I previously said that I couldn’t relate “my message” to my last attempted post, the training montage. Relating the message came much easier in the current post. All of us in the entourage had a fantastic meet.
*I put on my best smile and asked Charlotte if she would join our relay team. :)
A few highlights of the meet were the three relay races. The relays are a free-for-all and I did my best to recruit my friends (and make new ones) and setup a relay team for each. Evan, Ayla, and I were the constant three. The fourth person changed for each of the relays. First we had Lacy from Great Falls swim for us. Then we had Deidre, a swimmer from Coeur D Alene, join us. In the grand finale, the 200 free relay I recruited my lovely swim friend, Charlotte. 90 years old and still swimming fast. She enjoyed the relay as much as we enjoyed having her.
*Post swim victory party.
Another highlight of the day was having Ayla's mom, Terri, join us. She is a very nice lady who cheered us on all day. It was a lot of fun to go out to dinner after the meet with Ayla and her mom. We were lucky to have both of them join us for the day.
Just after the Wenatchee Swim Meet Ayla sent me a text that said: “Thank you for getting me interested in swimming and triathlons. They have changed my life, thanks for all the help.”
I love to train hard and I love to see what I am made of. It isn’t always about me though. My goal is to help as many people believe in themselves at the same time that I am on my own quests to be the power of one. There is nothing more satisfying than a thank you like the one Ayla sent to me. That is a powerful message. Ayla did awesome in all her events, a credit to her hard work and taking that first step.
*Ayla works the draft in the 200 freestyle
*All smiles before the meet.
It was nice to have Evan join me for another race trip. When he isn't pestering me like a brother does, it's actually nice to have him around :) He did great in all his events and left with an arm-full of awards. He also made a fantastic dinner for us the night before. After going to the mall, watching Zero Dark Thirty at the IMAX, Evan cooked a gourmet pasta and meat something dish (showing my lack of divine dining terminology here).
*Evan works his magic
*I'm not much of a cook so Evan told me to "stand there and look pretty."
*Evan and his mom always take great care in preparing us for the competition with great food.
A really cool portion of the meet was when we raced unsanctioned 25 yard races. We dove off the starting blocks, swam one length to the opposite end as fast as we could, and that was the end of race. That's not a regular distance race, thus not sanctioned, thus a chance to have a little fun. I received a lot of laughs during my 25 yard freestyle after diving off the start blocks, and frog-man swimming underwater to the other wall without surfacing. I myself found it quite comical and so did the timers.
*These suits should be unsanctioned, don't blame me, blame USA Swimming.
The relays were fun, the 25s were hilarious. Of the 12 events that I swam (a daunting schedule) my best race was my 200 individual medley. That's a four-lap, eight-length race. I have been training like a machine and I knew I was primed to swim fast for the 200im. I knew I had it in me to do well.
*Warming up the turbos before the 200im. I'm smiling because I knew I was about to crush it.
*Stretching them out
Right before the official gave us the "Swimmers taker your mark" que, I said to myself, "Let's kill this thing." The starter signaled and we all dove in. I streamlined deep into the water and dolphin-kicked the first half of the pool. I surfaced and took easy speed to the first wall. I had a great turn, got deep under the oncoming wave and swam strong to the second wall right with the leaders of my heat.
*"Stay calm, easy speed," I told myself.
I had a good wall transitioning to the backstroke and again got really deep. It seems counter intuitive, but swimming under water is actually faster than swimming on the surface. It's a marvel of physics called "surface tension." I knew I was in good shape when out of the corner of my goggles I saw the lane next to me surface while I was still kicking on my back under water. I need all the help I can get in the middle portions of the IM as that is usually where I lose time.
I hit the third wall with a pretty good flip turn and came off again on my back. By the time I made the completion of the backstroke portion I was right in the hunt for the lead.
*Breaking the surface on the backstroke
The third stroke, the breast stroke is my least effective stroke (notice I didn't say "worst stroke") and I lost time to the leaders. My goal for this stroke is to suffer through it and limit the damage. When I finished this stroke I was a body-length behind the leader.
*Just suffer through it and finish strong.
The final stroke, the freestyle is my finishing kick. I swim a lot for triathlons so I have a pretty decent front-crawl stroke. I came off the wall on the final lap, tried to stay deep, and surfaced swimming tempo. I kept repeating to myself a phrase Rowdy Gaines always says on TV, "Keep the head down and go to the legs here." This is the last portion of the race and it hurts at times. You are combining tired muscles and holding your breath....uncomfortable to say the least.
At the final wall I had an awesome flip turn and was within a half body length of the super swimmer next to me. I was breathing to my right so I could see him clearly. I kept my stroke long, my head down, and my legs kicking. I was screaming in my head, "You are a finisher, stay on the pace!" With every breath I got a clear look, I was moving up with each stroke. When we hit the final wall my hand hit first, about the length of wrist to elbow before his. The time difference was less than half a second.
That was my best swim ever, 13 seconds faster than the same race one year ago, and 5 seconds off of my all-time best. I was so happy with the race, and how much fun I had. That was a great moment of satisfaction and competition.
After that, we all cooled down, went to dinner, joked around, and went home with a bunch of awards. It was a great day and I am lucky to have shared it will all my friends.
*Evan had a good time it would appear.
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