Sing it, Sister! SWIM

I don’t blog half as much as I would like to. Especially because I have two blogs, the other one is for my family as we are all spread out ’round the states. So I have to divide my “blogging time” which is nearly nil, into two parts. I don’t get to blog as much because I have two small children, a part time job that I have been neglecting, and also because I swim. A lot.

I discovered swimming just out of college when I was trying to lose weight and get into shape for a certain someone that doesn’t matter now and will remain nameless. I rediscovered it when I was pregnant with Birdie and haven’t stopped since (well, except for that 6 week hiatus that my body put me on after I gave birth). I won’t lie- I started swimming again minimize the amount of pregnancy weight I put on, and to get my body ready to work like a well tuned John Deere. I continue swimming to not only keep the weight off, but to keep my energy levels up and my sanity right where it should be. It tends to run off and leave me in the dust, so I learned to put a leash on it, and so far that has worked wonders. In addition, I lost 30 pounds in about 5 months. I don’t know if that is great or not, but it sure felt like it.

I’ll go for a swim in the morning before hubs leaves for work, or I’ll take the kids to the club and put them into the child care there for exactly one hour. It’s not too long, but it’s long enough for me to get my workout in. The girls at the Kids Club are wonderful, and they love my children. I am very lucky that I have this option. That said I have NO FREAKING IDEA what I am going to do in New York, but come Hell or high water I will make it work. I must.

Anyone can swim. That’s why I’m posting about it under Sing it, Sister, because there aren’t enough great things I can say about it. Initially I started swimming for 40 minutes: 30 minutes of freestyle and 10 minutes of breath stroke. I slowly increased it to 50 minutes of freestyle and 10 min of breath stroke, and have learned different techniques along the way for keeping my heart rate above 120. I don’t do anything fancy or know any of the fancy terms, I just know how to keep my pace and endurance and that has been AMAZING for both my mind and my body. If you are interested, check out GO SWIM, there are tons of videos you can watch to get the hang of different strokes and workouts. It helped me a ton, as I am a visual learner.

Swimming has become a pretty big part of my life, a part that I cannot wait to share with my kids. We’ve taken them swimming a bunch and I am so excited to see them paddling along on their own right next to me.