A new R&R

The last two days of swimming were some of the strongest workouts I have ever had in the water.

Two nights ago, I did the whole workout with no fins and no paddles in an 82 degree pool. It was as energy draining as it rewarding. I worked on my kicks and my stroke and finally, I was fast on my own! The coach asked me to go to the faster lane and even there, my lane mates praised how strong my stroke was. I was so proud of myself! But so tired, that I got home and went straight to bed (no blogging).

Yesterday, I stayed in the lane the coach had suggested earlier. I started swimming with no fins, but I was too slow for the other swimmers. I put on my paddles, but I was still too slow. I put on my fins, and even with them, I was struggling not to fall behind such fast swimmers. I gave all I had in me to keep up, and after one hour, I was pooped! No energy for blogging that night either.

This morning, after two days of giving 100%, I slept, and slept, and rested. I ate a chocolate croissant for breakfast, I didn't go to swim and I had a glass of wine with popcorn and croutons for dinner. Feeling guilty only lasted a second. It wasn't the best diet for an athlete, but it was what my body wanted so it was definitely a reward for a job well done.

When we are on a roll, we forget to take the time to thank our bodies and our spirits for doing a hard work. Everybody needs some R&R. Rest and Relaxation might make active souls like me feel guilty, but athletes call it Rest and Recovery for a reason. I call it Rest and Reward!

Ripping the rut from its roots

Today was a tough day; applying for jobs that won't make me happy, recruiters that don't call back, emails that never get returned... the last thing I wanted to do was getting in a bikini and going to swim in the cold. But my husband insisted and I didn't have the energy to fight him back. He said, "leave it all at the pool, give your all and you'll feel better." Yeah, whatever.

But even the ride towards the pool made me feel better; and by the time I made it out of the water, the bad day was behind me. I focused on my kicking and trying to glide. So much focus on improving myself made me realize that, at least in the little things, I am in control.

Most of the times when we are stuck in a rut, the first thing we do is withdraw from the world. But we need to snap out of it, rip the sadness out off its roots and get moving. We can't change a crapy day, but we can definitely change the way we look at it!

Mermaids and the Titanic

This weekend, after our regular swimming session, my husband and I stayed at the pool to record underwater videos of each other swimming. That way we could see our stroke from different angles and discover ways to become more efficient in the water.

For weeks, we have been watching videos of Michael Phelps and other olympic swimmers. They look like mermaids (or mermen) in the water. They glide so smoothly, so effortlessly... But watching myself under water was closer to watching the Titanic crash. There were limbs all over the place, things didn't move the way they should and my stroke was so slow that the video looked in slow motion! It was heartbreaking and demotivating to the point I couldn't watch anymore.

But today, two days later, I am a lot more positive. I have always complained that I am too slow in the water and at least, now I know why. My new task then would be address the (whole lot of) things that I'm doing wrong. Today, I focused on kicking with my legs closed and without bending my knees.

Watching our mistakes is indeed one of the hardest things we can do, but unless we become aware of them, we have no chance of improving ourselves. Improving my stroke will take a long time, but changing one mistake at the time, I hope someday I can be a mermaid too.

A lane excuse

Today it was sprints: swimming as fast as you can for short distances. Sprints are a lot of fun because you can give 100% if you know you're just going to do it for 30 seconds or so. You get to the end knowing that you gave your all, and then you plenty of time to catch you breath and do it again. Today, however, the coach decided that he was not going to give us time to rest. We kept going 100 yards after 100 yards with maybe 5 seconds rests.

When I'm swimming with fins, it is a lot easier to rest; I kick a little harder once and glide effortlessly. But the guy in front of me didn't have fins and by the last 25 yards, he was slowing down. His slowing down forced me to slow down as well, so every time I felt him in front of me, I had to take a forced "gliding" rest. After a few hundreds, though, it was annoying. His bubbles ahead of my were annoying, his choppiness was annoying... and because we were not resting for more than a second, I couldn't tell him to let me go ahead of him. I was stuck.

Suddenly, I noticed the lane ahead had only two people and a girl there asked me if I wanted to join them. I hesitated, thought about it for another 100 and then I switched lanes happily! Ha! It only took 200 to miss the "forced" resting sessions. After 75 yards of giving 100%, I missed the bubbles, I missed the choppiness, I missed having an excuse to slow down and rest for a bit. But I was so tired... that I took my rest without having an excuse; just because I needed it (sound of ego deflating).

How many time do we blame others around us for not letting us reach our potential? The boyfriend who doesn't like to go hiking, or the mother that doesn't cook healthy food are our excuse for not working out or loosing weight. Having and excuse is easy and changing is hard, so we leave things like they, and feel stuck, blaming others for not changing.

Just change lanes... and leave your lame excuse behind.

No one to blame but myself

Today at swam at night with swimmers I hadn’t met before. It was a fast and very rewarding swim (with fins, this time). But in the last 100 yards, the coach wanted us to time ourselves giving 100%. I have been postponing timing myself because I really don't want to know yet. But today, I took the challenge! I told the lady behind me to go ahead of me so I could be free to go at my own speed, but she insisted she was slower. I went first and before reaching the other wall, she started bumping me with her head. I had to stop and let her pass, ruining my timing… and my swim.

After the swim, talking with my husband, I discovered why I was so mad: When working out, as well as in life, we should not allow others to ruin our plans. We know our limitations, we know our goals, so we give them the chance to go first, to get out of our way. But if they pass, then their rights have been revoked. Many times we have a coworker, a boyfriend, a sibling who maybe with good intentions want us to stray away from our plan. Ultimately, we have the power to decide if we give in and live with the guilt, or to put our foot down and assert our rights.

Lady, you made me mad today, but you taught me a lesson. Thanks.

True victory is victory over yourself.

Until today, my H2 fins allowed me to speed behind the faster swimmers in the “ego lanes”. My fins have been my crutches, so I decided to have one finless day every week; and today was the first.

Reality check! I was the slowest in the slow lane! A superhero with her powers stolen. But although I was a slow swimmer, I knew my progress was faster. It was a humbling workout that reminded me speed is not a sign of progress because the only one I’m competing against is myself.