1000 meters

Hi. It's Laura.

I don’t often talk about my swimming other than the drama that happens in the pool and that I am swimming.

I must have turned a corner because any drama that has happened in the pool has not involved me for the past few months. As a matter of fact, my swimming has been pretty enjoyable lately. I don't mean the actual swimming part but more the social interactions in the pool itself.

A couple of months ago, I realized that I needed to get serious, about the swimming portion, if I was actually going to do this triathlon. I would find all kinds of excuses to not swim: tired, no time, don't feel well. Now mind you, I always went because I knew it had to get done. But I am pretty good at finding an excuse.

Once in the pool, my goggles would fog, my swim cap would slip, it was crowded and the people were mean. The only real thing I was saying with all of those excuses is “this is hard and I don't really know what I am doing and I'm scared”.

Of all the excuses though, the crowded one was the truest. When I am good at something, I am very competitive, whether I want to be or not. I find myself even racing myself if I am alone, whether that is running or riding the bike.

A crowded pool is tough to deal with. There are a lot of people with their head in the water, not looking up and not paying attention to anyone else around them. This all leads to potential for getting kicked in the face (at least in my mind). The crowded pool makes me very uncomfortable because I don't think I can keep up with people in my lane. So I swim very fast and get out of breath. Then it takes me forever to recover and I start all over again.

I resolved to focus on the swim and started treating a crowded pool like a training arena (I have been told that I won’t be the only person in the Tri with 3,000 swimmers also signed up). I moved from the medium fast lane to the medium slow lane. Why did I really think I was medium fast (it is because I am but I needed not be for a little while)? In the medium slow lane, I slowed down considerably. Once I did, I found my stroke.

I tried reading how to swim and it just wasn't making sense for me. I tried looking at videos on line and that didn't work. Taking a lesson was not going to happen. So every day I would go to the pool and every day I would swim (not literally every day, just a few times a week). Some days it is quiet other days it is not. Today was not a quiet day and I have finally figured out my stroke.

I know which arm stroke works best and how to turn my head to efficiently bring it out of the water to breath (except when I’m tired then all hell breaks loose with my arms and legs). I have even dabbled with other strokes. My fear of the water is subsiding and I am growing more comfortable every time I go. Today I swam my longest swim to date: 1000 meters.

I know this only the beginning of more long swims before the big day but I finally feel like I have had a breakthrough in the swimming world.

Play hard!

Laura