Exceeding expectations


I asked La Serpiente how many lengths of the pool I should swim tonight, and she asked me what the most was that I’ve done before (18). She told me to do twenty tonight, and so in a possibly misplaced attempt to make my daughter proud, I set out to do that.
I took a bottle of water with me and sipped between lengths; for most of the time I was pretty consistent at doing two lengths without stopping, although the second length was always a struggle. My left arm tires before my right, and I conjectured that this might be because I always breathe to my right. The one time I tried breathing on a left stroke was messy and I almost swallowed a load of water, but I recovered ok. Something to work on as I’m sure alternating the sides you breathe on is better in the long run.

Otherwise, just length after length, hardly ever kicking until the penultimate length. At six laps I was contemplating doing some backstroke to rest. At eight laps I was wondering if I’d make it to twelve or not. And at sixteen I was watching the clock and hoping I could do all twenty laps before my time was up. Got there with a couple of minutes to spare, floated in the water for a moment more then left and showered (my scalp has been suffering from the chlorine of late) and then home to lose a game of Blood Bowl (but in a fun way…)

La Serpiente didn’t wait up to hear about my triumph, which is slightly disappointing, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.


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