New Motivation

I met someone in the pool the other day. She comes from Durant and swims with Linda Gail Fondren. She is an older lady, and she asked me if I knew about the Senior Olympics. I did not and really didn't think too much about her attempts to interest me in them. It seems there are State games and National games. Sometimes a seed someone sows requires the right time to germinate and sprout. This one sprouted several days later.

I was at home hanging out with the cats when what she said came to mind so I did what everyone does now: googled. The more I read, the more I became intrigued. Of course I looked up the swimming. The events, the individual ones, are all done in age groups. The longest swim they have is 500 yard short course. I looked up past results and almost jumped out of my seat. "I can beat those times!" I almost shouted out loud. I searched and searched and with the exception of the sprints (I am an endurance swimmer), I could have won them all last year.

Needless to say, I am planning on signing up and competing this year. And already, this has had a huge impact on my pool swimming. I have been swimming regularly but not particularly hard. I like the zone two stuff, the all-day pace that I am so adept at, but really hard intervals, the kind of swimming pool swimmers do, I have always shied away from. That is one thing I miss about swimming with the crew at DSU. Having a coach is like going to school. They make you do things you would not do on your own, like hit the hard intervals over and over. Yesterday I hit the pool with a zeal I have not had in years. I did the following:

1,350
500 for time (8:23, the fastest swum at the Senior Olympics was 9:55 by someone ten years younger than me)
200 small paddles
200 for time (3:09)
200 small paddles
100 for time (1:27)
500 small paddles
total: 3,050.

Now I can't wait to go back today. I am planning some 50s on a longer interval and lots of them. Since my shoulder injury, I have lost some speed, not that I ever had a lot. Under Coach Petya, we used to swim 20 X 100 @ 2:00 often. I would swim the first four under 1:20 and do them all under 1:25. Now, the best I can do is 1:27. Sigh. But I plan to get those seconds back. I have been thinking, planning, scheming on how to do it. My plan involves Plate City, of course, and the pool. The missing motivation is back with a vengeance. I always wanted to swim, just not swim too hard. Now I want to swim hard, to pay the price for speed so that I can compete not only in the "distance" events (500 is a long sprint for me), but the sprints as well. Follow the journey if you care to. The dates for this year's Olympics have not yet been set, but last year they were held in late April and early May on the coast. That gives me time, motive, and opportunity to get into much better form. Thank you, Jesus.

How will all of this pool training impact my training for that thing I don't mention until after the first of the year? It should help me and help a lot. Speed is always nice to have and I learned long ago that training like a pool swimmer most of the week, and reserving one day for volume is very effective at building endurance. In short, it will make me a more well-rounded athlete, and as one strength guy I watch on YouTube says, "Strength is never a weakness." That part of the training has always been a part of my all-day swimming program, only now I am already hitting the weights with an energy I never have had before. After my last two Plate City sessions, I came inside with my arms trembling. I never did that in the past. Thank you, Lord.