Whenever I try a new exercise, I want to do it well.

I want to do it competitively, and I want to constantly improve.

When I started swimming about six weeks ago, I didn’t expect to immediately be able to swim laps for an hour straight.  Sure, I wanted to.  But I knew that it would take some time.

I swam regularly when I was growing up.  I was a summer baby who loved the water and found the repetitive motions of swimming relaxing.  I even taught swim at a day camp when I was a teenager.

Eventually, though, swimming fell out of my fitness (or social) routine.  And I am not even sure that I would have taken it up again, but for my injury.

The truth is, that if I wasn’t a runner, perhaps I would have been more frustrated with the process of beginning swimming again.

I have been a runner on and off for the past 16 years.  Each time I stopped for an extended period of time and then began again, I really did have to start from square one.  By “square one” I mean, run one block then walk one block.  Fortunately, I have been able to get right back in to running following my recent injury.  I guess that two months off isn’t quite so long.

My point is that I didn’t expect to get in to the pool and pick up where I had left off years ago.  I knew that being able to swim laps would take time and patience and practice.

At first, I could only swim one length of the pool before stopping to gasp for air.  But I would allow myself to catch my breath and then resume swimming and attempt another lap.

In time I have gotten to this very good place with my swimming, and I know that I will continue to improve.

Now I can handle 30 minutes of breaststroke laps without a break and about 20 minutes freestyle.

That’s pretty good.

I want to get a better handle on the distance I can cover and then start drilling myself for speed a bit.  I would like to try racing in the pool, as well.

Getting better takes time.

If an athletic pursuit — or anything — is important to you, put the time in.  With patience comes great rewards.