Click

I'm a visual person, I know that. Some people need long explanations to understand complicated issues, but not me; I need an image. However, this week, a few words made me understand not only about swimming, but also unearthed something I had forgotten about myself.

In my previous post, I talked about going back to basics. In his blog, John described swimming as "pulling the body past the hand" while I had always visualized the hand moving behind the body. Suddenly at the pool, I remembered his tip and the body just understood and rotated itself perfectly. A little shift in my perception made it click in my brain. Even the coach congratulated me on my stroke!

I remembered how many years ago, I also struggled with learning how to roller blade. I tried and tried, and while all my cousins and friends were rolling around, having fun, I sitting by the sidewalk next to my ignorance. My uncle took me aside and said, "it's like walking in wheels," and all of a sudden, his words clicked on my brain. I started to roller blade as if I had done it all my life!

This little deja vu reminded me that there are many ways to learn.  We know that different people has different styles of learning, but we forget that even for us, that click can happen when we least expect it; we just have to be open to it!

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Dry pondering

Going back to basics is not admitting defeat, it's admitting our constant search for perfection. So while I'm bedridden with a virus that had obviously extended his welcome period, my husband found a great blog that talks about the basics of swimming form.

The post even includes a simple workout that is more form focused than distance focused.

I'm bored at home so I'll try it in an indoor pool later today.

http://blog.finisinc.com/workouts/231

Pool infection!!!

Today, my husband joined me in the pool. He barely recovered from his two-week cold today (we've been passing the germs to each other), so he was tired and I saw him resting by the wall a few times. But then, I noticed a very interesting phenomenon.

After recovering from my own illness, I feel heavy and out of shape in the water, but I keep kicking and stroking saying its temporary. However, watching my husband rest at the wall today gave me an excuse to quit and take a break myself.

Excuses are contagious, but so is motivation. When I am swimming out with a very motivated group, I feel I want to keep going, even if my limbs are telling me they can't. This "infectious effect" is very palpable in any workout. But it is so easy to miss in other environments. Like friendship, like relationships, like a job.

Now that I'm transitioning careers, I realize how important it is to find a company with a great team, smart, motivated people that will keep me challenged and push my skills so I can be my best. I'm looking for the right kind of infection. And I know I'll catch it soon!

Just had to try

A couple of weeks ago, I got a bad cold that kept me away from the pool -and the blog- for a while. Finally, last Friday, I jumped into the pool and had the hardest workout I've had in a long time. I was heavy, slow, out of energy, and when I was about to quit and leave the pool early, the coach said something that made me think he was reading my mind: "it doesn't have to be pretty, all you have to do is try."

I looked around me and I realized that even though I had not been in the pool for almost two weeks, I had not gone back to the last lane. I didn't put my absence as an excuse for going back to the beginners. I was the last one in my lane, and yes, it was not pretty, but I still finished all my workout. If I hadn't, I would have only cheated myself.

I realized that I'm the same way at work. Projects have to be ready on time, no excuses. And although sometimes something has to give, I try as hard as I can to finish what I started. In my case, the blog had to give, and I'm sorry I didn't try to write about anything else.  But I learned something else: even though this is a blog about life lessons through swimming, I shouldn't always need water to reflect and learn. I guess I cheated myself there.