This morning as I swam at the university pool it crossed my mind that my best swims are the ones I feel connected to my body and that I have made some improvement from my first stroke all the way through to the last stroke. Not perfect strokes, but intentional movements to get me through the water. I am Aware of the subtleness and sensory feedback I get from my body and the water.
When I hop out of the water at the end of the swim, I want to feel like I practiced something, as in I taught myself something, I learned something, and I got a little better at it becasue of it. It’s up to me what I do with my pool time, may as well value my time and energy by making it worthwhile. Come race day I won’t just have trained my cardiovascular system, I will have trained my neuromuscular system, of which I don’t have to think so much about on race day since I did all the work during swim practice.
But seriously, the best swims, like I had this morning, for me are about learning, self improvement, awareness, mastery- racing is just a brief moment in history compared to all the swim practice opportunities leading up to it. Racing has become secondary-practicing primary.
