I smell like chlorine.

I'm still swimming. And, seeing as I went to a different pool, I figured it was time to update.

I've been going to Bradley Stoke for the last few swims, and have upped my game a fair bit - last time I went I did 1000m in groups of 50 and 100m. Which is crazy considering what I was doing as the beginning of the week. The second time I went to the pool I started swimming in 50m, rather than 25m and decided that from now on I'd do 50s. So that's good. But ye GODS my shoulder muscles ached after doing that 1000m.

Last time I went to Bradley Stoke I checked the temp of the pool on the sign at reception - it was 29.5C. That's WARM. I don't know if it's because of the hols and there are a lot more people in the pool just bobbing about rather than zipping up and down, but it certainly feels like it's 29.5C.

So tonight I went to Horfield instead, for a change of scenery. Plus the temp is a whole degree cooler. I don't know if that's why, but the water there was SO clear compared to Bradley Stoke. Absolutely crystal clear. And it wasn't because there was no-one in the pool, as we had three lanes of lane swimming and another half of the pool with club swimming zooming up and down. The pool was so clear that I felt sorry for the people swimming behind me in the queue due to them having to look at my bad job of shaving my legs.  I'd kinda felt it wouldn't matter so much.

And queue there was, it started off REALLY busy - and I was only in the slow lane. However, I think that was actually a good thing as once you got your place in the system you didn't want to lose it, meaning I got in and did 200m straight off the bat - the biggest continuous distance I've done so far. Plus when people were in front of me, it meant I could slow down and concentrate on my stroke a bit more. However there was a chap in front of me who started doing some strange kind of back sculling with kicky legs and his head up, meaning every time I bobbed my head up to take a breath he was looking straight at me. 

I like Horfield. It's got a nice atmosphere, lovely clear water and seems so open that it didn't really matter that the pool was packed full of people as it still seemed so spacious. Tomorrow brings Bradley Stoke again, and I've ordered my awesome swimming hat. Which may come before then. I'm quite excited about getting a swimming hat.

Water baby...

I swam this morning! Granted I could only do about half an hour before I could feel my breakfast in my stomach, and I managed to lose count of my lengths. (I *think* I did about 250m, all breast-stroke, with quite a significant pause after each length) but still...

I went to the one of my two local pools, the one in Bradley Stoke. This is the first time I'd actually been there for a proper swim (the only other time I've been in the pool is to go with J to the disabled swim session). It was down as a "public swim", so I felt quite happy when there wasn't a mele of children dive-bombing and there were still two lanes. I trogged up and down the slow lane, trying to concentrate on my breast-stroke technique and not quite being brave enough to try out a front crawl as there were two other people also using the lane and I didn't want to inadvertently wallop one. Next time. I tried to focus on the order of my arms-breathing-legs and realised I'd kinda been doing it ok before, I just needed to work on the form and getting my head down a bit more. It'll come with time.

The pool also seemed really warm when I got in. Normally you have to do the few seconds of "getting used to it" before you go for broke, but it was like getting into a warm bath. In SUMMER. I've been swimming in the winter where there's steam coming off the pool because the air temp is so cold, but I've not been in a warm pool in summer before. Not gonna lie, it was quite nice. But I imagine if you're sprinting up and down the pool it would easily be too much.

So I did my 10-ish lengths, decided I was done and got out. It's a piddly amount but it's not bad for a start.

Glub...

So, first thing's first, let me come clean. This is not an original blog idea, I totally stole it (off someone who is undoubtedly much more experienced in these matters than I am) from Swimming Around London. You should go and check this blog out, because it's awesome and because it's part of the reason I'm embarking on my swimming. Go on, have a look, I can wait.

Here's the deal. I'm 30, fantastically unfit and bad at sticking to a routine. I'm hoping that the act of blogging my way around the pools of Bristol and South Glos mean that I actually go and swim in them. On a regular basis. Here's hoping.

Tomorrow we start, as I'm off to one of two local pools, Bradley Stoke. This is a South Glos pool (I live on the border, so my other local pool is a Bristol-run pool). So before we start day one I guess we'd all better come clean, no?

- I have been swimming head-up breast-stroke, which is something that we're going to stop RIGHT GODDAMN NOW.
- Watching me swim front crawl is pretty similar to watching a load of seagulls drown all at once. Splish splash.
- I intend on buying myself a swimming hat. Also I REALLY want a waterproof iPod, but cannot justify it to myself before I am a Proper Swimmer.

So this blog is mostly a motivator to exercise, it's partially so I can keep a record of (any) improvement in my own swimming but also it's a good excuse for me to trog round the many and varied pools in and around Bristol and see what they're all like.

*insert some kind of pun about diving in here*