Swimming, Living and Being Selfish

There are two I's in swimming, which means that when, I'm under water, all there is, is me. I am in a different element that's thick, quiet, and feels distant from daily life. That is until someone yanks me out of my zone!

In our hectic days, we rarely have enough time to focus on just ourselves. Swimming is my time. My mind is listening to my heartbeat and my breathing; I can feel how the water moves around my body, and how turning my hand one inch closer feels better than before. I can focus on the details to be better at something I enjoy. Some days I want to see how fast I can go and I'm first on my lane; somedays I want to experiment and go slower; those days I move to the end of the lane so I don't bother other swimmers. But occasionally, they seemed to be bothered nonetheless. There are those who get offended if I want to swim ahead of them or that insist that they are slower and refuse to go ahead, but keep on puffing behind me.

There are also two I's in living, but we can't live our lives ignoring the world around us. So I'm reaching out to you to see how you deal with putting yourself first sometimes, and not others? Do you ignore people? Are you blunt? At work, at home, how do you say "I'm in my zone, don't bother me" without sounding selfish?

Experiment!

Some prefer doing it with their hands wide open. Others, press their thumbs really tight. Me? I realized today that I'm more of a loose-hands kind of girl.

I was following the instructions of my coach. He said, "experiment! What is comfortable for olympic swimmers might not be comfortable for you." We swam 50 yards with our hand wide open (I felt relaxed, but I wasn't moving). Then, we tightened our thumbs on the side (really painful after 50 yards!). Then, we cupped our hands (a lot of motion, but it was also a lot of arm work). And then, we tried relaxing our hands (pure bliss for me, but not for other swimmers).

I was reminded again that we are not all made equal and therefore, there are no absolute truths that apply to everyone. How many wars have we fought trying to impose our ways to others? How many times have we insisted that things be done our way? How many times have we found ourselves doing things the same old way just to change it one day and realize how much better the new way is?

So, play a little. Dare to experiment! There is more than one way to do things and the real winner is the one who tries them all... and choses the best one for her. I did. Will you?

A good debate abut different hand shapes when swimming

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.