Black Girls Swim: Week 2 - Shrunken Suit and Not Much Progress

Monday, November 15: Last week started off all wrong. I went to my swim lesson last Monday, only to find that I had somehow shrunk my swimsuit. At first I thought it was an operator error, but when I began getting odd looks from my fellow locker room buddies and hearing the ripping of fabric, I excused myself to the restroom stall to try to stretch out my suit. After severall minutes of trying and becoming flustered and frustrated, I called my husband and told him the situation. Either I had gained 2o pounds since I last tried on the suit or either it shrunk. He laughed. I hung up the phone defeated, quickly changed and went home. After all, my only real choices were to 1.) swim naked or 2.) swim naked. I decided I'd explain to my swim instructor at my next session promising myself it would be much funnier by then. I retreated home where I sat on the couch and ate plaintain chips while googling swim suit care methods (post about that to come). Wednesday, November 17: Victory #1: My new swim suit actually fit (see photo above). After much grief about blowing off class and several demonstrations from one my instructor's much younger student (she's 6), I was ready for my second week of swimming. The class would be all about breathing. Seems pretty simple, right? Expect I still hadn't found the trick to propelling myself forward. MY entire class consisted of kicking and trying to figure out why I stood still while kicking. The instructor even decided to put a floatie around my waist and have me swim on my back. Although I did move, it was in the wrong direction. We decided to give it a rest and let the instructor sleep on it. Seems I'm an anomaly. Sunday, November 21: Since I started swim lessons, my husband and I go to the pool on the weekends to get some extra practice in. I can always count on the life guards to give me their advice. (SO embarrassing).  Anyway, I spent most of my time on a kick board. I HAD to get the moving forward/kicking part down. The lifeguard's advice? "You're too tense. Just relax." Subsequently, I have realized that I spend 95% of my time in a state of anxiety, therefore I don't really know HOW to relax. But, that my friends, is a another story for another day. I do, however, see more yoga classes in my future. At this point I'm frustrated. Unlike running, you can just jump in a pool and start swimming. I'm not the greatest runner, but I can bang out a couple of miles. Swimming has me by the......well, if I was a guy....nevermind. After a few hours of sulking, my husband found a great video demonstrating how to properly kick. I can't wait to try the new found techniques this week. Check out the video.

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