Three Things Thursday - Swimming Thoughts

1. I think that what I liked most about last week's meet was getting the chance to really race. It's just not quite the same in a road race. Yes, there are other people on the course to race, but it's so much more about the clock in that situation.  I'm not fast enough to be racing for the top ten, so at any point on the course I have no idea if the people around me started before or after me. I could be behind someone and still ahead time wise or vice versa.  It was so motivating on Friday night to try to run down the guy next to me in the last third of the mile. I know that I swam faster because of it. I need to figure out how to channel this type of motivation when I'm running a race.

2. I left the swim meet wanting to sign up for a ton of meets and variety of events. But right now I'm only swimming 2 times a week (2-3 hours total).  This has been the perfect amount with my running schedule and I don't want to throw that balance out of whack too much. I just fear that swimming is fun right now because I'm not too serious about it. I don't want swimming to become a chore or something I dread, which has definitely happened in the past. I know I'll never get back to where I was in college because I'm older and I'm no longer swimming 15+ hours a week. And if I even attempt that, I'll be sick of swimming in less than a week. So I need to find that right level of commitment where I can feel like I'm making progress, without feeling overwhelmed.

3. At last weekend's meet there were two 69 year old women who swam the mile and a 79 year woman old who swam the 1000. There were several men and women in their 80s competing during the weekend. I find them so inspiring. I hope that I am still swimming at that age. And if I am, you had better believe that I'll be at some meets!