lady, leaving me splashing and spluttering and annoyed. I think it showed a lack of respect to the teacher to constantly do the opposite of what teacher said and get into bother but in fairness her enthusiasm was 10 laps ahead of her ability so what can you do, better that than a terrified learner I suppose.  Just goes to show you how difficult a job it must be really. I spent probably half of the hour just keeping an eye on the newbie as she kept going deeper and getting out of her depth and instead of swimming into the side, she was heading from the side out into the middle. 

So what did I get up to, well, like last week we started by visiting the deep end. Doing a few dunks, holding on to the side of course. As usual first one was a partial success, all the rest were OK. Just takes a couple of goes to get it right. Back down to the middle of the pool, holding on to the side of course, and a noodle and some breaststroke practice, walking out  a bit and swimming back into the side. This was going too well so I swapped the noodle for the arm-bands of shame and normal service was resumed.  A bit patchy and the legs were getting it right about 50% of the time. Apparently its legs stretched out straight behind you, bend the knees, toes under bum and push out like a frog and back to the start. Like last week  arms or legs were perfect, rarely both in sync but I managed to keep making it into the side without too many incidents.

Teacher suggested we do a lap of the pool on our back, with noodle, to look at our legs to make sure what they were doing is what we thought they were doing. Great idea. It was funny as sometimes I would get in to a rhythm and It just worked and it was great and then when I thought about it, it all fell apart again and it would take a few strides to get it back. The best advice, half way round, was when legs are stretched out count to 3, then bend the knees then push out like a frog. That really made the difference as I really got a good rhythm up and sped away down the side of the pool. 

So that was about it really. Not a huge amount done and not really any progress from last week at all, but  hey it's only lesson 2 (again) so it's still early days. 

New teacher is on holiday for 2 weeks now and I have 2 weeks off work too so either I can go next week at the same time, assuming the other girls will turn up anyway, or I could have a couple of sessions splashing about in a pool with my family. Either way it will be fun and exciting. 

I almost forgot, I was looking at Youtube at some treading water exercises and I was really in the mood to crack that this week but It didn't quite work out that way. They egg beater technique is very hard work on the old legs and I could manage no more than a few seconds, I will try the more traditional 'treading' technique next time. 

So arm bands off and I finished up with a few face down floats, Adam inspired, it's really funny. I feel I have kind of cracked that and I can do it and stay completely afloat for as long as I can blow bubbles and it seems that maybe I could just surprise myself and swim away and maybe I will one time, but obviously I would need to come up for a breath and go back down so next time, well next lesson anyway, I will try and float and then come up for a breath and see if I can manage that. If I can I will be delighted.

I feel I have been getting carried away with myself of late and as I am Scottish and there is a tremendous amount of Calvanism inherent in the Scottish psyche that will simply never do so  I am going to revisit Aquamilie's great blog tomorrow and read from the start again and see how it compares with my experience to date, after-all she is part of the reason I started to learn and all of the reason I started to blog.

'til next time, folks, all the P's. Patience & Positivity. Pip Pip.

Good Jovi

Well thanks to Bon Jovi playing a very wet gig a Murrayfield Stadium this evening my missus, who works opposite the, ahem, home of rugby was a little delayed in getting to the train station after fighting her way through the throngs of 40-something year old women who were queueing up in the rain to see the spandex wearing poodle permed rawkers! So by the time she got home to relieve me of baby sitting our 3 year old, who thinks he is Spider Man, it was almost time for the lesson to start.

Well I could have legged it and got there 10 minutes late, but 'teacher' is on holiday this week and goodness knows what knuckle dragging disinterested yoof would be looking after us anyway so I thought I might try something different. By some unfunny coincidence the other midweek evening adult class is also on a Wednesday evening, however this one is an hour long and starts at 7.30pm. Hmm! I decided to give it a go.  For a change I could hang out with my family, on a Wednesday,  and cook dinner and it would all be relaxed and civilised, even with a tiny super hero at the table.

Off I toddled to the local Community High School and wandered in, paid my money and was greeted by the swim teacher, a lovely ol' dear called Brenda. "Don't I know you?" she said. "I don't know, do you?"  I said. Anyway it turns out that we don't know each other I just look like someone she knows,  he is obviously a very good looking chap! There were 2 other ladies there, both older than I, and they could swim and had been taught by Brenda but they just keep coming to cheer on the learners and it's all very cosy and Women's Institute. Already I felt like one of the girls.

