Week Five

I only swam three days so far this week, 800 meters each time.  I have added some running in addition to the weights.  I didn't track my swim time this week since I was trying to learn new swim strokes and better technique. 

Week four

I had to back off a bit this week.  After adding in the weight lifting and working 12 hour shifts, I was getting overworked. 
On Monday I swam 800 meters in 30:40, then lifted weights for about 30 minutes. 
Tuesday I took off completely.  I did do some manual labor around the yard in the sweltering heat, so that counts, right?
Wednesday I did 800 meters again then lifted weights again.  I think my time was 30:28.
On Thursday I felt good and decided to try swimming freestyle for as long as I could.  Amazingly I swam the entire 800 meters in about 30 minutes without taking any breaks or easy sidestroke laps.
Friday I went back to alternating freestyle and sidestroke and did 850 meters in about 32 minutes, followed by a good weightlifting session.
This morning, after a good night's sleep, I swam a little harder.  I did the first 50 meters in 1:06, all freestyle.
I got to 300 meters in 9:47, which means I was averaging 1:38 per 50 meters.
500 meters in 16:53 for an average of about 1:41.  I see a pattern forming.  A pattern of fatigue.
I made it to 800 meters in 27:34.  Far faster than I thought I could and averaging about 1:43.
I stopped at 900 meters because I had passed the 30 minute mark for a total time of 31:09.  That is an average of about 1:44 for the whole thing.  This gives me hope for doing a mile in less than an hour one of these days. 
I bought a book on swimming today that explains the different strokes and gives detailed explanations on how to perform them.  Hopefully I can master all 4 strokes and learn how to be more efficient in the water. 

End of third week

Saturday morning swim started out rough.  I didn't feel like keeping on after the first 600 meters.  I pressed on and finally hit a comfort zone.  As I hit the 1200 meter mark it occurred to me to just keep going or, due to fatigue, it did not occur to me to stop.  I swam the mile I spoke of yesterday.  It took one hour and one minute. 
To summarize my progress up to now:
Day one, 500 meters in about 35 minutes
Day five, 800 meters in about 33 minutes
Day ten, 1000 meters in about 40 minutes
Day 19, 1200 meters in about 46 minutes
Today is day 20
I hit the lap counter each trip and this  is how it all compares:
500 meters in 18:01
600 meters in 21:49
800 meters in 29:34
1km in 37:37
1200 meters in 45:31
I am astounded by my progress.  All of this is well beyond what I thought possible.  I know that I will not see these kinds of leaps in progress for very long, but what I have experienced so far has given me so much motivation that I do not foresee giving up swimming any time soon.

Week three day five

I must have gotten lazy yesterday because after a seven hour training class at work I visited my aunt then came home.  No swimming, but I did attempt to do a YRG (yoga for regular guys) workout.  My 19 month old daughter would not have it.  She was all over me so I gave up after about 6 minutes.
This morning I hit the gym at 6:30 and swam for 45:58.  I did the length of the pool 48 times which should equal 1200 meters.  I have not been highly goal oriented during my swimming so far, just wanting to get into better shape.  I am competitive however, so I have been racing against myself.  I have developed a long term goal for the swimming as well.  I hope to eventually swim a mile (appx. 1600 meters) in under an hour.  Once I have made that plateau I will try to cover the mile in less and less time.  I don't think it is realistic to expect ever getting a mile in under 45 minutes, but I can make that a really long term goal.  I am currently at about 250 lbs, so I have no idea how much easier it will be to part the water if I ever get down to 200 or (do I dare to dream?) 175.
Hope to do another 1200 m tomorrow morning.  Then I need to sleep because I have two 7p to 7a shifts to conquer.  

Wednesday's swim

Today I had to attend a training class from 8 am until after lunch.  I made it to the pool about 2:30.  I decided to keep an accurate lap count by hitting the lap button on my stopwatch each time I returned to the shallow end of the pool.  Apparently my sleep deprived lap counting of yesterday was somewhat inaccurate.  Today I finished 40 trips in 37:09 and continued to swim six more pool lengths for a total time of 43:10. 
After the swim I lightly hit the weights, still doing only 2 sets of each exercise.  I did not use much weight, for instance 115 lbs on bench press and nothing but the 45 lb bar for curls and squats.
One thing I am sad to note is how huge and pendulous my gut still is.  I know it's only been two and a half weeks, but I feel so much better that the surprise of seeing my reflection in the mirror is shocking.  I guess I should cut out the pizza.

