So as well as running I now have been doing 4 weeks of swimming as part of my fitness regime. Partly vanity so I can look like I know what I'm doing with my front crawl but mainly because I love swimming and want to complete 25 or 30 lengths every week. My friend Catherine has been putting me through my paces in our local lido. At first I was very nervous about the technique I was trying to recall from 20 years previous. But we've ironed out the creases and I've learnt a more efficient way to cut through the water, elbows raised first out of the water and index finger plunging in using my hands almost like a flipper!
Week by week I can see and feel the improvement but I'm let down by one thing, and that’s my breathing. I'm tending to find I can do half a length of the pool but then I'm not taking in enough oxygen on my breaths when I turn my head. Otherwise I'm fine, and can feel it all come together so that my strokes happen naturally, like all the different processes you need to take on board when learning to drive. I just need to get the co-ordination of breathing right then I can gracefully go up and down and the lido like a (semi) pro!
Most importantly I'm enjoying going each week and feeling myself improve bit by bit. I can't wait for the moment I complete a full length using all the skills I've been working at, but then I believe that’s the point of learning and setting goals to help you improve at whatever you turn your hand to. Trying to learn a new (or forgotten) skill regardless of whether you get it correct each time.
Sometimes you luck out in life but mainly I find skills wise you improve by hitting various breakthrough moments, then putting all the different skills you’ve learned together. The most frustrating thing about this endeavour is that I am re-learning something that I used to take for granted as a kid! If only I could tap into that part of my brain and do it automatically!
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