That was ugly

First time in the pool -- ever -- to train for something.

And it wasn't pretty.

I managed 14 lengths of the pool, a 25m jobby. If I were being an optimistic headline writer, that would be: "First-time Brower cruises 20% of distance in just 15 minutes".

Ahem.

In reality, I managed just two lengths without stopping (twice I managed this). Every other length involved a scramble to the finish and a break to get my breath back.

Symptoms of my problems?

Gulping air so that I was burping the whole way. Not just little foodie-burps, but belches of the kind you manage when you're deliberately hoovering up air to blow a big one to impress your kids, or wife.

Feeling like I had no air, repeatedly, after forgetting to breath.

Taking on inordinate amounts of water through the nose.

Occasionally feeling -- no doubt looking -- like I was swimming vertically. I use "swimming" advisedly. Try thrashing to pull my body through the water to the end.

Incredibly high heart rate -- while old timers next to me were just gliding through the water as if they were sipping a glass of ale.

Immediate fatigue of the kind you get when you've been doing wind sprints.

Total exhaustion at the end of it all.

To paraphrase the dude, obviously I'm not a swimmer.

Indeed, I clearly have some epic technique issues to sort out before I manage five times the distance of this evening -- without stopping. In choppy water. Next to hundreds of other people swimming.

Resolution: many many more visits to the pool. And lessons.

(One good aspect: until my technique improves, these sessions will in reality be weight lifting sessions. It certainly feels like I've been doing weights on my arms. And I know swimming isn't supposed to feel like that. At least not 300m of swimming.)