Swimmin'

On Sunday I 'competed' in my second swim meet - ever. I had an ambitious program, one that would make any Olympian proud: 400m free, 100m free, 50m free, 200m free and 800m free. And then one four x 50m relay, also free.

As with anything in life, it's important - I think - to jump into the deep end every once in a while and see what happens.

That approach comes from when I first moved to Vancouver in the mid 1990s; I didn't know anyone and somehow I found myself a member of an outdoor adventure group called Carpe Diem.

At that point in time I had no real athletic component to my life. As a kid I played either road hockey or put on skates and attempted to hammer the puck into the net, or I was fielding well hit pitches in centre field or trying to smash backhands cross court. I kept active but in hindsight I wasn't at all fit.

One of the first 'adventures' I did with Carpe Diem was a two-day race from Deep Cove to Whistler.  I had volunteered to do one of the easy mountain bike sections but by the time I made it to the pre-race meet-my-teammates meeting, we apparently had decided to complete the entire race - together. What the heck.

And so I held my first paddle moments before we launched from Cates Park to travel 19km up the Burrard Inlet. It wasn't pretty - it's fair to say it was ugly - but we weren't last out of the water either - OK, I think we were the last team out of the water but there was at least one individual behind us.

Completing that race - paddle, mountain bike, white water raft, mountain bike and mountain trail run - opened my mind. And I like to think each fresh adventure opens the door a little wider. I think it's unfortunate when good athletes lose the ability to take risks because that's what living means to me. My current personal best in Ironman came in 2004 and I have made that a target every race that I have since entered.

My first swim meet was two seasons ago. As best I recall, some 70 year old guy finished ahead of me in the 100m free. (At least I can say he was a former Olympian!) That meet was a great experience. It helped spur my motivation to swim a lot more.

And so I was looking forward to the UBC hosted event yesterday. We had Coach Roseline and a solid crew of Titans.

I hit the water for a warm up and I have to say that immediately I knew the next few hours were going to be challenging. It was as if I had lost an extra hour of sleep rather than having won it.

I have been swimming reasonably consistently the last two months though my main focus the last six weeks has been my preparation for the California International Marathon in early December.

So I didn't exactly taper for the swim meet, never even considered doing so. I know from triathlon that I can have a massive training day on a Saturday and still put in a strong performance at a sprint or Olympic distance event on the Sunday.

That's not what happened yesterday though. I ran or tried to run a hard 9km effort on Friday and then ran a steady 27km on Saturday. The Friday run was a bust but the Saturday run was superb. I felt fast, running felt effortless, it was pouring and yet my spirit was soaring.

I'm fortunate to have a good friend here who is a superb athlete, and a great target: Volker. He's an uber biker who runs three hour marathons and is becoming shark-like in the water too. Thank God he's not in my age group at Ironman Canada!

We lined up in lanes 7 and 8 for the 400m, the first event. We swam a very even first 25m and 50m and then he maintained his pace and I didn't - not for lack of effort on my part. I had nothing. This non pull buoy rule needs to be reassessed!

Needless to say that 400m wasn't an auspicious start to the meet for me. I never really felt like I found my rhythm. That's OK, I had some 'moments' to write home about. I had one speed, which worked in the 800m but that sort of was less helpful in the rest of my events :)

I shook my head a few times but racing is like that. There are days when you have it and days when you don't.

I'm not deterred though. I'm looking forward to the next meet in early February. I'll be in full triathlon training mode by that point and will be determined to sink the season benchmarks I set yesterday.

For now the focus shifts primarily to early December with a few strength sessions and some yoga practices too.

The importance of looking forward

It takes effort - sometimes a massive effort - to stay focused. I'm talking about life here not sport. I believe that focus is a skill. It's one that we acquire over time. It's a reflection of all that we've learned from the people around us.

Focus is what keeps us moving forward - though of course the speed at which we move is individual and that is what makes life interesting. We all have different paths to take and the difference in speed at which we move often is the cause of conflict which isn't necessarily negative.

Much of our behaviour is learned from our parents at least it was in my case. Good people who have always respected others. 

The most simple truth in life I've learned - repeatedly from my Mom and Dad in both words and actions - is to treat others as I want to be treated. Don't take advantage of anyone else. Don't transfer what's my responsibility to someone else.

At times others will take advantage of me, have and will do or try to do so in the future. That's OK in the sense that I can't control how others choose to live. But I don't need to be defined by what defines them. That doesn't make me happy but it provides me with the justification to distance myself from people who don't embrace me as an equal however difficult that is.

It's not complicated. I want people in my life who add value to my life, who enrich my life, who push or challenge me to think differently, people who open my mind, who respect me for who I am and who are interested in what I do, what I think and the potential that I've yet to achieve. I choose to hold closest to me people who share that approach to life.

Of course there are times when I have been tested, by both family and friends. There are times when I've been angered by the words and actions, or non actions, of the people closest to me. I accept that as part of life. And at times I've needed to rethink, reassess, take a step back and look in the mirror. And to take time to do so. Is it me or is it them? If I'm honest, it sometimes is me.

As we've all read at one point: we are defined not by what knocks us down, we are defined by how we respond, by how we pick ourselves up.

Guilt and forgiveness also play two huge roles in my life. I can choose to look at the concept of guilt  positively or negatively - it's easy to do both. I grew up a Catholic in a loving family. We had everything that we needed and then some. We never wanted for anything. Yet my parents also taught us about perspective - a theme that I've blogged about a lot over the years.

