I've been waiting for this all winter; that moment where your focus narrows, you feel immersed in the moment, you feel flow in your movement, and a feeling of joy and confidence swells in your heart. I can be assured of that feeling of flow when my feet are pounding down a trail, or I'm standing on my pedals climbing switchbacks to a summit. I can't say that I've ever had that experience following a black line in a 25m pool...until today.
My friends know that I only swim so that I can get to T1. Sure, the lake is inviting in the summer, and I love the accomplishment of swimming to 'that dock' with the turn-around flag. Otherwise, the joys of swimming generally allude me. I have even cut out of a swim session early to get a jump start on my taxes.
Lately I've spent a whole lot more time in the pool. I have committed to staying off my feet to kick the inflammation in my knee. That means no running, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, skiing...or anything remotely fun! Sooooo, more pool time.
I got to the Vernon pool deck with my goal in mind. 400, 500, 600, 700, 800m alternating swim and pull/paddles. I've been swimming that exact same workout four days a week, no details, no pace clock, no negotiating. I perused the lanes, looking for consistent swimmers, avoiding the man with flippers doing some sort of adapted back stroke, and avoiding the whipper snapper with her swim club cap banging out 200s of IM. I hopped in with two men who looked pretty steady, and near my pace. I just wanted to get into my groove and complete my ritual without too much passing and dodging. Well it turns out that these two very agreeable fellows lacked a little in pool etiquette. They stood at the wall to chat and their large bellies almost touched at the black line, leaving little room to flip. The older one seemed to wait until the moment I turned, to push off the wall in front of me, leaving me to wait for a chance to pass. That's when things changed. Instead of my cruisey pace, I had to pick it up to beat the on-coming swimmer. Spurred on by a little irritation I kept up the stronger pace, and began to flip faster, reach further, push harder, breath more frequently. I felt the intensity rise. When I got to the wall, I saw men's bellies part as they made way for me. They scooted off to the side when they felt the water move on their feet. I felt that focus, that flow, being in the moment....hold on now.....joy? confidence? ME? IN THE WATER? YES, that was me. Feeling JOY in the water! When I stopped at the wall between the last two sets, the guys were getting out and one said "Wow, you're some swimmer." Usually I would have said something self-depricating, knowing that I'm mediocre at best, lining up next to triathletes and swimmers. Today I just said "Thanks! Have a great day!" and went on to finish the session feeling like "some swimmer".