Brenda was great from the first moment, as most people were on holiday this week I was the only non swimmer so I had her to myself for most of the time. I explained what I had been doing and the lack of any instruction I had had the previous 4 weeks was obvious and I realised that I had actually been teaching myself to swim, with some useful advice from Adam, but no instruction to speak of really. Crazy! So I just let her start from scratch. She took me to the deep end! A novelty. The first time in my life I have been in the deep end. Obviously holding on to the sides. I had to dunk my head under the water. I was a bit apprehensive at first as I had usually been doing this in 2 feet of water but now it was over 2 metres. My first go was predictably bad with a big mouthful of water, and it was another minute before I had another go. which was better and a third dunk and that was that, off we go back to the shallow end. A cunning wheeze really. 2 minutes work and any  'fear of the deep' has been withdrawn, without even realising it was happening. It's not that deep really.

Breast stroke, no giggling at the back, was on the menu today and what a joy. Obviously I have never tried it before and I fancied having a go. My gosh, there is a lot to remember. However I got a good 30 minutes of practice in. I was shown what to do with hands, what to do with feet. What to do with head. I could do each part on there own no problem, but them together it was tricky but I kept at it and progress was made. It's just practice makes perfect. Just like everything else. Just like drums. Until I got a electronic drum kit in the house I was a great drummer with 2 hands and one leg. Within 2 weeks I had totally mastered 4 way separation and now I actually think I am quite good, and humble to boot. But it's all because I have a kit there I can practice anytime without disturbing anyone at any time of the day. Practice practice practice. So practice I did. By the end it was looking something like swimming. I still had a noodle but to be honest it felt like a super noodle as it was just too buoyant, if that doesn't sound silly. Apparently it's because we are in a proper swimming pool or something, I am not sure I fully understood. Anyway a moment later joy turned to horror as my noodle was traded for, adult arm bands! NOOOOO! O the shame. All those childhood memories came back in an instant. A feeling not unlike being put up on the dining room table in a kilt and everyone marching round looking up, pointing, shaking their heads and commenting. I don't recall that ever really happening but that would be a darn sight better than wearing arm bands. Wouldn't it?

Well maybe but by now I trusted teacher and was happy to do as I was told. Actually it worked really well. Perhaps they are the best thing after all. Makes sense when you think about it. Just like stabilizers on your bike when you are a kid.  I continued getting further and further away from the side and swimming in. I managed maybe 4 strokes before reaching the sides so, although not quite half way it was certainly a third of a breadth. I think that's what it's called.

We did loads of other stuff tonight like trying to tread water, not a complete success and O I can't even remember. It all seemed to go so quick, and it was an hour. My longest lesson so far and the most enjoyable.  Maybe I will remember more about it in the morning.

I feel now after 4 wasted weeks and now with a new teacher in a proper pool that I am finally learning, and that I think that soon I will be able to swim a little. Brenda is a great teacher, I feel she will be every bit as thrilled as I will be when I swim a breadth.

So to recap.

Thanks go to Bon Jovi for helping my missus miss her train.

Apparently you can't really teach adults to swim in a kiddies training puddle, it needs to be in a proper pool. No doubt something to do with physics or mechanics or something sciencey.

O and most importantly if you are not getting anything from your lessons, then change your teacher. I can't tell you how amazing I feel about life, the universe and all the other stuff in it, and it's all because I have a good teacher.

O and finally Bon Jovi is French for Good Jovi, apparently.

Keep that faith, folks!

and we'll all float on, ok!

Alright, already we'll all float on.

With the usual mix of excitement and anxiety me and the chap from last week made our way into the training puddle as normal. There was an odd moment when a girl from the previous class was marched back to the pool by her mother demanding that she jump into the pool. The kid was obviously terrified of doing so and her mother was saying "If you jump in you will get a reward!". Apparently a similar thing happened last week. It shows how some people, even a mother, don't really understand the fear that some of us have of doing such a thing. Of course we know that we (probably) won't die but just for a few seconds you will be underwater and what if it goes up your nose and you lose your footing and panic and flail about and there are people watching, and that is obviously terrifying for the poor girl.

Also I  feel that swimming coaches sometimes don't empathise really. Of course they know that eventually you will figure it out and manage to swim as much as you need to or want to, but perhaps as they have obviously been swimming for such a long time they have forgotten what it's like to want to but be unable to. They may have never been in the position that some find themselves in, when they fear and dread the water and the whole week is ruined as the minutes are counted down until the next sorry episode in the wet.  I remember as a kid I felt like that. I am braver now but I can still remember.

