We'll begin with swimming...
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| 2012 swim totals... I learned to love the water, then hate it, then back on the road to loving it again... |
As mentioned in the previous post, I decided to log every mile, minute, pedal stroke, and calorie burned for every workout of 2012... I'm not sure what drove me to do this-- maybe the suggestion that "what gets measured gets done", or something like that... Nonetheless, 2012 saw some pretty big breakthroughs with swimming, both in training and racing...
It's not secret, at least to me, that swimming is the first discipline to ditch when it comes to workouts... Since moving to Columbia, I've had a harder time making it to the pool-- partially out of laziness, partially out of non-desire, but mostly out of a severe lack of interest... I was pretty tightly wound from June until now... and probably still am... and the thought of swimming after work made my skin crawl... I had come to the point where I would have rather eaten human flesh than stare at the black line lap after lap after lap...
Still, logging 108.58mi was gratifying... I know this pales in comparison to more seasoned athletes, but for me, I feel like it's a good jumping off point... Meaning, if I logged 108 miles this year, in order for me to get faster (i.e., more efficient) in the water, I have to log more miles, hours, and laps in 2013... A fact that I'm not terribly excited about, but I know that in order for me to accomplish some of my goals for 2013, I've got to make that sacrifice...
This means I'll have to make myself go to the pool M/W/F, even if I don't want to... I'll have to make the time count too... Swimming, I think, helps me burn calories and thus, helps me keep down my flabby physique... I have noticed that I don't feel as "fit' or as "firm" as I used to since I all but quit swimming last Fall... I'm back to it now, slowly but surely, and want to get to a point again where I can't wait to get wet....
I'll also have more opportunities to do OWS at Lake Murray once it warms up a bit... I'm actually really excited about this, since Tuscaloosa didn't have many options for OWS... I'm hoping that this year, I'll be able to do enough OWS that I can improve my sighting, and eventually learn how to swim in a straight damn line... practice practice practice... *sigh*...
So, without further ado, here are some of the most memorable swim experiences of 2012:
1. Dam Swim for Drew: hands down, this was my biggest swimming accomplishment in 2012... 2012 was a long year for me... A lot happened, both professionally and personally-- and it took its toll on me, both professionally and personally... After I moved to Columbia, I started looking for new challenges, new races, and new things to do and experience..
I am targeting 2014 for my first full Ironman... that's no secret... So, to prepare for that undertaking, I wanted to firmly know that I could complete each distance of the race independently of each other, so I could know what each felt like, physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually... Over 2012, I moved up to be an FOP (front of pack) swimmer, at least in the Clydes, which puts me in great position for the bike, where I'm definitely FOP... Coming onto the run, I'm still MOP at best...
So, when I found the Dam Swim for D (DSFD), I figured, "What the hell, I'll do it.. it's something new, something I can say I've done, and it'll be a great benchmark for Ironman training"...
I didn't prepare well enough for the swim (as you can read from the blog post)... But I finished... And I felt like I finished in a fairly respectable fashion... Distance swimming is boring for sure, but it's a necessary evil that stands in my way of the finish line at a 140.6!
2. Tom Hoskins Sprint: My first "real" race in Columbia.. I wasn't expecting much out of this race, and basically did it because there wasn't anything else going on that weekend and I wanted to get out of the shithole where I was staying, at least for a few hours....
A 350yd short course pool swim in 4:48... not too shabby... I think this was the first time that I had nabbed the best swim time in the Clyde division too... So I was proud of that...
Again, I know it was a short swim, in a sprint race, but I can remember gunning it the whole way and really wanting to show off... I wanted to make a statement to the triathlon community in Columbia and knew that killing the swim would be a great way to do that... I knew there was a bullseye on me, since I was wearing my Alabama triathlon suit, so I had to make it count... and make it count I did...
3. Buster Britton Sprint: This was all around a pretty special race for me, as it was the first time I ever found the podium... I came out of the water 3 seconds behind the Clyde with the fastest swim time, which I was really proud of... Although I felt like I could have gone faster, I knew that it was a miracle that I did as well as I did, seeing as how I had not really kept up with swimming much before the race...
Buster Britton, again, was a milestone race for me... BB taught me that if I stick to a race plan, I can find my way to the podium... a race plan, and hard work... and a lot of prayer... Buster Britton will also be a special race for me, and of course, I'll always want to go back to Birmingham to see if I can scoop up the top slot in the Clydes...
2012 was very kind to me with regards to swimming... I still think back to lunch swims with Hammond at the UA Aquatics Center, and the cast of characters that were there everyday... 2012 was the year where I feel like I became a swimmer... I still have a lot of work to do to cement myself as an FOP swimmer... one who hangs 10's of seconds between himself and 2nd place... But, the small victories from this past season can be used as motivation to set off 2013...
Thanks for reading...
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