Who drained the pool?!

Um, that would be me. I pretty much inhaled or swallowed every last drop in the pool this morning. I'm not sure if it is time for the staff at the Y to clean the pool, but now would be a good time. Seriously though, how do people swim regularly for exercise?

Not only did I look like I was drowning, I felt like I was drowning! I was taking a breath on every stroke and feeling like I was swallowing the pool. Dale then told me to try to wait every two strokes. Are you kidding me?! I can't hardly make it one, let alone two! After I finally got over the fact that I would be getting water in my ears (which is a HUGE issue for me), I could at least keep my head in the water. Well, kind of. I felt like I was keeping my head in the water, but they kept telling me that it was sticking up. My understanding is that I'm supposed to look at the bottom of the pool. Then every third or fourth stroke you turn your head to the side and take a breath. I don't know about you, but if my head is submerged under water and I turn my head from facing forward to facing the side my head is still. under. water. The biggest problem with that is that I forgot my air tank at home. Silly me! I also find the bottom of the pool boring, it's just white with large blue stripes down each lane. Someone needs to paint something fun, like fish. That would help me look at the bottom of the pool. Then I can look like this.....

So, now my neck hurts from trying to swim flat on my stomach but keep my head up in my attempt to breathe. We don't swim again until Tuesday, but I think I might try to find some goggles and go back on Sunday to see if I can get some practice breathing. Everyone in the group was super supportive and trying to help me, but I felt like I was holding up the ladies sharing a lane with me. Tomorrow we workout our arms, then I will attend the abs class. It looks like tomorrow is going to be another embarassing morning. But, everyone has to start somewhere at some time. I'm so grateful that I have joined up with Dale, the trainer, who is so patient with me, and the wonderfully supportive women (and one guy) that work out together each morning. Have you swam laps before? Any tips on how to leave a majority of the water in the pool?