Guess who FINALLY got her fins in the pool!?!
After the extra 15 minutes it took me to locate and pack up my swim gear/shower stuff and ensure my sport suit still fit (it did!), I was happy I went to swim. I made a deal with myself that I only had to swim for 26 minutes, and so it went by fast enough.
Here are some tidbits about me + swimming:
- It was weird swimming pregnant. I felt kind of like I was suffocating the baby because he wasn’t coming up for breaths like I was!
- I didn’t feel that much lighter. I’m 11-13 pounds heavier than I used to be so that’s probably why!
- It was hard to stretch out my abs so much (and probably all the ligaments too), but I got used to it
- I am sore from Pump chest/back for the first time in a while!
- I want swimming headphones to pass the time with music, but I don’t want to buy them unless I go regularly once a week. A catch 22!
- I’d much rather watch a clock than count laps.
- I will only swim when the weather is warm – unless you give me a heated pool.
- I used to swim 3x a week after my foot surgery and really liked it then. Davidson’s pool was the best pool I’ve ever swam in thanks to long lengths.
- People have asked me my whole life if I’m a swimmer because I have broad shoulders.
- I can do flip turns, but I don’t do them because of the mental preparation it takes to not hit my head on the bottom of the shallow end floor. Too much thinking. Another catch 22…
- I breathe every 3-5 strokes – never on an even number!
- I was so worried blowing nose bubbles would give me a nosebleed in the pool. Luckily that didn’t happen.
- I hate sharing lanes. But it wasn’t too bad today.
- I once beat a bunch of boys in a lifeguard training time trial. Matt is still faster than me though (but we’re pretty close!).
- I swim more with my arms than my legs
- Swimming makes me really thirsty!
- 5 minutes of legs in the hot tub is the best way to end the session
- I want to do a triathlon at least once in my life. It’s the swim holding me back because I’m scared of lake murk.
- Swimming makes me feel like a real athlete, mostly because of all the locker room shower time
- Hope I can keep this up once a week till the baby comes!
When I came out of the gym, I decided to treat myself to lunch out! I never have my wallet when I go to the gym (a trick to keep me from picking up lunch as I walk by all the great places) but today I had it from running an errand, so the lunch spots sucked me in! AND just happened to run into Lynsie in the locker room, so she joined me for an al fresco lunch at the Pavilion.
I got to hang around with D some more!
I picked up a salad from Blue Ridge Country Store, which is kind of like a Whole Foods Salad bar on the Downtown Mall. I little bit of everything in there!
After lunch and lots of mom talk, we rode the horsies and then headed home!
The day just swam away from me!
Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat says
Great job on the workout Kath! And your lunch looks delicious… it’s making me VERY happy that I’m going to Whole Foods this weekend! (It’s an hour away but I’m meeting a friend there for lunch and I’m excited about it already!!)
Krissy @ Shiawase Life says
I love swimming but am pretty terrible at it…was on the swim team when I was in elementary school 🙂
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
I love swimming and I always forget that it is a great endurance workout! I read that you didn’t want to get a nose bleed – do you get them frequently now that you’re pregnant?
KathEats says
Yeah, it’s sooo weird!
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats says
I agree, I get bored while swimming with no music or anything and I always mess up counting my laps!
beth says
I have my first triathlon coming up! Luckily its in the ocean (south of Boston, brrr) but I don’t have to worry about lake muck, snakes, brain eating amoebas or crocodiles. I’m going to check out the Y pool today to start training.
Lindzjane115 says
I went swimming last week (twice in fact) for the first time since I was a kid on swim team! I really liked it, but I was using a one-week guest pass to the gym, so now I don’t have a pool to go to anymore… I’m trying to figure out options…
I was surprised by how hard it is to count laps, haha! Watching the clock is the way to go.
Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says
Gotta love salad bars with tons of options! My salad always ends up looking like a collage with SO many different things!
Caileigh says
His name is on the sticker on his chest, so I guess you don’t need to call him Baby D anymore! Just thought I’d point that out in case Mom is really against her baby’s name being on the internet!
KathEats says
She’s OK with it 🙂 But thanks
Caroline @ After Dinner Dance says
There’s such a thing as swimming headphones?!
Laura @ She Eats Well says
I grew up swimming competitively but haven’t done so since high school. There really is nothing like a swim workout…it’s incredibly challenging! And also, I am convinced that swimming-workout makes you the most hungry ever!!
Christine @ Oatmeal Bowl says
Swimming in the 3rd trimester is a blessing.
Jen says
I really wish I knew how to swim well. I can’t get the breathing down and pretty much just panic.
Kath, that first photo of you is gorgeous! Is it me or has your hair gotten more blonde? The glasses totally suit your face too. Any tips on the best glasses for someone with a rounded face?
KathEats says
I think just being in the sunshine since it’s been warm out has lightened my hair a bit. Thanks 🙂
I really don’t know about sunglasses….maybe google one of those articles that the beauty magazines do on them?
