I knew this anniversary was coming up and I’ve basically tried to ignore it. But I guess there’s value in marking certain milestones, as long as they’re put in their proper perspective and you don’t let them take over your life. Been there, done that, not a good idea.

Sunday was a year since I wound up in cardiac intensive care with congestive heart failure, brought on by stress-induced cardiomyopathy. Scared my family, my friends and myself half to death (no pun intended). The doctor made it very clear that I needed to figure out how to deal with the stress in my life or I wasn’t going to be around to be stressed out.

After a month of what amounted to bed rest, I was okayed to start exercising. That was when I started swimming laps – just a few at first, then gradually working my way up to workouts of 2,000 yards or more. I signed up for the 100 Mile Swim Club, which gave me a concrete way to measure my progress and to help me set personal goals. The day I hit 100 miles, April 15, 2009, was just amazing.

I don’t think it’s an understatement to say swimming has saved my life. Since my hospitalization a year ago, my stress level has gone through the roof. Both my husband and I lost our jobs and the financial strain was tremendous. He got a new one, fortunately, but we had to move to another city. We lost our precious dog, Star, in March. We are still grieving that loss.

If all of this had happened before I started swimming (and taking meds and losing weight), neither my husband nor I think I’d be here right now.

I continue to be stunned by how immediate the benefits of a swim can be. My blood pressure can drop 40 points after a workout. I can literally feel the stress fall away. And it continues to give me a sense of personal accomplishment that few other things have done.

So I was pretty tickled yesterday to pass the 200,000-yard mark. That’s more than 8,000 lengths of the pool, and 2,000 football fields. I had kind of slacked off from swimming this summer, what with the move and that fact that the Augusta Y was packed everyday with summer campers. Now that everyone is back in school, it’s a little easier to get in the water.

(That’s not to say the lane etiquette issues have been resolved. Yesterday, a girl walked into my lane (there was an empty one right next to her), stood in front of me and said, “Am I in your way?” “Yes,” I said, “we’re swimming laps.”
“Oh.”)

I have a happier anniversary coming up next month. October 14, my father’s 80th birthday, will be a year since I started swimming laps. I have never stuck with an exercise program this long. It’s a good feeling, and one that I feel like I can maintain long-term.

It’s been a really tough couple of weeks, stress-wise, and my blood pressure has been through the roof. I did one swim last week and it helped bring back down to normal levels. I planned to get back over there last week, but I smacked my thigh against the footboard of the bed and got a huge, painful bruise. I just really didn’t feel like working it. But my blood pressure shot back up over the weekend, so I decided that I was getting back to the pool this afternoon no matter what.

For a bit of motivation, I bought a new suit. I’ve been waiting for end-of-summer sales and it finally happened today. Dick’s Sporting Goods was having a swimwear sale – 40 to 75 percent off – so I got a really nice Reebok suit for $25. I can’t even get grab bag suits for that, and I have to pay shipping on those.

For some reason, I always seem to have a great swim the first time I wear a new suit, and today was no different. I felt great the whole time I was in the water. Until today, the most lengths I gotten back up to was 54. Today, I decided to push to 60. When I was around 57 lengths, I really debated going to 66 lengths, which would put me back at a mile. I finally decided not to overdo it. But I’ll be back there soon.

It all worked. My BP was back down to very normal levels a couple of hours after my swim. It’s such a great way for me to work out my stress. I need to do this for myself.

Goodness, I knew it had been a little while since my first foray back into the pool, but didn’t realize it had been 2 1/2 weeks. Well, that’s better than two months, which was my last gap. So, I’m making progress. In my defense, it’s been a crazy busy month. But I know that I make time for the things that are important to me, so I need to make time for this.

Today, I did. And can I just say that a few of the Augusta Y swimmers need to learn some manners when it comes to swimming laps? Since they obviously missed that session in swim class, here are a few helpful reminders.

