After Sunday’s disheartening run, I needed a little low-impact redemption, so I hit the pool for a swim.

My new happy place.

During my first clueless swimming experience, I wondered why I was getting motion sickness as I swam. It turned out that I was doing things entirely wrong (big surprise there) and it wasn’t necessary to turn my head from side to side with every stroke.

I never claimed to know what the hell I was doing, guys.

 So when I slipped into the water Monday night, I stretched out and took off, swimming with my head down and coming up for air every 3-4 strokes. And it worked beautifully! Before I knew it, I was up to 5 laps back and forth, and I felt great. I paused between each lap to catch my breath and see how I felt, but kept at it for a total of about 25 minutes.

After it was all said and done, I had managed about 12 laps. Some quick Googling (remember, I have no idea what I’m doing) confirmed that I had done about 600 meters, and while I have no idea what that even means, it felt fantastic. I even figured out how to get my ear plug/swim cap/goggle combo all working properly too!

That’s some serious swimmer posing right there.

All in all, it was a huge confidence-boosting workout. And I’m excited to have a benchmark now for my future swimming workouts – maybe next week I’ll aim for 800 or even 1000 meters!

Does anyone have some swimming tips or tricks to share? Maybe you know of a website or other resource where I can learn a bit more about the basics in distance and time? I’m excited to soak up everything I can!