Birth of a Swim-blog

Not that anyone is going to follow this blog, but I'm starting this so I can track my progress for my masters swimming practices. Starting January 1, 2009, I'm going to be participating in the Go The Distance event through USMS (US Masters Swimming), so I want to get into the habit of keeping track of my daily distances.

Some information about me:

I am a 29 year old beginning swimmer. I had swimming lessons when I was little, and did a little bit of fitness swimming in college, but the whole concept of goal oriented swimming is completely new to me.

I've been swimming since September 2008, starting out with two sessions in a basic adult class and then three months of stroke clinic before I joined a masters team in December. I've just recently learned both the butterfly and breast strokes, but they are woefully slow. I tend to do most of my swimming with free and backstroke, because I have a better chance of keeping up with the rest of my teammates.

I originally started swimming in order to compete in triathlons, but I like it so much that I've decided I'd like to get really good at swimming separately as well. It all feels like baby steps, but for having only really been training for four months, I don't think I'm doing all that badly.

Additionally, I have a couple small obstacles to overcome in the form of asthma (mostly EIA and AIA) and allergies (notably to choline, which relates to the AIA). I was recently prescribed Advair to try and manage the asthma (in addition to the Albuterol that I'm already taking), but my insurance currently sucks, so I won't be able to start taking it until early 2009. I was on it for a month trial and it seemed to help, so I'm hoping getting back on asthma maintainance will do good things for my endurance and my speed.

Outside the pool I'm a vegetarian, computer nerd (read web programmer), recreational writer, and ice hockey defenseman. In the summer, I dabble as a softball second baseman, runner, and cyclist.