Etiquette rule number 1. Conversations are for the pool deck, not the swimming lane. If someone is waiting for a lane, and all you’re going to do is stand in the water and yak to your buddy, get out of the freaking pool.

Etiquette rule number 2. If someone is sitting on the pool deck with their feet in the water, adjusting the straps on their goggles, they’re getting ready to swim. This means the lane is taken. Don’t get in the water and start swimming. That’s incredibly rude.

Etiquette rule number 3. When you’re in the shallow end of the pool and there is a perfectly good ledge available to get out of the water, use that instead of walking through three other lanes to the ladder, especially when someone is finishing a lap. Chances are, their head is turned to the side and they’re going to run into you.

The lesson for me is no more laps for me on Sunday afternoon during open family swim time.

Once I actually got a lane to myself, the swim went really well. I was at half a mile before I knew it, and felt really good. There was no way I was stopping at 40 lengths like I did last time. So I went to 50 and felt like I got a good workout. Having the Swimman hooked back up makes such a big difference.

My goal for this week – at least two more workouts. Got to get back into my routine.

After a lay-off of nearly two months, I got back in the pool today. It’s been an insane transition period, getting rid of a lot of stuff, moving from Athens to Augusta, settling in to a new house, and trying to get my business cranking. I saw some bad habits start to creep back into my life, like eating too much. I’ve put some weight back on. Not a lot, but enough to annoy me.

We joined the Augusta Y about a week ago. It’s an amazing facility – it’s like a spa compared to Athens. They’ve got a freaking hot tub and a smoothie bar.

I’ve been trying all week to break away and get to the pool. To be honest, I was a little bit afraid that since it had been so long, I might have lost my heart for it.

Silly me. Silly in more ways than one. It’s been so long since I swam, I forgot my water bottle. And I forgot to get a kickboard and a pull buoy when I started my swim. (Took care of that, at least) I left my fins and paddles at home because I decided that today, I’d just swim.

I had no idea how many lengths I’d be able to do. My initial thought was to do 500 yards, or 20 lengths of the pool. Then I saw a sign that said that 70 lengths was a mile (as opposed to 66 lengths that they told me in Athens). So 35 lengths was a half-mile. I thought that sounded doable. But then, that would put me at the wrong end of the pool when I finished, so I thought I’d do 36. But if you’re going to do 36, you might as well do 40.

Oh yeah, I still love doing this.

I took it slow and easy. I’m pretty beat tonight. But it feels really good and I’m looking forward to building back up to my usual workout. I just can’t forget to bring my water bottle next time.

After a couple of days off from swimming, I knew I needed to get back to the pool. I did 2,500 yards yesterday and 2,250 yards today. So my shoulders are pretty sore tonight. I’ll take some Aleve before I go to bed. But it’s a good kind of sore. I’m swimming pretty strongly again. It took me a little bit of time to get used to incorporating the kickboard and the paddles into my workout and my times were fairly slow for awhile. I haven’t used my fins in a couple of weeks – it’s just too much to do fins, kickboard, pull buoy and paddles in one workout.

I must say, I am loving my SwimMan. One of the things that I like about swimming is the solitude. With the SwimMan, I really am in my own little world. The ear phones totally block out any noise, like screaming children. And it’s all music that I picked out, so I really like it. I was able to swim to the beat of a couple of songs today – that’s not the point right now, but I do think it will help improve my times in the weeks to come.

I’m going to try to get in four swims this week. I’ve been playing a bit with my workout – doing longer sets of each segment. I looked at another swimmer’s workout sheet yesterday — a few people bring printed workouts in plastic bags. They weren’t all that different, but her lengths were longer, more sets of 100 or 200 yards. Most of mine are 50. I also tried something today I’d never done before – using the kickboard on my back. Did a length of pull buoy on my back too. One length of each of those was enough for right now. I actually saw a girl yesterday do a kickboard-style leg workout without the kickboard. Wow. Talk about tough.