So my online coach, Adam, has been on hand with some great advice again and the usual first few laps with the float were as successful as ever. As usual legs weren't up to the job of propelling me right across the puddle. The same legs that on Sunday ran up and down a muddy and quite hilly 10th Anniversary Dechmont Law 10k trail run. Hmm. 130th place thank you very much. (no medal for 130th place apparently-gutted!) Teacher suggested I try a putting a float on my back and she brought out this brightly coloured sharks fin with a strap. O the humiliation. As polite as I could I told her where that can float off to. A few more lengths with a couple of noodles which went reasonably well. Breathing, sponsored by Adam, is not too bad, the underwater part is virtually nailed just getting the other part needs more practice, I don't know if I am taking too big a breath (if that's possible, I am sure Adamski will put me right on that) as after a few of them It goes a  bit wonky. Thinking about it perhaps I have been breathing out and in too hard. So  I decided to  have a chat about floating with 'teacher' . She suggested it would be good to try and thinking about the physics of it it all kind of makes sense. You see when I'm, ahem, swimming with the noodle and I have a couple of practices without sticking my face in the drink I usually run out of leg steam before I get all the way across but when I stick my face in the wet-stuff it feels like my legs are lifted and therefore there is less resistance and I can propel myself forward quicker and with less effort. Intriguing huh?

So although nervous I decided to float on. This could be the pivotal part of the whole game as I have always just believed that I can't possibly float so therefore I can't possibly swim, changing that mindset is still proving challenging and the fears of childhood pop back in to town and wave a cheerful hello. However I am now led to believe that actually, yes, it is possible to float. So here goes....well I thought about it for a moment more. OK so breath in, breathe out count of 4 and up again, it's easy, just give it a go, ok but i'm scared, JUST DO IT!!!!

So I did it. err and I did it again and again and again. Wow! I was surprised to find that actually I didn't need to count to 4 and come up for air. I could stay in the water face down for longer than I expected. Amazing. A miracle. While it may have looked like I was practicing playing dead I was actually enjoying just floating. Ok so it wasn't perfect, only a few times did I do it text book but what I did achieve was quite a revelation to me. Maybe I can float on ok!

Alright already, so going back to what I said earlier about breathing in a gentler way, I don't yet  know if that is the key to getting it all together. Well there was certainly no need to breath as heavy while just floating on but I ran out of time to do a few more lengths, so that will have to wait until next week. Next week we have a new teacher, a fella argh! as Becca has a holiday. No need to be nervous.

If I could just find the time to have more practice. A busy boy at the moment though.

As far as the view under water, as my online coach has asked, well there is just another pair of Scottish male legs, typical milk bottle colour, even in what we like to call summer! So as yet nothing at all to report and as our female companion didn't show up this week much less to view. However I will keep that in mind as, to some people,  it may act as an extra stimulus to get out and get wet more often, at the moment for me any of that business would just be a distraction.

So thanks again to Adamski and to Modest Mouse. More fun next week.

Pip pip!

Lesson 3: Back to Square 1, Phew!

Well, I had kind of been dreading lesson 3 as it got nearer on the back of last week's lack of progress.

On Sunday I took my 3 year old lad for his second swimming lesson which really was about as successful as mine and I was a bit disappointed with the standard of so-called teaching but that's another matter.

Last night we had a new pupil. A guy, just like me, who's child is learning to swim and he realised that he can't. I'm not the only 1. I knew it couldn't just be me.

A day or so before lesson 3 I got a post from Adam on the blog who helped me put things back in perspective, so thank you Adam. I have employed your breathing technique and added the goggles to my underwater wardrobe and, surprise surprise, it made a big difference. I even practiced the breathing before I got to the pool and had that just about in the bag before I got in the water. I hope nobody at work saw me! That was important as I had the rhythm ready and I knew when to lift my head before I got in the water. I reckon if I hadn't practiced that before I got there it would have went wrong when you have everything else to try and do.

So with the breathing just about sorted I could hopefully concentrate on getting from one side of the kiddies training puddle to the other. I started with the floats again, just to see if last week was just a temporary blip. After 10-15 mins I tried adding a noodle which really seemed to help as it supported my middle and brought my legs higher in the water which again helped but I was still struggling to get my legs to get me to the other side. Also I am sure there is a slope on the water. It seems easier to go 'downhill' and a slight struggle to go back 'uphill' again. I know that that is impossible but I want to believe it. I still don't seem to be able to keep kicking all the way across and stay in a straight line. It is like my body is twisting too much, hmm!

