Monday Morning Video: Swim and Shine (Not Giving In)

Earlier this summer, a video made the rounds that many were hailing as the greatest swimming psych up video of all time.

And while that video was motivating, I have to admit that I prefer this one--for the soundtrack, for the inclusion of open water swimmers, women, paralympians, and swimmers of all ages.  And for the fact that there's a lot more swimming in it. So, as I start to get myself psyched up for the "big swim," the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim, it seemed fitting that this week's Monday Morning Video be my favorite swimming psych up vid!

Hat tip to SwimSwam for bringing both videos to my attention!

As a reminder, we're in the final week of fundraising for cancer research with the hope of raising $4000 for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Care Center at Johns Hopkins.  And we have a challenge grant.  Since we're only $555 away, I will match the first $200 in donations.  Donate here!

Diana Nyad Inspires Me to Set 2 Personal Bests!

“@diananyad: "People always ask me What's the hardest part? By far, without a doubt, it's the moment before embarking.” via @OtherShoreMovie
— Alison Gold (@AKGold11) August 31, 2013

Yesterday I watched Diana Nyad complete an extraordinary challenge.  In her fifth attempt, she swam the 110 miles of the Florida Straits from Cuba to Key West in ~52 hours of non-stop swimming. It was the longest open water swim ever done without a shark cage. On Twitter and her blog she received congratulations messages from Olympic gold medal winning swimmers and famous actors, "regular" people and the President of the United States.

She was greeted by 100s of people at the beach at Key West and many television cameras.  Despite her exhaustion and sunburn and chafed skin and lips she said, "I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams. And three is, it looks like a solitary sport but it's a team."

Diana Nyad Florida Straits Swim Tracker.

About an hour later, I headed to the pool for the first time in more than a week.  Buzzing from having watched the live footage of Nyad's accomplishment, and anxious to see what the time out of the pool and on the hiking trails would do to my swimming, I decided to log some yardage.

My Labor Day workout:

Warm up:
200 free
100 drill (alternating 25 fingertip drill/25 catch up)
200 free

Main Set:
2x1650

Warm Down:
100 free
50 breast
50 back
100 free

I was pretty shocked when I checked my Poolmate watch for my time on my first 200.  I felt like my body was rotating well and I was really "feeling the water."  But, 3:34 was an 8 second drop on my previous personal best and I wasn't trying to go fast.  Then I managed a 3:35 on the second warm up 200. 

I was hoping that I could also log a new personal best in the 1650 free, also known as the swimmer's mile.  My previous best was 32:01 from back in May.  And because I have been working on distance per stroke and technique, I've logged a lot of slower swims in the last couple of months.  But, I also know that in the last couple of weeks, the tweaks to my stroke had started to click, and the strength training and open water practice were helping me move more water.

Even with a week out of the water, I was fast and feeling good.  Similar to what I experienced when I logged my new personal best in the 1000, both my 1650s were better than my previous personal best!  The second was 31:50, which was a respectable 12 second drop from my previous record.  Especially since I had already swum another mile set just 2 minutes before that one.  But the first set was a doozie:

  It was a 1 minute and 50 second drop!  I was so excited I had to let Diana Nyad know:

.@diananyad was my inspriration in the pool today & I dropped 1:50 on my swimmer's mile! #xtremedream #teamgoldfish pic.twitter.com/c0V9cc42jE
— Alison Gold (@AKGold11) September 2, 2013

And despite the fact I mispelled inspiration, her team retweeted it! A great way to head into the final three weeks of training before the big swim!

I won a medal redux!

Back in July, I wrote about my great experience swimming at the Chris Green Lake Swim in Charlottesville, VA.  I also shared my excitement in having placed third in my age group and snagging my first ever open water medal!  A couple of weeks ago, they posted photos from the medal ceremony, and I wanted to share the one of me!

7 Great Quotes from Swim: Why We Love the Water

In addition to being a swimmer, I consider myself a committed bibliophile.  And it's a dead giveaway when I'm really enjoying a book, because I will often miss my stop on the bus or the train.  In the case of Lynn Sherr's Swim: Why Love the Water, I actually rode the bus two extra stops before realizing I had overshot my office during my morning commute!

