I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed some structure to my swimming. Just going to the pool and swimming laps until I was tired meant that I was leaving after 30 minutes, even though I wasn't really exhausted, because I was bored. And I wasn't sure I was actually improving at swimming...

Last Thursday I joined the masters swimmers at my club. Of course I am the slowest and there are some amazing swimmers to aspire to. But what is more interesting is that immediately, I swam twice what I had been swimming. Twice as long and twice as far. Having a plan for what to swim, created by someone else, and having the coach and the whole group there meant that I was determined to finish. There was no boredom - I had an interesting plan that wasn't anything like what I do on my own. (Granted, I had to adjust the plan so that I could actually do it!)

It makes me wonder if trying to motivate oneself is a losing game... I do better Pilates with a teacher. I get more gardening done when figgy drops by. (Well, the gardening she wants me to do, rather than whatever I felt like doing!) I usually think - I know how to do that myself, why spend money on a coach to tell me what I already know? But I'm starting to wonder if knowing how isn't the point.

One last point: a note to self. When I first jumped in the pool a couple of months ago, I could barely swim 25 yards. At the end of those 25 yards, I was nearly drowned because of poor form, poor conditioning, and poor cardio. Yesterday I swam 1500 yards. Important to remember that...