Back in the Saddle

The water temperature was perfect.  It was a little chilly upon entry, but not cold.  It never got too cold or too hot.

The weather was beautiful.  The sun was bright.  The sky was a pure, crisp blue.  The air was clean.

As I took my first few strokes, I was a swimmer again.  My arms felt long.  My legs felt strong.  I had a solid tempo.  My body position felt right.  My stroke felt perfect.

I took my first turn.  I executed a long streamline with 4 powerful dolphin kicks.  The world was right again.

Then, reality hit.  My arms started to hurt.  My legs just stopped.  I started gasping for air.  Both hands started to slip in the water.  At one point, about 75 meters into warm-up, my entire body shifted about 6 inches to the side for no apparent reason.  I was just swimming along and, whoops, I shifted to the left.  A little later, I was kicking backstroke with the lane rope just to my left.  Three seconds later I hit the lane rope on the right.  Three seconds to drift all the way across the lane.

I swam for the first time in almost exactly three months yesterday.  I was terrible.  It was fantastic.

For three months I have not been able to swim.  Pools have been closed.  I don't have easy access to open water, the proper equipment to swim in open water, or any great desire to swim in open water.  If I had the first two of these, I would have done it.  I didn't, so I didn't.

I did my best to exercise over the last 3 months.  I have actually exercised every day, or almost every day.  I ran for the first time in a few years.  I biked for the first time in even more years.  I started doing yoga on a somewhat regular basis.  I am probably in reasonably decent shape.  However, as any swimmer will tell you, being in shape, and being in swimming shape are very different things.

As I managed to get myself through about an hour swim practice, I realized, more than I think I ever knew, what I missed.  Most of all, I missed being in the water.  My whole life, I have loved being in the water.  I love floating and sinking and gliding and sprinting and splashing and just feeling the resistance the water gives as I sway my arms back and forth.  I miss the feeling of gliding through the water after a solid push off the wall.  I miss a strong dolphin kick.  I miss bubbles.  I even miss the pain, a little.  All of this really means I miss feeling like a swimmer.

I also miss my team.  I almost never swim with a group.  I see my team at competitions and social events.  It is far too rare that I get to spend time with my teammates, but I have missed those times for three months.  Yesterday, I swam with a group.  It was so nice to see teammates, new and old.  One of the great things about the way my team works is I almost always meet new teammates at every meet and social event.  Yesterday, I got to see old friends and meet new swimmers.

We were all thrilled to get in the pool.  At one point, another swimmer said that she never thought she would be able to swim with a group again.  Our leader for the day could not stop smiling and could not stop telling us that she could not stop smiling.  Everyone enjoyed themselves, even though almost all of us were not in swimming shape.  It was great to be in the water.  It was great to be with teammates.  It was great to be outside, using our bodies, on a perfect day.

There are a lot of things I have missed over the last three months.  There are a lot of things I have not missed.  I miss seeing Eldest on a soccer field.  I don't miss having three things schedule for one Saturday afternoon.  I miss seeing Middle decide that he is going to be the best defender on a basketball court.  I don't miss seeing Middle get frustrated when his shot isn't falling.  I miss seeing Youngest climb anything and everything he can.  I don't miss worrying that he will fall on his head.  I miss being with people.  I miss watching new swim meets, especially yesterday which was supposed to be summer swim time trials.  I don't miss traffic.  Sometimes I miss having a full schedule.  I miss post swim meet meals.  I don't miss seeing how much a post swim meet meal costs for a family of five.  I don't miss waking up at 4 am to drive Middle to swim practice.  I do miss watching my Boys swim.

As things are opening up, we will get some of this back.  However, unless I want to go to a gym (I don't), or get my hair cut (not yet) or eat at a restaurant (again, not yet), I don't think I am getting much back now.  There are still no games.  There are still no swim meets.  There is still no Ninja.  There will be no movies or hih school musicals in the next several months.  I did finally get the water back.  I streamlined, I sprinted, I splashed, I felt the soft resistance.  I swam.  I was in my element.  By the afternoon, I felt the typical soreness and the hanging head of an extremely tired old man.  I have been sore over the last three months.  I have been tired.  This is different.  It felt right.