It’s amazing how I continue to despise certain workouts, including trainer time, and pool time. Looking at my weekly schedule and seeing that on Tuesday and Thursday I need to be in the water, on Wednesday I have interval training, does not excite me. The cold weather does not help, nor knowing that there is possible snow in the forecast, when you have a long run or ride scheduled.
Yesterday, I found myself at Bard when they opened at 0730, wanting to get my swim workout over with as soon as possible. I’ve played around with going to the pool at different times during the day (on my days off), to see if that affects how the workout goes. It’s amazing how busy the small University pool is during “Lap Time.” I’ve come to recognize when certain people go to swim, who the recreational swimmers are, and even which swimmers are triathletes (which, I’m pretty sure the tri shorts gives away).
I began with drills my coach told me to work on after our session last week when she butchered my swim skills (it was okay though- I told her to find everything wrong and tell me, and that she did). One arm “side swims,” one arm strokes. I was so focused on bent elbows and reaching infront of me as far as I could, not inhaling through my nose while my face was under water, and breathing when turning my head to the right. I prefer to only breath to my left, which is something my coach picked up on right away when she saw me swimming. “Your head is too far above the water…Turn to the side…When you breathe, you cross your arm under your torso…Use your obliques…Remember to reach, like climbing…” It’s hard to focus on so many different aspects of swimming at once.
I’m not sure if it was the fact I had not slept in almost 24 hours, pure exhaustion, or an insane amount of caffeine that I recently consumed, but something changed on my date with chlorine. I was on my second set of freestyle. Suddenly, something clicked. The non-stop racing thoughts ceased. My breathing was at ease. I could feel myself gliding through the water, weightless, almost effortless. For the first time, swimming felt…Natural.
At the end of the set and once my cool down was complete, I stopped my timer and could feel myself smiling as I looked across the pool. Success. Dare I compare the feeling I had to a “runners high” after completing an unusually fulfilling run?
I am actually excited for the next time I can enter the water.
A Rendezvous with Sneakers 