Swimmingly

Swimming is going well this year. This season got off to a great start, anyways. One of the only gifts my ex-girlfriend left in her haste to dump me was a depression that helped me shed 25 (apparently unneeded) pounds. It helped me this summer to have one of the best triathlon race seasons ever. In my toughest event of the summer, I finished 45 minutes ahead of my expected time (and 17 minutes ahead of my dream time) for a half-Ironman. Now that the triathlon season is over, I've calmed down my busy training schedule.

I started swimming with my Masters swim team again, after a self-imposed hiatus in the spring. It's nice to be back in the water with my pals, training hard, hot tubbing afterwards and even sharing the occasional beer on our monthly post-swim Wing Night Wednesdays. The coaching has been pretty good so far this year. My technique has improved due to tips from the various coaches (we've gone through a few in the past three months). The fact that I'm going pretty regularly means that the things I'm working on (head down, elbows up, completing each pull, and faster turns) are sinking in.

Swimming is a really wonderful sport. I love the feeling of the water as I cut into a calm, undisturbed lane for my first length in a set. I love the pounding of my heart when I stop in between intervals, cherishing my few seconds with my face out of the water, breathing big, delicious lungfuls of air. I love racing someone in a near lane for the last 10 meters of a length, digging past tired for a bit of reserve to keep ahead of them. I love hearing from muscles and joints that normally don't talk to me through the day, reminding me that they are still there, able and willing to do their job. I love the type of body that swimming gives me, and that I can use it to do just about any other sport reasonably well (or giving me the endurance to keep trying until I *can* do something reasonably well).

I wonder if my dear ol' mom thought that I'd end up so enamored with this activity when she first took me (a fresh 13 year old) to a one-length "tryout" meet at Strathcona County Pool.

I'm grateful for many things in my life and being able to swim is one of them.