Motivation

I recently sat in the parking lot for 15+ minutes trying to muster the motivation to log a 4500 yard swim.  Yes swimming is my strength but it is also my least favorite aspect of training. I love the swim in a race but despise the swim in training.  People assume that since I "am a good swimmer" that I love it... frankly no.  A lot of that stems from 15 years of competitive swimming and 4 years in college ( on a scholarship) where it became a job.  When a school pays for your education, the own you in a small way.  There is no choice about getting up every day at 5am and logging 5-10,000 yards before class, returning for dry land and weights and another punishing 2-3 hour swim 6 days a week.

I loved it for a long time...but grew tired and wanted to quit.  The issue is if you quit, you lose your scholarship.  If I lost my scholarship I had to leave LSU (mom and dad did not see the value in paying out of state tuition)  So I sucked it up and kept swimming....resulting in my final swim meet being the last time I entered a pool for 10+ years.  Really!

If not for triathlon I would not be swimming... Wait I lied. I swam a lot when I was pregnant with my kids. Running was great but had to end at a certain point.  

So.....swimming is not my 1st choice but a necessary one.  For Ironman people say "you can swim 2x a week and do fine" True but that would be wasting a "talent" and the 1000's of hours I invested years ago....As a strong swimmer, we should swim more. Why?  not because I will knock 5 minutes off my Ironman swim but because I can exit the water with a competitive swim time and a HR of 130. For a 10-12 hour day, that is the $$$.  The swim, which takes a lot out of my competitors, can be  warm up for me  IF, ONLY IF, I swim 4x week and commit to it.  With Ironman Cabo 7 weeks away...I am committed to swimming.

LSU Natatorium- lots of pain in this pool

So today, as I sat and read my phone and wanted to leave...I dug deep and sucked it up and got it done.  Now I have dry skin, smell like bleach I feel great.  But it took a lot of mental commitment to make it happen.

So there you have it....