Sherr, best known for her 30 year career as a newswoman at ABC, is also a committed swimmer, and Swim: Why We Love the Water interweaves her personal story of preparing for and swimming the Hellespont, the history of swimming, and insights into the science, training, and advocacy going on in swimming today.

Swimming the Hellespont features significantly in Sherr's book.

As I read Sherr's book, I actually felt a bit like she might be the (unbeknownst to both of us) godmother of this blog!

There were two things I enjoyed most about Sherr's book.  The first was her excellent research and storytelling about the history of swimming which went from Greek mythology until the modern day. The second was her uncanny ability to capture others' and share her own meditations on swimming. Here are seven of my favorites:

1. On swimming as a form of salvation...
Swimming is my salvation. Ask me in the middle of winter, or at the end of a grueling day, or after a long stretch at the computer, where I'd most like to be, and the answer is always the same: in the water, gliding weightless, slicing a silent trail through whatever patch of blue I can find.

2. On swimming as an inward journey...
Swimming stretches my body beyond its earthly limits, helping to soothe every ache and caress every muscle. But it's also an inward journey, a time of quiet contemplation, when, encased in an element at once hostile and familiar, I find myself at peace, able -- and eager -- to flex my mind, imagine new possibilities, to work things out without the startling interruptions of human voice or modern life.  The silence is stunning.  

3. On how swimming creates focus, order...
The lane line keeps us centered in more ways than one.  The rhythm of our strokes brings order to our senses.

4. On swimmers...
Swimmers are hale, not disease-proof, hardy, not ageless. 

5. On swimming and self-sufficiency...
Swimming is the ultimate on-your-own activity.  Everyone else gets stuff to make it easier: skis, bats, wheels, sticks, gloves, racquets, slick shoes.  Even teammates to help reach the goal. Not us.  An equipment malfunction in swimming means some part of your body has broken down.

6. The definition of swimming...
"The definition of swimming," according to one nineteenth century instructor, is "to keep yourself afloat and make progress."

7. On swimming and sensory deprivation...
"When you swim, you're taking away one of your senses, your hearing," he says. "So it leaves you the peace of your mind, the cadence of your swim."

Have you read Swim: Why We Love the Water or another book on swimming?  I'd love to hear your reviews and recommendations of swimming-related books!   Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #swimbooks.

I swam from Sri Lanka to India!

On September 13, 2012, I set a goal.  Using the Speedo Pace Club app, I mapped a route that I would swim virtually between two of my favorite countries: from Negombo, Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu, India.  169.3 miles. A long way.  A big commitment.

The route I set on September 13, 2012

Over the last 329 days, I've chipped away at that goal.  I've gone swimming 143 times.  In Washington, DC, in Glenview, IL, in Scottsdale, AZ.  I've swum in open water in Virginia and Maryland.  I've swum in fancy pools and free public pools.

I've worn out 4 swimsuits (and dropped 2 suit sizes).  I've eaten ~300 bananas to prevent cramping, and still managed to cramp up at least 10 times.  I acquired 10 swim caps, and 3 pairs of goggles.  I've dropped minutes of my personal best in the 1650 free (the swimmers mile), relearned my flip turns, gotten my breast and backstrokes in working order, and avoided the fly like the plague. 

During the last 7896 hours, I've spent 115 of the them swimming.  I've swum a lot.

And tonight, at Open Water Happy Hour, I jumped into the flat waters of National Harbor on the Potomac with real purpose.  I logged a 1.5 mile swim (and it was a fast one for me--47 minutes) and when I climbed up the ladder to the pier, I reveled in the fact that I had finally arrived on the shores of India. 

10 months and 26 days later, I've finished the swim from Sri Lanka to India!

I have other milestones--200 miles for 2013 via U.S. Masters Go the Distance Challenge, of course the 3 mile Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water swim.  But this milestone was my biggest, it was the first enormous, crazy goal I set in my swim life.

