25 Miles Along the Road to Svelteville

I've swum another 10 miles since my last post. That makes 25 miles. My tummy is still NOT flat.

I can tell that I'm losing flab: my pants are looser, I have a more defined waist, and I have less fat to jiggle around when I look at myself naked in the mirror. Nonetheless, it's going to take many more miles to completely whittle down this belly.

On the plus side: I can swim a mile in 55 minutes now. I'm getting stronger. I no longer ache all over all the time. I've lost 3.5 lbs of the 5 pounds I gained from swimming ( I THINK that's muscle weight). I've overcome my water phobia (that's the best thing of all!)

I've gotta admit that the first 20 pool lengths are not fun. It's getting colder in the mornings and showering before getting into the pool is very chilly. I huff and puff while swimming those initial 20 lengths. I have to push myself. It's not pleasant. But by the time I've reached the halfway mark, I'm no longer breathing hard and I'm enjoying the swim. It IS getting easier.
I've decided to map my miles around the island going in the other direction along Kamehameha Highway. That means so far I've traveled from my home up in the Wahiawa Heights to just past Romy's Prawns and Shrimp stand in Kahuku. I've never eaten there but I certainly will the next time I'm out that way in my car. That eating establishment will be my 25 mile marker.

Kahuku coastline

I want to increase the number of lengths I swim from 64 to 80 starting in December. That translates to 1.25 miles. I'd like to get strong enough to be able to complete the 80 lengths within an hour. By the time my 2-year goal of slenderizing me concludes, I'd like to be swimming 2 miles each time I get in the pool. It's going to be a while before I can reach that goal...

My friend swims 1/2 mile 3 times each week. He considers it a necessary evil, a chore that he has to get out of the way before he can do something fun. As a high school team swimmer, he found the races fun but the practices dull.

Consequently, his swims now are in the practice category and therefore dull. I think the reason I find my swims fun is because I'm racing against myself each time I get in the water. I'm certainly glad that perception is working in my favor this time around!

See you in another 10 miles!

How Many Miles to Svelteville?

Goodness! It's been 10 whole months since I've posted anything at all. Since the last post I've
1. Completed my 1st year of acupuncture school
2. Enrolled Butterfly in a private homeschool
3. Spent 3 weeks in Utah with Second Daughter and family when her second son was born
4. Started a new business
5. Recovered from the 1st year of acupuncture school
6. Started my 2nd year of school (2 1/2 years to go)


AND begun a new exercise program.

Ever since I blew out my knees skiing, it's been difficult finding exercise that I could consistently do without re-injuring myself. Or hating the exercise. This time around I discovered the community pool. Unlike the pools I was familiar with on the mainland, here in Hawaii the community pools operate year-round and are FREE!

Because I was so incredibly out of shape the first time I went swimming, it took everything I had to swim just 10 lengths (25 meters per length). I was so wiped out after that first time I had to sleep for a couple hours to recover. I've slowly gotten stronger over the last 4 1/2 months of swimming 2 - 3 times each week. I gradually increased the number of laps to 40 and then had an Aha! moment.

I looked up the number of lengths required to swim 1 mile in a 25 meter pool -- 64. I figured that miles were what I could understand (that's coming from a previous runner obviously). If I swam 1 mile each time I exercised I could count the miles it would take before I was slim again.

I started out at 163 pounds and with voluminous amounts of excess fat. In the last 2 months I've swum 15 miles. I've lost fat around my tummy and my rear end has gotten tighter but I've gained 3 pounds. I will assume that the weight gain has to do with muscle accumulation. I have faith that eventually I'll not only lose fat but will lose weight too. It might take me 2 years to get rid of all  the extra (we're talking about shedding 1/3 of my weight) but it will go if I continue to swim regularly.

So here it is: I've swum 15 miles. That's the distance from my house here in Wahiawa almost to the stadium via the freeway. Cool.

My next goal is another 10 miles. That should take 3 or 4 weeks. Then I'll reevaluate and update my goal.

This has become fun. How far will I have to swim to become svelte?

I'm going again tomorrow!