I decided to discard the float, maybe for good, and with 2 noodles I started to, ahem, swim across. Well it took 2 goes to get the hang of what the arms should do but they kind of figured it out. I had another 2 lengths without putting my face in the water just to sort out my arms and legs.

Reasonable success, I must have got carried away and one of the noodles shot off up in to the air bouncing off one of my surprised co-learner's face, much to his shock. I just kept going with the head down pretending it wasn't me. I was then left with one noodle which I am pleased to say did not drag me down under the water to feed on me but kept me buoyant enough to enable me to carry on.

So Back to where we were in week 1 really, only this time with a kind of rhythm and system to breathing  much improved on week 1. Sponsored by Adam. That is progress!

There were a few moments when it all fell apart, of course, usually when I got half way across and maybe began to start to think about what I was doing and then it went wrong. I suppose it's like telling someone who is a bit scared of drums how play drums. It's too complex to think about all the things you have to do AND do them all at the same time. You just feel it and ride with it. That must be what swimming is like. When I just went for it without thinking it seemed to work. Remember to do Adams breathing and just ignore the arms and legs, hopefully they will do the right thing.

So after a week where I was thinking about getting lessons elsewhere I am pleased to say that progress was indeed made. Still much work to do however. Legs need to get with it next week.

So, thanks to Adam, in summary here is how it worked for me this week.

Blowing bubbles for a count of 4.

Blowing bubbles, face in water count 1-2-3-head out water -4- breath in and repeat.

Simples!

Practice that folks in and out of the water.

"Practice, practice, practice and have fun."

A few wise words.

Things to remember, still blow out as you lift head out of water and make sure you are blowing again as head goes back in. As long as I remember to do those 2 things then there will be no spluttering and fizzy nose syndrome (F.N.S. for short).

Oblivious to any spectators this week, too busy concentrating on the job in hand to care. Success!

So looking forward to next week again.

Lesson 2: A Partial Success

Lesson 2 tonight.

Positive point was that I confidently walked past my audience of mums and dads in the gallery en route to the training puddle. Maybe next week I will wave and perhaps stop to chat and sign a few autographs.

Another pupil tonight. A nice young lady. She turned out to be almost a decent swimmer however she just couldn't do the face in the water thing. Won't be long before she has mastered it and swims off into the sunset. Her technique looked very good, just a bit scared to get her face wet.

Well, like my school report cards used to say,  I set my self some very low targets which I consistently failed to achieve.

Buoyed by last week's veritable successes, I perhaps was feeling a little more confident than I perhaps had the right to be. Tonight I just could not get it together. There wasn't really much of a lesson structure. It was a bit like 'ok do what you can and when you feel confident with that we will do something else'. Truth is neither of us progressed much past floundering and spluttering.

My legs just didn't seem to get it together tonight. I couldn't go from one side of the kiddies training pool to the other while doing the underwater breathing thing. I would get 2/3 or 3/4 across and then although I was still kicking it felt like I wasn't going forward. I did this for a while with a pair of floats and then with one bigger float and still It was a struggle. I couldn't even manage a straight line.

I maybe did 20 lengths and only really 2 I managed to do satisfactorily. I stopped trying to breathe underwater and just concentrate on kicking all the way across. It just wasn't happening. I was getting quite frustrated. So that was it. Lesson over and all me and my new chum managed to do was a couple of lengths of the tiny kiddie pool. Poor show.

I am home now and after thinking about it for a while I conclude that maybe I should have used the 'noodles' instead of the float, as last week when using the noodles I could move arms and legs and that just seemed easier to propel me forward. I'm not sure why the instructor insisted on floats this week. Next week I will try the noodles. To me it seems more logical to actually attempt to swim with all limbs using 2 noodles, then lose one and hey who knows maybe lose another. Didn't feel like I took a step forward this week. I only feel I achieved a wee bit more of sticking my face in the water. With varying amounts of success.

Perhaps, like aquamillie, I should go to the pool in between lessons to practice. Not sure if pools let you just flap about and disturb everyone. Will need to make some calls.

Need more work on the breathing underwater. I Just haven't got it together yet and 45 minutes just flies by in the pool.

On Sunday it's my turn to take little lad to his swimming lesson so I should get some underwater time. Every little helps I suppose.

Tonight I am reminded how I felt when learning to drive. Some lessons were great, some not so great, some frustrating but I guess if you can't practice between lessons then it's always going to be hard. Perhaps me and the family should find a quiet pool and just splash about. Perhaps.

So although I feel that I haven't made progress this week I am still looking forward to the next one. It's not impossible after all, surely everyone can learn. Focus on the prize.

