Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Feeling Something Incredible...I'm Floored!

I'm not sure what has changed or if there is a new fire within me but my love for swimming seems to be back! The past couple weeks have been wonderful. After having a bit of a disappointing summer I wasn't sure how I'd feel about getting back into hard training. I began to work out at home when I was back in Wisconsin and didn't have a very easy time. Training by myself in Wisconsin was both difficult and boring...to say the least I was less than enthused. However, the minute I got back to Texas and dove into the pool at the Texas Swim Center that all changed in a big way.

Yesterday I had one of the best practices I can remember having in a long time. I brutally demolished my legs in the weight-room so by the time I got to the pool I was already a bit fatigued. As I expected...we did a hard kick set to start things of. Good thing my legs were warmed up:) What happened next I'm still smiling about. We did a set that was perfect for me and is a sprinter's dream...Fast swimming with some rest and easy swimming in between.

The set. A 150 swim on 2:15. A 50 fast on 1:00. A 100 swim on 1:45. Two 50's fast on 1:00. A 200 kick on 3:45. That is one round...you do four rounds to complete the set. As we went along I got faster and faster. Towards the end of the set I felt something in my freestyle I never have before. There was a link between my core and my arm strokes that either I'd never felt to this degree or my mind had never yet recognized... Sure I always engaged my core strength with my swimming and used it to my advantage...but this was different. This was serious power. If this link was a twig before, it has now grown into a full blown log. Hello Paul Bunyan. The first time I got to the wall after doing it I gasped in excitement. When I get excited like this look out...I will talk and talk and talk and smile and laugh and joke and be crazy until a long enough time has gone by for me to actually calm down and think about it. I couldn't have been more floored!

Swimming is going great. My plan is to make this last as looooooong as possible!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Wonderful blog entry... and nice hearing you enjoy being back in the water. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see you race again :)

ShinLing said...

Congratulationssssss. Keep it up :D Hugssss

Chris said...

I'm so happy for you! I hope to always find myself in the pool with renewed energy.

Lauren said...

Yay Garrett! That is awesome! I love reading your blog updates - I am totally cheering for you!!
Lauren

J said...

Glad your back in the water and enjoying the feeling in the pool! I was at the beach on Friday, and found myself wanting to swim a little breakstroke and thinking wow..its been a while! Its was a great feeling! PS, Sesame Street tweet...made me remniscent of childhood...you staying in touch with your inner child?

Tracy B said...

I enjoyed your post. I'm relieved to hear that elite swimmers experience the ebb and flow of enthusiasm and breakthrough moments.

Garrett said...

Trust me it is very very nice to be reinvigorated to swim and train!

Thanks to all of you for the continued support. It means a lot to me.

Everyone experiences the ebb and flow of training at any level. Remember, Olympians are NORMAL people like everyone else...truly they are.


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