0 to 1650: Like Couch to 5k (but in the pool)
Monday, June 6, 2011 at 8:00AM Most of you probably don't know this, but I used to be a swimmer. Like a serious, 2 hour a day, sometimes in the morning, on the Nationals team -type of swimmer. Well folks, that was 12 years ago and beyond & it is a struggle for me to swim 100 yards (4 lengths of the pool) without feeling like I am going to die. D.I.E.
Swimming butterfly in my heyday...
Someone in the comments on my friend Jenna's post on working out with a bum knee led me to this website that teaches you how to go from swimming a short distance to swimming a mile in 6 weeks. Not only do I have have bad knees, but I also have a bad back so low impact exercises are pretty much it for me. I've had this workout in the back of my mind for the past few weeks & finally decided to start!
In the first week, you do the following workout 3 times. 1 length of a typical lap pool is 25 yards (or meters).
4 x 100 yards (12 breath rest in between 100s)
4 x 50 yards (8 breath rest)
4 x 25 yards (4 breath rest)
TOTAL: 700 yards
I casually told Ted that I planned to do the workout twice in a row since it would be a cake walk for me. HA. HA! I did it once and panted my way to the locker room :)
4 hours later, I feel great & can't wait to get back in the pool. My swim gear consists of a Speedo swimsuit and goggles and a Nike silicon swim cap. It's all you need to get started on this workout!
I decided to blog about this so that I would be held (somewhat) accountable for following through. Is anyone interested in joining me on this challenge? Let me know - I'd love to keep track with you and update our progress together!
Health 
Reader Comments (5)
Wow, that's so awesome that you're getting back into swimming! I always wanted to be able to swim for a good workout, but since we don't belong to a gym or pool...well, the treadmill in our basement will just have to do. It really intrigues me though--maybe we'll get a community pool when we move to Spain so I can give this a try! Good luck!
I swam in high school and it's really the only reason I got into triathlons then running longer distances. I was so happy to have access to a pool this past summer - it just feels so good! Congrats to you on getting back on track for a mile!
Your timing is amazing! I've been trying to get myself back into swimming for ages and yesterday I bit the bullet and swam a mile at LPAC. Going back tomorrow for more! I swam in High School too!
I used to be a swimmer too. Last year before we went to Jamaica, I took it up again for a while. I enjoyed it, but stopped doing it as the weather got colder (frozen hair on the drive home is NO FUN--have to drive a ways to get to our YMCA pool..so I lost motivation after the vacation). Were you super sore after the first day? I was.. Silly me thought that since i could easily swim 2500-3000 meters in h.s., a good 1500 meter workout at the crack of dawn would be a good starting point. Could barely walk the next day.. haha!
Yay swimmers!
I was also a competitive swimmer in age-group swimming and high school (also played water polo). It is such an awesome workout! I tried swimming laps the other months...swam for about 20 minutes and I was pooped! How I ever swam for 3 hours a day/6 days a week, I will never know. I would love to do this, but I don't have consistent access to a pool. :o(