So off to bed now. Night night.

Oh just remembered, I bought some groovy speedo goggles on the way there tonight. However I still don't feel I have the right to wear them. Maybe next week. Maybe next week.

pip pip

The First Step is the Deepest

Hello.

I am a 36 year old bloke, who just never learned to swim and have avoided water for almost 20 years since leaving high school. I have a 3 year old son who loves the water and has just started swimming lessons at the local pool with his mum, after an 18 month wait to get a place. Therefore I decided it is now time to get over this and get on with having fun with my family instead of watching, jealously, from the side.

It's not been an easy thing to do. There has been a little embarrassment over the years about it and people do think you are a bit odd, in the same way that I think people who choose the harp as their musical instrument of choice are a bit odd, some people even offer some form of pity in the same way they would upon discovering you are vegetarian.

Two weeks ago I finally plucked up the courage and just booked some lessons at the pool before I could talk myself out of it. With the lessons booked and paid for there would be no way of chickening out. I deliberately chose the adult class I considered would coincide with a quite time. Wednesday 5.45pm. And sure enough when I arrived there was not too many folks around and due to no-one else showing up, although others were booked, I had a 1 on 1 lesson. Fantastic.

My greatest fear was seeing someone I may know and the shame and humiliation that would come of being outed! I nervously made my way to the training pool populated by loads of small children being barked at by a disinterested 'swimming teacher.' Hmm not ideal.  A moment later my instructor, Rebecca, appeared and after a quick chat the kids were evicted into the main pool and I was alone in the training pool being watched by the parents of the kids that I had evicted. Sorry!

The interrogation consisted of:

Q "Can you float?"- A "err I don't think so, no."

Q "How do you feel about putting your face in the water?" - A "Not keen but not terrified."

From that the lesson was planned. 

I decided very quickly that as I only have 45 mins and I really want to get my money's worth I am going to have to play the very difficult part of being brave and keen instead of the more natural and easier part of being pathetic and a bit scared and embarrassed.

So using big long foam spaghetti things under me I started trying to push myself from one side of the pool to the other. Very tricky but mastered after 2 attempts.

What I was not expecting was the effort that the legs have to put in, they work very hard. I have been running (ahem, jogging) for about a year and thought I was reasonably fit although overweight however I was surprised by how much effort the legs have to do. They hurt pretty quickly.

A mixture of doing  lengths of the wee pool with the spaghetti and the floats for half the lesson was pretty good. Mixing up using just the legs and using legs and arms was good and I seemed to get better each time. Confidence was good too.

No doubt 'becca picked up on this and with 10 mins to go she asked again about face in the water. I had been recently reading Aquamillie's blog, which inspired me to do this, and I recall it took a few lessons for her to stick her head under. I knew if I said no I would just dread next week's lesson for 7 days so I decided to give it a go. I practiced walking across the pool sticking my head under, count to 3, and out. It wasn't easy and it is completely alien to me and, amusingly, just when I though I was getting the hang of it I would get complacent and the next time I went under I would get it all wrong and take a drink by mistake, then I would stand up and have fizzy swimming pool water come out my nose. Attractive. Also I didn't know if I should open my eyes or not underwater. Sometimes I did, others I had them close. Goggles would no doubt help, however goggles seem to be a tool of the swimmer and I don't know if I have the right to wear them yet. I am glad I was brave enough to give it a go. I have started the ball rolling and although nervous about doing it again tonight I am also keen to get it right. Aquamillie's blog says that she blows when she is under water, I didn't do that. Will try it tonight.

Near the end of last week's lesson I spied someone looking at me from another pool. I recognised them as a chap that runs with me 2 or 3 times a week at the Jolly Joggers running group. Horror upon horror. I was found out. Oh the shame. I nervously waved back, realising I had been found out. He hasn't been to the group since I saw him, so I haven't had a chance to talk about it, but I will probably see him on Thursday if he turns up.

Initially my heart sunk when this happened but by the time I was out of the pool and waiting for my lift home I decided that this was the best thing that could have happened. It means I can just concentrate on learning to swim without fear of loosing my cool. It has also made me confident to tell people that I am learning to swim.  Which I have done with a strange sense of pride. It's like I am ready to conquer my fear and I am proud of it.

OK so lesson 2 is tonight and I am again nervous and excited about it, will be glad when it is over. As long as I manage to do at least what I did last week I will consider that success.

Aquamillie's blog, which has inspired me, is here:

http://diaryofanadultlearningtoswim.blogspot.com/

Check it out.