Honestly, I feel a bit like Inigo Montoya after he's killed the six finger man in The Princess Bride.



But, for now, I'm just going to enjoy how far I've come. 

What is your motivation to swim?

What is your motivation to swim? #motivationalmonday
— Swim Across America (@SAAswim) July 22, 2013

Why do you swim?
— Masters Swimming (@MastersSwimming) July 25, 2013

I've been thinking a lot about motivation lately.  On Monday, Swim Across America posted the above question on Twitter, and then on Thursday US Masters Swimming kept it in the front of my mind!

I remember reading a biography of Shane Gould, an Australian swimming champion, when I was a kid.  She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 meters to 1500 meters simultaneously, which she did when she was just 16! After reading about her, I remember asking my older brother to wake me up early so I could run around the outside of our house and "train." I also LOVED Janet Evans, and distinctly remember being super psyched when my Sports Illustrated for Kids arrived with her on the cover:

 
By the way, I still think Janet Evans is awesome, and thought it was so cool that she swam at the last Olympic trials!

When I was a kid, I swam with a club team--New Trier Swim Club.  Back then my motivation was fun, and sports "heroes." But, by the time I was 10,  I got sick so much from swimming all during the winter, that I eventually quit to play other sports.  Over the years, I've always come back to swimming--at overnight camp I got certified in emergency water safety, in college I took lap swim for gym credit 3 semesters, and one summer I even taught swimming and was a lifeguard at a day camp.

But, I've swum more, and more consistently over the last year, then during any time in my life since third grade.  So,what is my motivation to swim? 

Honestly, it started almost exactly a year ago, that I was sitting in my apartment in DC, watching the Olympics on TV and getting really excited about the swimming. My childhood love of Olympics swimming has not diminished.  But, as I sat on the couch, very overweight and not very happy, watching some of the world's most extraordinary athletes, it dawned on me that I needed to make some serious changes.

Also, this ad about a dad using all sorts of phone apps to get in shape for his daughter's wedding KEPT being played during the commercial breaks.  And I'm a sucker, because I found it  moving and motivating. 

The combination led me to the free app from Speedo called the Pace Club. (I've written about it before.) Within a week, I was following the Pace Club training track to increase my endurance.  And I completed all 24 workouts.  I also downloaded the Weight Watchers app, and started tracking what I eat.

So, that motivated me to start swimming, but what has kept me going for a year?  Habit.  Because the habit of swimming has powerful implications for my physical and mental health.

Physically, swimming has helped me lose 45 pounds, gain greater endurance and energy, and transform my body into one that is strong and flexible. It's also helped me improve my sleep.

Mentally, it is a challenge and an escape.  The challenge: How do I improve? Yet, how do I be kind to myself when I don't have a good swim?  At the same time, it's a place where my mind gets to meditate on 1-2-3 breathe, or getting my catch right, or keeping a steady 4 beat kick, or perfecting my flip turns.  It's the place where I can escape and work out my frustration and anxiety.  It makes me a happier person, it enables me to be more open and empathetic towards others.

For me, a day when I get to swim is the best kind of day. 

Gone Swimming: Chris Greene Lake Swim in Charlottesville, VA

Today I'll be participating in the Chris Greene Lake Swim 1 mile cable race in Charlottesville!

The water temperature will be far too high for a wetsuit, so I'll be competing in my Speedo.  Word on the internet is that it's a fast course--because it's a cable swim (great explanation of what that means on the US Masters Swimming Discussion Boards), the water's supposed to be warm, and  be really flat (no chop). 

In May, I completed my first 1 mile swim (with a wetsuit, in 66 degree water) in 33:14.  Hoping to come in at 35 or under on this one (being conservative with my goal since I don't know how much of an advantage the wet suit actually provided)!

Full report when I return home!  But be rooting for Team Goldfish around 10:30 am ET when the 1 mile swim starts!

Monday Morning Video: Two friends. One race. Two laps. No prisoners.

I think you'll enjoy this humorous ode to friendship, competition and swimming as a lifelong sport from down under!

 
h/t SwimSwam for introducing me to this gem!