A Week of Firsts

A week ago I ran a mile in 10 minutes for the first time. I'd been stuck at 11 minutes for a while. I'm planning to get to 8 minutes a mile-that'll be my spring goal! I could really feel it in my hamstrings and in my side! Ouch. Today I ran a mile in 9 minutes and 33 seconds! And it felt easy and great-until I stopped, then I thought I was going to throw up.

Friday in swim practice I got to dive off the blocks for the first time! That was really fun-I didn't lose my goggles, which they said usually happens the first few times, and I won both of my "races." I swam 50 meters in 39 seconds and 100 meters in 1 minute 25 seconds. One of the other swimmers gave me some tips so I'll start working on that and hopefully get faster! I'd love to do a few swim meets this winter.

Other big news from the swim lane is that on Tuesday I did my first flip turn! A flip turn is used in the freestyle and backstroke. As a swimmer approaches the wall, she/he tucks her/his body into a somersault, quickly rolls toward the wall, and pushes off with her/his feet. Doesn't that sound so easy? And if you watched the olympics you saw how easy they made it look! Well I am here to tell you that looks are deceiving! It is wicked hard and I'm still not doing it "right" or "well."

When you are learning there are many ways it can go wrong. At the beginning I kept doing complete somersaults, ending up facing the wall. Then as I began to get the idea of a 1/2 somersault, I'd be to close or to far from the wall, so I couldn't use it to kick off from. Finally, when I'd time my turn right, I'd hit the wall but end up pushing myself down to the bottom or shooting off to the side. When done correctly it is a thing of beauty and looks effortless, if I were a blogging whiz I'd have a clip on here to show you what it looks like. For now, if you want to see it, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtP8xgzm6do