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One stroke at a time

    Reached one goal today, and it was done a month sooner than anticipated. I swam 2 miles within 90 minutes.
    Throughout the practice I kept thinking about Steve, a cyclist I met last week who finished three AZ Ironman races, and this year he’s working to conquer Kona … Go Steve.

    Steve said the biggest Ironman challenge is the mind game. Throughout the race, your mind constantly sends negative message, encouraging you to quit. Swimming in a 50 meter pool, working on distance with maybe :10 breaks, that game was played today.

    Within 30 minutes of practice I thought I’d drown. My shoulders and legs were burning (it didn’t help that yesterday I lifted weights and worked on upper body plus did 75 lunges).

    Still, when a negative thought entered my mind, it was very difficult to re-group to find a positive thought. I’d overcome the negativity by dedicating five minutes to my parents or a loved one. Then I remembered a guy who competed in last years AZ Ironman, and he didn’t have legs. So I focused on him during the last 30 minutes for if he can swim 2.4 miles I could swim till the end of practices.

    Here’s the crazy part … just when Coach Mike said we’re done, I asked how far we swam, and someone said if we swam 100 more yards we’d have done 2 miles… Yes, you know I found the energy to swim those 2 extra laps.

    Training tip of the day …
    Just when you think you’ve lost all ability to keep moving, take a breath and continue on.
    We have the power to accomplish anything.

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