Well, as of today, I’m officially a pre-school substitute teacher training drop-out. By the end of Day 2, I realized that the prospect of being a pre-school sub sounded stressful and exhausting. Neither of these things seemed appealing to me. I mean, it took more than four years and a 30 percent increase in my workload at Builder to get to feeling that way. For the better part of my tenure there, I walked around with a goofy grin on my face. I couldn’t believe I got paid to write for them. It was just a blast. I couldn’t imagine doing a job that stressed me out before I even started.

So I thanked them politely and informed that I wouldn’t be returning to class.

Today, I returned to doing what I do best — working on stories. Made some good progress on that so I got in another swim at the oh so fabulous Augusta YMCA. My one complaint — their SuitMate is in a ridiculous place.
The SuitMate is this magical box that you put wet swimsuits in and it spins them dry. Every pool I’ve been to has one in the locker room. The Augusta Y has its SuitMate in the hall outside the locker room. Who wants to drag a dripping wet swimsuit through the locker room, get dressed and then carry it out into the hall? So silly.

As I finished my swim, it occurred to me that while I might have dropped out after just two days of pre-school substitute teacher training, I have stuck with swimming for a whole seven months now. This may be a record for me with any kind of exercise. I tend to be one of those people who start out strong and then peter out after awhile. But not this. Maybe it’s because I have finally found something I really enjoy doing. Or I’ve incorporated small and large goals into my workout routine. Or my motivation is internal (don’t want to die) instead of external (high school reunion coming up, etc.). Or that I haven’t reached my goal yet on my weight loss. Dunno. Don’t care. Whatever the reason, it’s working. I’ll probably swim tomorrow in Athens so I can turn in my yards. Another 2.5 miles down!
Oh, and the move date is official now. The movers will come to pack the house on June 8, load the truck on June 9 and move us to Augusta on June 10. So I have until then to swim 16.9 miles and get to 100 miles for this year. I really want to accomplish that before I leave the Athens Y. I’m going to have to do 14 2,000-yard swims between now and then to make it. It’s doable. It’s pretty much every other day. As long as I don’t get sick or something else weird happens (honestly, perish the thought), I should make it.

Yards: 2,100

Yards to date: 184,550

Miles to date: 111.8

Tonight finds me in Augusta. I’m here for the week, attending a five-day training for substitute pre-school teachers. The training is courtesy of a grant program; it’s completely free and they even feed us lunch every day.

After a hard day of trying to get my brain to engage (it’s been close to 30 years since I’ve been in a classroom as a student), I decided to go for a swim. The Augusta Y has a reciprocal agreement that lets Athens Y members use their facilities while they’re in town. So I’ve got a free pass for the week to use their Y.

Oh, baby! Their pool is phenomenal. Much newer and lots more lap swimming lanes than the Athens Y. They use a different cleaning system – the water in the Athens Y tastes salty and this one doesn’t — and it’s really nice. The outdoor pool looks like a water park.  The only drawback is that their lap lanes go from 3 feet, 6 inches to 7 feet deep, so you can’t touch bottom at one end of the lane. I kept thinking how handy it would be right about now to know how to do a flip turn.

I wore myself out, that’s for sure. Took a cue from my swimming buddy Barb Freda and did longer sets with the kickboard, pull buoy and paddles. I’m doing sets of eight lengths on each – giving myself some more reps on each.

Anyway, I know where I’m going to be swimming once I come to Augusta. The health club in downtown has a pretty dinky pool and the water isn’t clear at all. The Augusta Y is a like a resort – there’s even a smoothie bar!

Yards: 2,250

Yards to date:  182,450

Miles to date: 110.6

I am back from yet another trip to Augusta, this time to look for a house to rent. We have been successful in that department. The house is smaller than we thought we needed — and we will have to put some stuff in storage — but it’s just the two of us and it will be fine for a year or however long we’re there.

I go back to Augusta on Monday for my preschool teacher training session. Hope to get some swimming in while I am there.

What I really want to talk about, though, is my SwimMan, a waterproofed iPod shuffle. Oh. My. Goodness. Swimming will never be the same again.

