on swimming

Re: the swim. It's been tough so far, I won't lie. I won't say I hate it, because I don't. But, it's certainly the most difficult part of this triathlon that I'm up against.

I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news about my horrid swimming is that I've finally figured out what I am doing wrong. Which, in my opinion, is pretty huge. I can't improve if I don't know what to fix, right?

The bad news is that I cannot for the life of me fix it. I KNOW what I'm doing. I know what I need to do. I go over it in my mind. I practice standing in the pool, bent over in the water. I feel like I can do it. And then I start moving and I can't do it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I can fix it, it's just much, much harder than I thought it would be.

I've been in the pool at 5:30 a few mornings a week. Each stroke, I am making a conscious effort and thinking about everything I have to do. I curse the swimmers that make it look so easy! This morning, however, I felt like I had improved since Tuesday when I last jumped in the water. I was really focused and there were a few moments in which swimming was actually kind of easy and fun. Of course there were many more of the typical Sierra Swimming Moments (SSM's if you will). The ones that I can only imagine cause the rest of the swimmers to stop in their lanes to gawk and possibly wonder if I'm drowning.

I take comfort in the fact that I know I can swim the distance needed. It may not be pretty and I may use a variety of different strokes, including backstroke, to get the job done. But I can get there. What I am worried about is getting through it with enough energy to still complete my bike and run. I absolutely cannot burn it all up on the swim and I refuse to let it happen. So, I will continue to work at it and eventually, I think I can get there.

Anyway, any sort of improvement in the swim at this point is a positive and while I still have a long way to go, I will take these baby steps and try not to run with them.