Swimming and exercise week three

I discovered, or think I discovered, an accounting error in my swimming this morning.  I believe that I have been out of breath and mentally tired enough to succumb to wishful thinking and give myself credit for 2 extra laps these last few days of swimming.
On Monday the 11th I swam for 40:14.  I believe that I only covered 40 laps instead of 42 however.  The 40 minutes of exercise is far more important than how far I traveled, but I like to keep accurate numbers so that I can track my progress.  After swimming I lifted free weights for a short time.  Due to the age of my joints, tendons, and ligaments (not to mention the muscles themselves) I did not hit the weights with any ego or desire to impress whoever might be looking (there is a prime example of the aforementioned ego, thinking than anyone would be looking).  I did two sets of each exercise for each major muscle group, using very little weight.
After my Monday workout I could not sleep, so took one of my daughters to town for a little shopping trip.  When I got home, at around 2:30 pm, there was a message from work.  I agreed to go in and work 7 pm to 7 am although I had not slept.  Clocking out at 7:47 am on Tuesday morning, I was tempted to skip swimming today.  Knowing that I am subject to sliding down that slippery slope to sloth, I forced myself to drive to the gym from work.
While practically sleep swimming laps I began to think about the time it takes to make a trip up and down the pool.  I was so groggy that I kept forgetting to keep up with the number of laps I swam.  I started depending on my stopwatch, which was lying on the edge of the pool to count laps.  I usually freestyle the first trip up and back, then do the slower and more restfull sidestroke back up the pool each subsequent odd numbered trip.  Today I did a couple more freestyle laps before I started the slower, sidestroke, breath catching laps.  I lost count the first time during these first few anaerobic trips up and down the pool and never knew for sure what lap I was on thereafter.  I swam for 41:29 altogether and do not know if it was 42 or 44 laps.  No weights today.  After about a 7 hour nap, I am still not fully coherent. 

Swimming week two

Week two of my swimming-for-health regime had a delayed start.  The gym is not open on Sundays and Monday was the 4th of July. 
Starting my workout week on the 5th, I swam 800 meters in 32:12.  This was accomplished without rest between laps due to the mixing of side stroke and freestyle described in my first weeks post. 
July 6th was not a work day for me and I was not worried about getting enough sleep.  I decided to add a few more laps.  I swam a full 40 lengths of the pool in just under 40 minutes.  If the pool is, in fact, 25 meters in length then I swam a full kilometer.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that I could swim that far, much less without stopping.  I am thrilled about how this is all working out.
I forgot my gear when I left for work and did not swim on the morning of the 7th.
Friday morning, after 13 hours of work, I swam 40 laps in 39:25.
The gym doesn't open until 7 on Saturday.  I didn't realize that and showed up at 6 am.  I was able to get there so early since I had not worked Friday night.  After killing some time in town, I was able to get in the pool just after 7 am today, July 9th.  I swam hard this morning, feeling confident due to my recent progress.  I didn't set any records, but did swim 42 laps in 39:59. 
After swimming I decided to add a little bit of weight lifting to the mix.  I didn't do much due to my old, out of shape body, just one set of exercises for each major muscle group.  

swimming week one

I decided to start swimming for fitness and long term cardiovascular health.  As a nurse, working 12 hour shifts, I spend a lot of time on my feet.  Running or walking for fitness seemed like too much wear and tear on my feet.  I did not get very excited about the whole thing the first week because I didn't know if I would stick with it.  I didn't strictly log my progress, but did update what I had been doing on facebook a few times.  Now that I feel confident that I am going to keep it up, I decided to officially and accurately monitor my progress.
I started on the morning of June 27th.  I swam the length of the pool (freestyle) 20 times, taking long breaks to catch my breath after each trip from one end of the pool to the other.  It took me almost 35 minutes to complete what I believe to be 500 meters. 
June 28th I did the same 20 laps, in the same fashion, in 29:30.
On the 29th I felt brave enough to try adding 4 more laps to my workout increasing the total distance swam to 600 meters.  This took 33 minutes.
I did not document anything on the 30th, but believe I swam 600 meters in about 32 minutes.
I spoke to a staff member at the gym and he suggested mixing up swimming styles to work different muscles.  Adding the side stroke to the mix allowed me to swim without stopping to catch my breath.  I perform the side stroke half way down the pool leading with my right arm and then switch to leading with my left.  I am able to keep my mouth out of the water the entire time and can breathe well enough to get my respirations under control so that I can swim back down the pool freestyle without rest at the end of the pool.  On July 1st I was able to swim the pool 32 times (or 800 meters) in 33 minutes due to the new technique. 
I have no documentation for the 2nd, but believe that I swam 800m again after I got off work.  At any rate, week one was very successful.  I swam farther for a longer duration than I ever though I could.  I accomplished that in just a few short days, which got me excited enough to keep going and to track my progress.