There are two things I’m working on in particular at this time: taking better side breaths and improving my endurance.

Since I’ve started learning to swim, the side breathing has been something that has never come easy to me. I find I’m able to get in two good breaths but by the time I get to the third and subsequent breaths I struggle. It seems that after each breath, I sink beneath the surface a little deeper so by the thrid breath I have a hard time turning my head out of the water enough to get enough or even any air at all.

I wonder if part of my problem with the breathing is that I tire out too quickly and I get lazy about what I’m doing and just allow myself to screw up. I probably need to do a better job of pacing myself and also pushing myself past any feeling of tiredness as swimming is really not all that different than jogging in terms of intensity. I’m thinking I may need to supplement my workout with jogging or other form of cardiovascular exercise to build my lung capacity.

These are just some thoughts. I’m trying to think of how to get better…