how I was hoping to feel
Recently I decided that this was going to be the year that I was going to swim 100 * 100 meters in the pool. According to most of the blogs I have been reading lately, you've gotta to that set to be cool. Not that I care too much about being cool (or I wouldn't wear my sweat pants until 5pm and then change into pajamas) but I'm always up for a challenge. Swim week back in January didn't cause me to cry into my goggles, so I thought maybe a nice little 10k in the pool would do it. I figured it could be my birthday swim set in October. Or maybe I could do it down in the Valley in an outdoor pool and get a sweet tan. But I decided that some company would trump everything else and so I wrote an email to Frank, our Masters Swim Coach.
I should've known. Last time my wish was granted instantly. This time his reply was: How about we do it before Spring Break? Aehm. Wait a second! Spring break is in 3 weeks! I was shooting for sometime this year! But, not being one to back down from a challenge, I told him that I am only in town for 1 of the 3 Saturdays before Spring Break and would be more than happy to do it then. It was the day after getting home from a week of training in St. George but why not make this already epic workout a little more challenging? Coach M basically just rolled her eyes when I told her about my plan. I think she is about to give up on me... To make matters worse, Coach Frank didn't announce: Next Saturday we will have practice for 3 hours for whoever wants to try to swim 100*100. Nope. He said: Sarah wants to swim 100*100 next Saturday if you want to join her. Craptastic! Suddenly the pressure was on and I realized that I couldn't very well back out of this one even if I wanted to.
To make a long story short, on Friday night the last thing I wanted to do was wake up before 5am and swim a 10k. I had just gotten home from my trip that afternoon, Karl had the flu, my bags were all over the place, I was supposed to go to a church dinner and talent show, and the kids wanted my undivided attention. Sounds manageable, right? Well, it was. Until Noah got his fingers smashed within the first 5 minutes at church. He was hurting badly and, after Max had eaten his chili and cupcake, we headed back home right away. Where Max threw up twice all over the place during the night. My sick husband basically took care of that single-handedly since he was sleeping on the couch anyway. Huge props to him. But it made for a rather restless night.
Before getting out of bed, I made a very wise decision: I did not need to prove anything to anyone. It had been a long week already and if I were to stop after, let's say, 64*100 most likely no one would even notice because so far I hadn't been able to convince anyone to join me. I took the pressure off and suddenly felt much better. I would just give the best I had in my today and enjoy the fact that I am healthy and that I get to do this! That didn't sound too difficult. Worst-case scenario, this would happen:
When I pulled up in front of the pool at 5:15, there were actually some cars waiting already! I should've known that my friends weren't going to let me down! Or so I thought... After laying out my 3 bottles, 4 GUs, and one Lara bar, I got in a lane with Chris. The minute we took off for our first 100, my plan went out the window. After desperately trying to keep up with Chris, who set a very fast pace, I decided to back off. This wasn't a race and I had a long way to go still. So it was just me and myself for the next ninety-four 100s. No one to draft behind and no one to help me count. Fine then!
I swam. And swam. And swam some more.
And, much to my own surprise, this never happened:
After fifty-four 100s, I yelled over to Karen and Paul, who were keeping me great company even though they were in the next lane over doing their own thing: I think I am going to do it! I knew at this point that I was going to make it. My mind was willing and my body followed. I surprised myself! The mind is such a powerful tool and I get excited whenever I figure out how to use it to my advantage. I remember thinking during #92: Wow. Only 8 left. I could do this for much longer! Not sure who I was fooling here but I was glad I was feeling decent still. Actually, it was bugging me a little that I wasn't about to drown and so I turned on (whatever was left of) my jets for the next 800.
Done and done! I was on a high for the rest of the day.
Congratulations to Chris who killed this set! I expected him to die half-way through but he toughed it out and is now my new best friend! (I love having best friends about whom all I know is their first name and the color of their swim suit...)
Huge thanks to Coach Frank who sacrificed his Saturday morning so that 3 of us could make this set! (And others, including Karen, could record their longest swim so far.)
Then I went home and I spend the next two days hanging out with my family. No workouts. I never left my boys' side. It was just what I (and maybe they) needed.
You should try this!
If you want to...
It's not nearly as bad as it sounds.
Really.
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