Swimming Lessons

4:55 AM .. I roll over in bed and look at the alarm clock, last night at ten I set the alarm to go off at 5:00AM. Some things never change and as always, if I set my alarm I am sure to wake up minutes before it goes off. I roll back over and wait for it to go off anyway just to make sure it would have gone off if I hadn't woke up. This is just part of what makes me tick. I'm ready as it does and reach over quickly to shut it off. I get up, get dressed and I'm ready go. Today I start my "Swimming for Triathlons" class.

Of course I arrive early at Westwood Health and Fitness Center where my sister in-law Mary Jo works. Mary Jo signed me up for this course after watching as I struggled swim at their lake home in my preparation for the Half Iron man I did last September. The class meets every Monday morning from 6:30 to 7:30. Sometimes it is good to be early and it was today. After inquiring at the front desk, I was fortunate enough to have printed out the email containing the registration invoice proving I was signed up, brought it with me and offered it to the lady behind the desk.

She requested my drivers license to hold hostage in exchange for a key for a locker in the locker room and when I made no attempt to leave she realized I had no idea where I was supposed to go. She then offered directions to the Men's locker room where I changed and then found my own way to the pool by cleverly following the signs.

At the pool I stood around until I spotted Jerry, the coach for the class and introduced myself. He promptly told me to get in the pool and warm up with the others. In I went and started to swim the only way I knew how which would be best described as a cross between a freestyle and the doggy paddle. After watching me swim a lap in my unique style, I knew, he knew why I was here and that he had a real challenge on his hands. You see, I never had proper swimming lessons as a child and had never learned to swim with my face in the water. A person watching me swim would have to wonder, how I ever managed to make it through the water for 1.2 miles last September at the Lake Geneva Half Ironman. The answer is the breast stroke, which is not an very efficient way to swim and is why my swim time at Lake Geneva was twice that of most everyone else. If I was going to reach my goal of doing a full Ironman I needed to learn to swim properly.

Jerry got the others started ( many of whom had taken this class before and were light years ahead of me) and turned to me and the two other newbies and described the correct mechanics of the freestyle stroke. After he finished and saw the "Deer in the headlights" look in my eyes, he told me to relax and we would take it one step at a time. First we started with keeping our heads in the water and only turning it to the side to inhale on the opposite stroke and after a few laps he kept adding to it things like the proper way to use your arms, changing the side you take your breath on and such things. With in the first half hour I was swimming fairly well and my hopes of completing an Ironman  seemed in reach. I know I have a long way to go but there is a light at the end of the tunnel now.

This morning I looked toward to swimming lessons with apprehension and a bit of anxiety. Tonight I look forward to my next class with an eagerness and an attitude which says, "I can can do this"