Yesterday (30/3/16) I swam a mile.
Not the first time I have swam a mile – I have breast-stroked my way up and down Shepton Lido before – but the first time I have swum a mile, non-stop, front crawl. Swam it in 38 mins 37 secs.
Went for my 4 o’clock swim, sans Sam who had somehow persuaded us not to go that day, jumped in and set off. It was not busy and a sense of calm enveloped me as a began to plough up and down the lane.
With no Sam, I soon decided I would swim 36 instead of my normal 30 lengths – I’ve done this a few times. I then figured doing another 4 lengths to take it to 40 would be no big deal. And then the thought began to crystallise in my head: if you are doing 40, another 8 lengths isn’t much to ask to take you to the magical mile. And so I decided to do so. I did, however, waver at 24 lengths – at this point I would normally be thinking about ramping up my pace for the last few lengths, but now I realised it was only half way. I trekked on, was soon in the thirties and the mile was in touching distance. I kept going and was soon there.
I don’t think “mile-ing” will become the norm (Sam wouldn’t have the patience to wait!) but would like to do a mile on a reasonably regular basis. Perhaps once a month? And after a mile, what next? The two obvious challenges are 60 lengths (2 Km) and swimming for an hour. Who knows? My knee remains a bit dodgy so still not pounding the pavement, and I do enjoy my swimming at the moment.