Since completing Swimathon at the end of April, I have tried to make sure I go swimming at least once a week (OK with the exception of the Bank Holiday weekend when bed was just far too comfortable for me to consider moving!)
I have found the best time that suits both me and the family is on a Sunday morning. Most of the time, the kids can be trusted to sort themselves out with breakfast and entertain themselves without starting World War III and Sarah can relax in bed (at least until the shouting starts!).
Since Sandwell council built the new leisure centre in Tipton, lane swimming has been available most mornings, with Sundays being from 8.00am until 9.00am. It was actually quiet quiet today, although since it was the final weekend of Spring Bank Holiday Half Term, I guess some people will have been away.
My effort for Swimathon was based around doing three 25m lengths of breast stroke followed by two lengths of front crawl, however since then I've been trying to change that ratio. Today, I did the first 1km doing 1 length of breast stroke followed by 4 lengths of crawl. After that, it was front crawl all the way and it actually felt quite good!
When Jeremy Clarkson is reviewing the lap done by the star in the reasonably-priced car, he often says that if it looks slow, it's generally quite fast. My swim felt fast, so clearly it was going to be slow! I suppose it didn't help that my mind was drifting a little bit - whether it was starting to write this blog post in my head or thinking about the rest of the day. It was just as well that I had the lap counter with me as on several occasions I realised I had no idea what number lap I was on. (One of the reasons I started training for Swimathon I did so many laps on one stroke and then so many on another so I could work out where I was!) Still it doesn't help if you mis-read if towards the end of the workout. A quick check of the lap counter and I thought - great, 2 to go and on starting the last lap put a bit of speed together to finish with a flourish. However, on touching the wall, I realised that what I thought was lap 98 was actually lap 96 so I still had a couple to go! I promptly finished those two last lengths off, which was just as well as the lanes had been removed sometime during my last 5 laps and if I'd set off again, I would have crashed into parents playing with young children!
Exercise total: 2.5km in 54m 24.
For those who have followed my previous exercise blog posts, you will know that my primary goal has been to lose weight. Well I'm pleased to report that in May, I got my BMI into the 'healthy' range and despite a couple of pounds added here and there, so far I have managed to maintain that (OK so I've only been healthy for three weeks but it's still an achievement in my eyes). I feel I have a little more weight to lose as I'm still at the top end of healthy and it wouldn't take a lot to slip into unhealthy ways again, but if I can get my BMI into the middle of the range and keep it there, I'll be happy - I'll also be able to start buying clothes that fit me again as I have a lot of baggy trousers at the moment!
Besides the usual Juneathon rules, I need to make sure I cover at least 167.75 miles this month. This is to keep me on track for doing 2013 miles of exercise in 2013 (so usual communiting activity doesn't count). As at the end of May, I was at around 895 miles, which is about 56 miles ahead of where I need to be. However, I don't want to be complacent as if I come down with a nasty bout of something later in the year, I'd like to have the miles in hand to be able to complete the distance.
Juneathon totals:
Running:
Distance - 3.11 miles (5km)
Time - 26m 09
Swimming:
Distance - 1.55 miles (2.5km)
Time - 54 m 24
Total Distance - 4.66 miles
Total Time - 1h 20m 33
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