U.S. Short Course Nationals!

No, I did not participate in this event :) I could only wish! However, I did volunteer, and it was SOOOO super cool! It was so neat to sit back on the sidelines and watch some of the best swimmers in the world. Literally, Michael Phelps competed and several "kids" competed for Olympic Time Trial Slots. I say kids because now that I'm pushing 30, that is what I must refer to anyone under the age of 25, and the average age of athlete there this weekend was probably 18 or 19 years old.

Being that swimming is a sport completely new to me, I can't even begin to explain what all I learned today just by sitting there and watching on the deck. The only swimming I ever did growing up was the kind where my cousins and I would play Marco Polo and try to complete full flips off of the diving board. So when I started training for my first triathlon about a year and a half ago, I completely took the swimming portion for granted!

I thought, "I've been swimming for years. I won't be the fastest swimmer out there, but no need in really worrying about that part too much." I did some workouts in a local pool by myself. Made sure I could swim the swim distance for the race I was doing and thought no problem! Well, you can probably imagine some of the thoughts going through my head when the gun goes off for my very first triathlon and I'm wading in the water of a lake with 40+ other girls!!

The swim distance was approximately 700 yds and VERY shortly into it I thought, "Oh my god!! I have no clue what I'm doing out here!" Fortunately, I did make it through in a half-way decent time. However, it was sheer will that got me through that swim vs. any sort of skill :) A short 3 weeks later, I once again throw myself to the sharks by competing in an Olympic Distance Race with zero swim training as well as no other formal training either. I knew going into that I would just need to power through the swim portion and hopefully gather enough strength inside of me to make it through the bike and run.

Well I did finish Tugaloo in 2006 for my second triathlon ever. However, I've never suffered before like I did during that race. I forgot to read the fine print when signing up for that race that you're supposed to be an-aerobic for 2:30 hours +. It's funny how when you finish something like that and experience pain that you never knew existed how you can suddenly be so addicted to the sport! :) That day I made arrangements for my first private swim lesson!

Fast forward a year and a half, 3 months worth of private swim lessons in which I realized just how much I did NOT know how to swim, 10 months of Masters Swimming with Tim Storsteen and the Whales, and 11 months with Coach Carole, I still would never even come close to being as good of a swimmer as those teenager's I saw today. And yet who would of thought a 30 year old (well, I'm still holding onto 29 :) ) could learn so much from such young people!

I stood today between the warm-up/cool down pool and the competition pool and took in everything I could. I watched to see if they had "high elbows" on their down stroke. I watched their recovery strokes to see how relaxed their shoulders were and where they entered the water. I looked closely to see whether they kept their hands relaxed and even their flip-turn technique. I also stood there listening intently to the conversations they had with their team mates and coaches, and felt completely proud to be part of something in which everyone around was so supportive and encouraging.

It reminded me of the spirit of triathlon of course and connected me that much more to the swimming aspect of my sport. The most profound thing I experienced for the day was watching a young 18 year old girl qualify for the Olympic Time Trial in her 200m breaststroke race and listening to her coach explain to her that the reason why she made it today was because, "She raced her own race. She didn't worry about her position with the others and what was going on in the pool. She focused only on her swim, and got her job done for the day." If only we could all do that each day in our own lives. Wouldn't we all be that much more happier and productive no matter what we're doing? I'm going to try to make it my new motto!!

Until Later...Let's all go out and race our own race!!

K