I have recently begun a push to get in shape. After 7 babies and a miscarriage, it was definitely time. I have been doing push ups, sit ups and squats at home, riding my bike, walking/running, and playing cardio tennis. I also swim whenever I can.

A few years, and two babies ago, I was in the same position of getting back into shape. I did workout videos, running, bike riding, swimming, and classes at the Y. I remember when I finally made the shift from out of shape to more in shape. Suddenly, running was easier, circuit training was fun (?!), and swimming was easier. At the time, I attributed everything to swimming. I was finally realizing my dream of being a fitness swimmer and was definitely in the honeymoon period.

Lately, I feel myself transitioning from hopelessly out of shape to in shape. It manifests in ways like I’m able to get to the ball faster in tennis, and freestyle isn’t such a chore in the pool. I feel like I am getting my cardio together. Swimming is old hat now; tennis is the ‘new thing,’ so I’m not as likely to attribute my change to swimming.

In fact, I wonder if it wasn’t just that it’s so much easier to swim, run, etc., when you’re lugging less weight around. I wonder if that wasn’t the issue all along.

That said, I had a great swim today, and I was thrilled with how much more manageable the anaerobic stuff was. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the pool was shorter than standard, based on my 100 IM time. I managed to swim 1000 yards in 45 minutes. I was on the clock because I was in the pool while my 9 year old was in a tennis lesson.

My 100 IM time of 2:48.81 was almost 2 seconds quicker than the last time I swam, despite the fact that I felt like I was moving in slow motion towards the end, breathing an extra time, and taking forever to press the stop button on my watch. . .

I look forward to more observation about swimming with less weight. Have you noticed a change in your swimming when you’ve lost weight?