Date: 1/25/09
Yards: 2,250
Yards to date: 82,800
Miles to date: 50.2
Well, I did it. I passed 50 miles today. Swam an extra 10 lengths just for good measure. As I was swimming the last several lengths, I had this quiet feeling of satisfaction. I had set myself a challenging goal, mapped out a plan for achieving it, and did it. It occurs to me that I have not done that too many times in my life. It feels really, really good. Tomorrow, as I had promised myself, I get to wear my new suit to the pool.
And, I officially hit the 30-pound mark in my weight loss — 30.2 pounds to be exact. I’m a solid size 12 now (except in a Speedo swimsuit, I’ve discovered — soooo NOT a size 12 in a Speedo). I have 10.8 pounds to go to my goal weight.
Now it’s time to come up with the next goal. I spent some time this morning online looking at video of Dara Torres. She was a lot of my inspiration for getting in the pool at all last summer. Watching her in the Olympics was flat-out amazing. She outswam people who were half her age. She basically did exactly what I’ve just done, only on an infinitely more difficult level. She set this amazingly challenging goal for herself, made a plan for doing it, and achieved it. And then set herself another goal.
My initial thought for the next goal is to back off for the next month on the mileage and work on my technique – this whole rotation thing and the bilateral breathing are tough. I want to build up my upper arm strength. And I want to at least attempt to do a flip turn.
Then again, Glacial Pace is still ahead of me in miles … This just really annoys me. Glacial Pace. Is. Ahead.Of.Me. However, I am smoking Cap’n Hook and Hank the Machine.
Still pondering my super-cool swimming name. I have three more that I’m kicking around — Caffeinated (because I’m a total coffee snob), Lane Shark (sounds like Land Shark, one of my favorite sketches from SNL of ages past) and Pool Shark, which my daughter’s boyfriend came up with. Of course, I don’t play pool, but I do like the play on words.
I’m leaning toward one of the shark names because my friend Julie said that nicknames should be about who you want to become, not who you are now. Sharks are powerful creatures with a commanding presence. They’re focused – like Richard Dreyfuss said in Jaws, they basically do three things: swim, eat and make baby sharks. Don’t want to think much about making baby sharks, but swimming and eating, I’m definitely up for. Nothing else in the ocean really messes with them, because all the other fish know that if they get in a shark’s way, they’re on the menu.
Of course, sharks aren’t very pretty, and I love all the beautiful fish in the coral reefs. So I checked those out. Overwhelmingly, they have ridiculous names, like the barred thicklip wrasse, the Spanish hogfish and the harlequin tuskfish. Seriously, who thought these names were attractive?
Tags: 100 Mile Swim Club, swim suits, swimming goals, Dara Torres, tropical fish, sharks, swimming techniques
January 25, 2009 at 10:47 pm |
hooray! congrats on making your goal!
did you see any pictures of your ugly fishes? you have to give that those names are often very descriptive. many marine fish go through multiple color stages as they mature… wonder if that made them harder to name.
good luck on flip turns, i did my first one last week and now i’m hooked. they’re fun!