Swimming is like riding a bike. Sort of.

I haven't been to the pool in three weeks. I didn't even realize it had been that long, but I knew I'd missed getting there during the holidays.  So I made today a rest day from running -- for no real reason than I needed to get a bridal shower gift at the mall, which is right by the pool!

I wondered if I'd remember how to swim.  I wondered how long I'd go.  I've been swimming about once a week through the past several months, but after so many weeks away from the pool, I wasn't sure how comfortable I'd be. 

40 laps.  2000 yards.  37 minutes and 29 seconds of consecutive freestyle swimming.  Not bad! 

Turns out, it's just like riding a bike.  Step away for a bit, and you can get right back into it.  I got into the pool, stayed comfortable, and just kept going.  For a while, there was an older guy in the lane next to me who was breaststroking up and freestyling back.  Without outright racing him, I used him as motivation for a a bit.  Pick up the pace!  Beat him back to the wall!   I barely knew what lap I was on because my goggles started fogging up a bit.  Eventually, I got hungry and stopped.  Good, solid swim. 

When I logged this on my runningahead.com log,  I realized I've been swimming pretty consistent paces.  The last 2000yd swim I did was all the way back in August.  37:38.  Two weeks before that, another 2000yd swim, 37:30.  Interesting. 

I know that if I actually did workouts and swam more, I'd get better.  I like to just get in the pool and swim straight, consecutive laps.  Sometimes I swim some laps fast, some slow, sometimes I take a short break, sometimes, like today, I don't.  But I never do a "real" workout.  I do know I've gotten better over the years, though.  I think back to my first sprint triathlon:


LBI Triathlon, September 2007



I had no idea what I was doing.  I was awful in the swim, and I was slow.  But it was exciting, and I've developed an attraction to swimming.  I like getting in the pool and losing myself in laps.  I like feeling like I've done a workout on a day when I give my legs a rest from running.  I may never become a great swimmer, but I like having swimming in my life.

Have you done anything lately that you haven't done in a while?