Blogging about swimming... good grief, I can't wait to run again!

"It's been five weeks since I broke my toe" may be the most boring way to start a blog post.

Even I'm bored of my toe.

I've been exercising, fortunately, riding the stationary bike and taking a lot of spinning and yoga classes.

I've also been all talk, telling myself -- and one of my friends who is an awesome swimmer and very encouraging -- that I'm going to get back in the pool and swim.

I took some lessons in high school and again in my 30s, so I can get across a pool without drowning.

But me, a swimmer? That's a stretch.

Swimming is scary. And exhausting, considering my flailing and how I wrench my neck out of the water to breathe while trying to crawl. And trying to remember to kick from my hips, not my knees.

One of the many reasons I prefer running is because I *probably* won't die while doing it. And I don't have to think as much. Running is lazy in that way.

Despite all of my swimming angst, I love pools otherwise, all warm and chlorine-y. These past couple of wintry months, we began hitting some of the family swims at our gym.

Our kids, just shy of their 4th and 6th birthdays, LOVE this.

We went again last Friday night. And something cool happened.

After an estimated 1,000 swim lessons, my kids have been getting in the pool pretty fearlessly. On Friday, they grabbed swim noodles and began swimming. Without us holding them.

My hub and I were thrilled to see our kids so comfortable in the water, but it felt strange, too. After nearly nearly six years of holding children in the water, our arms were empty.

Last night was another first: M-man's first sleepover at his best friend's house. We love their family, so I was totally at ease. My oldest son, now 22, loved sleepovers.

My hub was nervous. Sometimes I forget that this stuff  is all brand new to him -- M-man is his first kid. (I feel like we still have a million years to go before he's in high school. That's when parenting gets really tough and scary... so a sleepover felt easy breezy to me...)

When he got home this morning, there were hugs all around. And extra hugs from his daddy.

I love this side of my husband.

During Friday's swim, as my kids were noodling around effortlessly and happily, I took advantage of the freedom, gliding through the water in a half-swim, and running in place.

And I realized my toe did not hurt while doing either.

Which means two things: Time to start pool-running. And time to try swimming again.

Yesterday I hit the smaller of our gym's two pools (20 yards). It was mostly empty, save for a few little kids getting private swim lessons.

I had just enough time to run 80 lengths of the pool, or 0.9 miles. It was boring as running in a parking garage.

But it was so great! I was running! And sweating!

I then grabbed my goggles I bought awhile ago, took them out of their packaging (ahem), and put 'em on.

And then I swam 10 lengths, alternating clunky, clumsy versions of the breast stroke and crawl.

Lord, I am a lousy swimmer.

But every time I went underwater, I was reminded of something I had forgotten: the cool, peaceful silence that awaits swimmers underwater.

After a harried week, it was pretty cool.

Swimming those few laps was exhausting. And probably kind of embarrassing that it was so tiring.

And also a little embarrassing that at least one kid in the next lane was beating me.

Oh well.

All that said, I'm super impatient to run again. I will always love running more than swimming.

My toe feels pretty good, not perfect, but pretty good. I'll get an X-ray at the podiatrist this week, as Chicago emerges from a deep freeze to temps in the 40s and 50s. (Which is not helping my impatience...)

I hope I can run soon.