Feeling Great

    I know I am inclined to wax poetic over my swim workouts. I can't help myself. Every visit to the pool brings about progress, leaves me exhausted, and sweetly aching the next day. Last night was no exception. From the moment I slipped into the water I knew it was going to be a great swim. I felt strong right out of the gate and my first 10 laps were smooth, fluid, even easy. Normally, my first 10 to 20 laps are a bit of a struggle. I feel tired, sluggish, it takes an eternity to warm up. But last night, it felt good from my opening strokes. I did my regular 5 lap split, and after the first 20 laps and the second 20, I slipped into a flotation belt to "run" and "cycle" laps for about 20 minutes. This was surprisingly tiring. The beauty of it is the resistance in the upstride, both with the running motion and the cycling, as well as zero impact on tender joints. Working quads and hip flexors like this should help considerably to build stamina and speed both for running and cycling. I was also cognizant of what my upper body was doing as my legs churned away underwater, rotating my torso and pumping my arms, to give me a nice core workout. This is definitely going into the regular routine.
    Now, back to my glorious swim. I am consumed by technique. I want my technique to be as flawless as possible. This was my reason for taking swim lessons towards the end of summer, I wanted input, pointers, and drills to continue to perfect my stroke. Last night, I really felt as if I managed to take it to the next level, from the first stroke until the last. During each split, when I was using just the pull buoy, I did Fartlek/speedplay sprints for 2 laps without break. Just a short time ago, I was lucky to be able to do half a lap with any speed. Yes, 2 laps left me breathing hard, but not exhausted. And I was able to focus on long, fast strokes, lengthening my entire body and stretching through the water. I felt amazing. And again, halfway through my backstroke laps I stopped at the dive platform to do 20 pull-ups. The last 20 laps I did with pull buoy and hand paddles, mostly because it is my very favorite drill, and I was rewarding myself for a job well done. And through the last 20, I kept up a steady rhythm, rocking my body through the water, letting my core and torso give power and motion to each stroke. I love feeling like a perpetual motion machine. True, the last 8 laps were tough, and the final 2 were brutal, but I kept up my technique with long, strong strokes. I remind myself with swimming and running, that it is that last bit, the last laps, when I wanted to quit a while back, that are going to build my endurance. It is pushing past fatigue, out of the comfort zone, beyond The Usual, that will take me on to that feeling of greatness. Even if it is just within my own mind, I want to reach Greatness.