Putting the puzzle together:
In my last post, I had talked about a race I was getting ready for... Well, that race was about three weeks ago, and it went well. It was amazing, I felt like before that race I wasn't sure that I was quite ready for Trials yet, but after getting out and attacking that race, and going less than a half second off my best in the 100 free, a switch flipped, and I was then ready for the meet, which is now next week already!
After that meet, I had great practices the following week, and started to feel like all the different pieces I've been working on are starting to fall into place - just in time. Over the last year, I have been working on a lot of different aspects of my swimming - strength, nutrition, rest & recovery, some minor stroke changes, race strategy, etc. That week, I had one of the best sets of 200 pace 50's I've ever had, and knew then that I was in the best shape of my life. A couple days later, I had a great dive set, so I knew that my speed and focus were there. The next week, I lifted out at NX Level, and felt more powerful than I had ever felt. I knew things were coming together for me, and surprisingly, this is leading me to be amazingly relaxed (so far!) about the meet.
There is one thing that I haven't mentioned yet, the most important part: the support of my family, friends, coaches and teammates. Over the last few years, it's been a struggle trying to just make it to the meet next week. Through all the good times and the hard times, I've had people cheering me on and believing that I could do it. I owe a lot to those people, (especially my girlfriend, for putting up with dating a guy who can't hang out after work because he has to go to swim practice!), because I couldn't have gotten to this point without them.
Last week my girlfriend and our families threw a surprise good luck party for me, and they had well over 100 people there! Not only my current teammates, but some college teammates and some parents of highschool teammates - even my 5th grade gym teacher was there! It was something else! It really made me realize how important each and every one of those people is in my life and in my swimming career, and how much more enjoyable this journey has been because of them. I also realized that how I do next week is not nearly as important as all of the friendships I've made and lessons I've learned over the last 16 years of competitive swimming. I am just excited to go there and do my best for everybody that has helped get me there.
If there is one piece of advice I can give to all of you about what to take from swimming, it would be this: It's not about the final destination - it's about the journey you take to get there. The further along I get in my swimming career, the more I hear that and start to realize that that is what it's all about. I feel now that I can look back on my swimming career and be satisfied. Maybe I didn't break all the records I wanted to, or win all the races I wanted to, but I gave it my best, and made a lot of friends and learned a lot of lessons along the way. So now I can head into next week knowing that I've already succeeded - I made it there.
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