2000 yards. With the local Motivation Man 1/2 iron distance looming in a week, it’s now that I solidify the thoughts I want to carry with me as I race. Starting obviousl;y with swimming, I know last year I was slow for the Olympic distance. The current was against me, yes, but it wasn’t a good performance. I’ve done better this year to condition myself for longer swims. I haven’t engaged in drills, my purpose was to get the idea and fitenss familarization to swim long and then be ready to go once out of the water.
I spend the time limping through laps with clear Speedo goggles that have the plush foam peeling off the plastic eye lens on one side. I didn’t notice this defect at first, I kept trying to see why they might not be fitting correctly on just one side. A closer looka nd the black padding really was separating from the goggles. I’ll buy another one, return this as dead and at least have two shots and having one good pair for the race.
When I was finished, I spoke with a lady who swims occasionally at the LA Fitness pool. She said she saw some Crossfit trucks around CityPlace and was interested in competing. We spoke about the Regional Crossfit games and how many people came from the Southwest to see them here in WPB. She said something that stuck with me when we spoke about the younger, fit competitors. She said she likes to keep herself calm and in the moment while she competes. Being able to do this gives her an advantage vs the brute force “train for it and through it method.” I agree. I’ve described what i do as “engineering” success in races. That includes visualization of the day and its details going well and knowing adversities may come up but I’ll deal with them better than most. This is running the tangents in a marathon, eating well and resting before the race, having a solid replenishment plan that I’m alredy familiar with for the race, seeing all my equipement laid out properly before the race. That works for me. As the event gets closer, I get excited for the beginning of the packet pickup, seeing the people and being “in the moment.” I don’t have a nervous, “What’s going to happen” feeling. I think some would pay for this mental stability, seeing they unravel before competition. I like my plan, I have good fitness, the swimming allows me to see and plan for this undisturbed. Except for the leaky eye socket thing. I tightened the goggle strap until it was so pressed on my eyes it couldn’t leak. My thoughts and my eyes were consumed with the prep for next week’s event.
drun4fun 