Perspective is about balance.

Guilt in and of itself is powerful. It's a double-edged sword. It acts as a limiter, an imaginary line between what's acceptable and what isn't. It does I think help keep me on the straight and narrow. It helps define what's right and what's wrong.

Forgiveness is equally powerful. Forgiveness to me is about letting go, it's about moving forward and it's about looking forward. Learning to forgive isn't easy but I believe it's a key to living a healthy and positive life.

Forgiveness is NOT about who's right or who's wrong. It's far more about acceptance. It's about deciding what's most important. Did I err in rushing to judgement? Can I forgive myself for doing so? Can I find a way forward? Or do I need to let go?

In the standard sense, one forgives someone else for something that they've done or said. There's an element of that in my understanding of forgiveness.

But forgiveness doesn't mean accepting the status quo: I forgive you, hit me again.

In an ideal world, forgiveness helps both you and the person you are forgiving. But in reality, it's far more about forgiving yourself. It is for me - as I said earlier - about letting go.

And yet it doesn't have to be about letting go forever. It's about letting go for now. Sometimes what we need most is distance, a chance to get on with life however mundane though hopefully about focusing on one's potential. Life is short - we hear that phrase all the time and we are reminded of it especially at times of crisis when someone dies suddenly, unexpectedly.

We often are challenged by people who are unhappy at their core. They've made the decision at some point - unconsciously as well as consciously - as children or as adults that they are victims. Nothing makes them happy and they seek to live that way. It's powerful. It's very hard to change. They grant themselves immunity for all that they do, if you don't agree with them that's your problem. They use people.

Their 'half glass empty' approach to life often has been reinforced by friends and family - unconsciously and consciously too. In many ways they are trapped but can't see it, nor do they want to see it and they especially don't appreciate being confronted with it either. It's become who they are and everything in their life reinforces that approach.

The tough part is what to do about it. How to interact with them on any level? How to avoid being caught in their trap?

Do you try to engage them? Do you embrace them? Or do you push them away?

It can be particularly hard to have a rapport with them because if you aren't careful you will be pulled down by them, you will lose your focus and you will wake one morning lost. 

I don't have any answers. But what I do know is that for me it's important that I look forward, that I maintain my focus. I need to compartmentalize and put aside the distraction otherwise it will drag me down too.

Darkness

It was dark this morning, as dark as it is now. Fall is fast flowing towards winter and that means still fewer hours of light. Turning back our clocks this weekend will help but it will be a temporary fix.

The darkness makes it a tough time of the year to be motivated to train. This morning for me was no exception. The alarm sounded and while my new Garmin swim watch is far gentler than my previous Polar watch, it did what it was supposed to do and roused me from a deep sleep.

Unlike Simon Whitfield, I needed to count to more than 10 before I eased myself from beneath the covers.

Half asleep I dressed and turned on the kettle to have a cup of tea to sip on as I made my way to Brennan Park. It's about a 10 minute drive. No traffic!

I was in the water by 6:10 and it was a no nonsense pre weekend meet session from Coach Roseline. Fast and slow 25s, 50s, 100s and 200s. Andrew, Marko and I worked methodically.

Among the most recent tweaks to my freestyle has been hand placement and pull, thanks to Roseline as well as Yi-khy, our resident 1500m Olympian.

I was trying to explain what to do to Margreet Dietz, who's back in the water preparing for Ironman Canada, and opted to look at Youtube for some video examples.

I first went to Sheila Taormina - http://www.sheilat.com - simply because she's an awesome swimmer. Several years ago I had looked at whether we could get her to visit us in Squamish for a weekend training camp - or to see if she might happen to be in Seattle or Vancouver anytime soon, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

But we could, and can, watch a good range of videos she's posted to Youtube. Today we looked at a catch-up drill. Previously I've looked at how to use

Recently via a pro triathlete I know in Australia, Lisa Marangon, we've been tapping Effortless Swimming for advice.

And I came across a video of one of Australia's swimming legends, Ian Thorpe.

Swimming is the most technical of a triathlete's three disciples and one that draws input from all who watch. I've found for me to improve I need to swim a lot, swim distance and tweak my stroke continuously. It's a never ending lane!

CoachesBC

Triathlon is an amazing sport and I've been looking for a fresh way to tap into it. The card above arrived unexpectedly via email earlier today, and it got me thinking.

A few months ago - long before Ironman Canada moved to Whistler - I started to pull together the following site: http://coachtriathletetim.blogspot.ca

Then I tapped several friends who are coaches in Canada, the US and Australia for their advice to help determine whether it was a path for me. And I've mostly been thinking how to move forward.

While I'm keen to coach, I'm as keen to remain an athlete and a competitor. In Penticton in August, I completed my tenth Ironman and it renewed my love for the sport.

I love being a triathlete and that's one reason why I began the coaching certification process a few years ago.

I'm still keen to be certified - I think there is value in being recognized as such but it takes time and there are competing interests.

Among the competing interests: life and my own athletic targets.

I also have chosen to give back to the sport in writing a book - Sub Nine: History's Fastest Ironwomen - and in writing several dozen articles for triathlon magazines, and websites, in Canada and the US. I continue to write for Triathlon Magazine Canada and ironman.com.

What draws me to coaching is a desire to motivate others.

Of course with Whistler set to host IMC for the next five years starting in 2013, there's been a surge of interest here in Squamish and I've found myself trying to talk more than a few friends into signing up.

Perhaps there's a future for me in coaching after all.