I really wondered if I would like swimming to music. I’ve enjoyed the quiet of swimming so much. It’s very relaxing and meditative. Plus, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to count laps and listen to music at the same time.  I’m such a worry girl.

Honestly, I don’t know why I was worried. I’m a complete music junkie. Adding music to anything makes me happy, so it stands to reason that swimming would be no different. 

The results are in. I don’t like it. I LOVE it. Swimming to music is amazing. I go down the lane with this big smile on my face. And there’s no problem with counting laps.  

I’m still working out the finer points of hooking everything up. The earphone clip on to my goggles, and sometimes they pull loose a little bit when I push off the wall.  But overall, they’re just wonderful. My only beef is that for reasons I haven’t figured out yet, it’s playing straight through the list instead of shuffling, even though I have it programmed to shuffle.

Here are some of the songs on my swimming playlist, which I’m sure I’ll tweak over time:

Adam Lambert’s version of Mad World.

Faces, Stay With Me

David Bowie, I’m Afraid of Americans

Black Eyed Peas, Let’s Get it Started

Eagles, Hotel California

Duffy, Mercy

Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones

19-2000, Gorillaz

Good Vibrations, Beach Boys

4 Minutes, Madonna

Angelsea, Cat Stevens

Smellin’ Coffee, Chris Rice

Smooth, Santana

What songs would you put on a swimming playlist?

Yards: 2,100

Yards to date: 176,550

Miles to date: 107.0

We have a renter for our house here in Watkinsville. I am moving to Augusta. Our target date is June 1. I’m not sure that’s possible, but that’s what we’re working toward. 

I’d have to do an incredible amount of swimming to get to 100 miles before I leave, which I’d really like to do. And I have an incredible amount of work to do to get ready to go. Plus, I have to go to Augusta for five days of training next month to be a substitute preschool teacher. Never hurts to expand your skill set. I could swim in Augusta. They have a Y there.

Maybe my new Swim Man will help with putting in the miles. It should be here any day. I really need to start working on my playlist.

Tonight was tough. I really didn’t want to do a full workout – kept looking for excuses to stop. Basically, when someone would show up and wait for a lane, I’d decide to finish the length I was on and let them have mine.  And then I’d look up and they’d be in the water already in another lane. Excuse gone! So I kept at it.

I’m swimming really slowly right now, mainly because I’m using the kickboard and the paddles during my workout. They definitely help, though. I see a big difference after I use them. I’m pretty sore in my shoulders tonight, though. Took a couple of Aleve and I’m heading to bed.

Yards: 2,100

Yards to date: 174,450

Miles to date: 105.7

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my latest order from SwimOutlet.com. It arrived this afternoon. Along with the shower stuff, the new grab bag suit and two new sets of ear plugs, I got paddles. I’ve seen several people use these and have been wanting to try them out. I thought they would help increase my arm strength, and I was right.  My upper arms are definitely tight tonight. They take some getting used to, but I think they’ll quickly become a standard part of my workout routine.

I got to spend some time talking to JoJo tonight while we were waiting for a lane — who knew there would be a full house at 5:15 on a Friday night? We talked a lot about kickboards and pull buoys and flip turns — and rude people who ignore the fact that there are people sitting on the bench waiting to swim and just jump in the pool and start swimming, when there’s already two people using the lane! Unbelievable.

He told me some things about arm position and stroke technique that I’ll definitely try to use. It’s pretty close to what I was doing anyway.

I’ve saved my most exciting purchase for last. I ordered my SwimMan today. It’s a waterproof iPod shuffle with headphones. It’s my reward for getting to 100 miles, and it should help me get to the next hundred. I’m such a music junkie.  It will be fun working out playlists.

I’m still working toward my goal of 100 miles in 2009 by the end of May. I broke that into getting to 80 miles by the end of April. That’s 4.3 miles – four swims, basically. I’ve got six days left in the month – it’s not impossible.