Don't drink the water...

Wednesday was my second attempt at swimming, with technique anyway. I was anxious to see how much I remembered from my lesson with Rhonda on Monday. I did okay, but it's obvious I've got a long way to go.

The first few laps I tried to focus on breathing, then the next few laps I tried to pay attention to my strokes (for some reason I break the left stroke EVERY single time). I'm still pulling my head too far out of the water and it's not intuitive that you should NOT look ahead to see where you are going but I'm UN-learning that habit for swimming!!!! Apparently, I didn't kick my legs enough on Monday and I may have overcompensated for it this evening, so I'm trying to get a feel for how much leg effort to spend. I was reminded tonight that you must save some legs for the bike and run....oh yea....just one more thing to remember...no prob!!!

I played around with the strokes and the breathing to find out what's most comfortable for me. I decided I'm breathing too often and not taking time to re-group when I lose rhythm. All in all, I think I'll enjoy swimming as as sport. The water is so relaxing and it reminds me of growing up on Lake Chicot where every summer was spent on a boat fishing and/or skiing! Maybe that's why moving to FLA is so appealing...I figure I'll get lots of "open water" practice in the ocean.

Of course, the funniest part of this swim was a friend saying, "you're not suppose to drink the water". Really??? Well, it just so happens that Dave Matthews is one of my favorite bands and one of my favorite songs (I like them all, but I really like this one) is "Don't Drink the Water". I start laughing so hard I can't breathe properly and then I can't get this song outta my head. Gee thanks, I wonder what song I'll think of each time I'm in the water now?

Totally not related to swimming, but sorta related to training. I chatted with 3 of my RAGBRAI LIVESTRONG teammates yesterday; Cindy, Linda, and Chris. Cindy (aka Button Lady) and I met the first day and it was as if we were long lost friends. We rode the entire week together and tented next to each other every evening. Linda (aka Team Dork or Ribbon Lady) and I didn't ride together much but we've become increasingly closer friends since I saw her in Missouri over Christmas. Chris, our fearless leader at LAF in Austin, is super cool and has the best sense of humor. He pulled an April fool's joke on the team....good one Brewer! Both Cindy and Linda live up north, (Chicago and Iowa, respectively) and they're just now able to get outside to ride. Although the weather has been a little rainy lately, thank God I live in the SOUTH!!!

That's all for now. I plan to run in the morning since I have a BACA meeting Thursday evening! Y'all be good and remember, don't drink the water!

SK