Susan H. @ The Food Allergy Chronicles says
Swimming was my life growing up…I get in some laps in an outdoor pool in the summer months…other than that I tend to stay away from indoor pools. My cologne growing up was Eau de Chlorine! lol
Melissa @ HerGreenLife says
It took me until about the 7th month to finally make it into the pool, but I really enjoyed it for those last couple months of pregnancy. Also, I discovered that my old, stretched out one pieces (from when I was swimming fairly often in grad school) fit all the way up until the end. I just doubled up and wore two of them (like real swimmers do!) since a single worn-out layer was a bit indecent.
I have your same swimming/triathlon hang-up. I don’t swim often because I don’t like the effect of the chlorine on my skin and hair.
Andrea @ The Skinny Chronicles says
Near where I live, the local public pool has a daily swim group called Tsunami Mommies. All the pregnant ladies are in their doing their workouts. My friends tell me it saves their ankles from swelling big time.
Your lunch pickle looks fabulous, by the way!
KathEats says
We have a prenatal class at our gym, but I hear it’s more for fun than exercise 🙂
Catalina @ Cake with Love says
I love spontaneous lunches with friends, the salad looks very healthy and delicious, so many good things in it!
Angel7 says
Talk about a Heinz 57 salad… 🙂 Everything you need to replenish your energy after a bit of a swim.
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
Glad you got your swimming in…was LOLing at the baby coming up for air train of thought. That’s how my brain would probably work 🙂
Ashley @ Coffee, Cake and Cardio says
Interesting to hear what it’s like swimming pregnant.
occula says
How funny and interesting, how you thought about the baby’s breathing!
I always think it would be fun to swim at the Y or somewhere, but when people refer to sharing lanes and etiquette and such, it scares me off! I’m not a very strong swimmer and I don’t know how to submerge my face, turn my head, breathe, and repeat – I have a kind of phobia about having water in my face, and I don’t even stick my face under the shower! so at hotels I swim laps, but I can be slow and dog-paddle and have my head cocked back so my face is out of the water, and I’m not in anybody’s way. But I’m afraid they’d throw me out of an “exercise” pool!
The face/water thing is much improved with goggles, so some of it might be extreme chlorine sensitivity plus wearing contacts for nearly 30 years, but I still don’t know how to do the breathing thing! 🙂
RJ says
There are short triathlons with pool swims to avoid lake muck! Although with your fitness level, you’d probably need a longer tri for it to be a challenge! :). I’m trying to make the leap to longer tris with open water swims, but can’t get my head around the muck!
Janet says
Yes, you should check out the Ramblin Rose. http://www.endurancemag.com/ramblinrose
I have a friend who did this for the first time last year. She, myself and a few more girlfriends have signed up for the Charlotte one in September. I have never done anything like this before. Need to start “training”. I have not worked out/exercised in ages. (we are all in our late 40’s/early 50’s)
mary @ minutespermile says
I’ve never been much into swimming, as a runner, but know it has amazing benefits for just about everything in life! Go you for getting out there and taking laps. Maybe I could be convinced if I got a pair of those waterproof headphones!! 🙂
Kimberly says
Aww Baby D is such a cutie. Love the name!
Robyn @ Blueberries and Oats says
I absolutely love lap swimming but sadly since I relocated I haven’t found a new pool! my goals: learn to do the flip turn and the breast stroke! I really want underwater headphones too but they are so expensive and I’ve heard they aren’t great.
OliePants says
I haven’t been swimming in a long time. it is a great workout though. I have, on the other hand, been near plenty of mega salad bowls lately. Love it!
Maura @ My Healthy 'Ohana says
Glad you had a great workout! I haven’t swam since becoming pregnant, but everyone keeps telling me it’s the best exercise, especially as you get into the third trimester. That’s so nice that you have a lot of friends with little ones, it’s great to have that kind of support and camaraderie 🙂
Danielle says
Hi Kath. Just out of curiosity, what kind of foot surgery did you undergo? I may have to undergo one and I am very concerned about being sedentary for my recovery.
KathEats says
I had a fused sub-talar joint (supposedly a birth defect?) that I had unfused
Khushboo Thadani says
I should swim more but it always seems like such a mission pre- & post- swim…I do enjoy it once I am in the water though!
Lexi @ You, Me, & A World to See says
Is that a piiiiikal i see? 😉
Lindsay says
I fell for swimming in college bc it was such a nice cross training activity alongside dancing, I could do it and EASE my joints instead of putting more pressure on. I can’t wait to get back to the pool!
[email protected] Broken Cookies Don't Count says
Lunch looks delicious!!
Chelsea @ One Healthy Munchkin says
I just started swimming for a workout in the past year, but I only did it sporadically because it was so hard to motivate myself to go over the winter when it was freezing outside! I love that it feels so easy to do, but once I get out of the pool I always feel like I had a great workout.
Amanda @flecksofgreen says
That is one good lookin’ salad! Yumm 🙂
Cait's Plate says
I LOVE swimming but it’s so much harder than it looks! It’s definitely a great workout 🙂 Glad you got to get your fins wet!
lee says
It’s so comforting to realize I’m not the only person who gets weirded out by lake muck. A couple of summers ago, a friend and I were kayaking on a small lake, and my sole motivation for not tipping my kayak was not wanting to end up in the murky green water. I chalk it up to my overactive imagination (I think I’ve seen one too many movies where something scary lurks in the lake depths)…but I’ve come to accept that I will always find lakes creepy. =)