For the past two weeks, it has been raining.  An odd thing for us Californians who take for granted our ability to access the outdoors on our schedule.  I have had to move my swim training indoors to the two lanes in my gym.  That means to get one of the two lanes available I have had to arrive between 4:30am and 5:00am.  Which means I am now getting up crazy early to do something I do not enjoy.  This is personal growth…right?

During these indoor sessions, I have been swimming sans wetsuit.  Flippers, but no flotation enhancing wetsuit.  The first few sessions were exceptionally frustrating.  Especially with someone usually in the other lane ripping it up next to me while I gasp to get to the other side let alone get two laps in on occasion.  I kept telling myself it was good to know where you are at swimming without a wetsuit.  This is good for you I told myself.  Myself wasn’t having it though and frustration was at an all-time high.  Again, I told myself that a few steps back usually leads to a leap forward.  Myself told me to go take a leap if you know what I’m sayin’.

The good news is that I could see my body changing with every swim.  I was also hitting the gym afterward for core workouts.  I was getting more trim in the waist and my chest was getting more defined even though I was not lifting any weights.  It was all coming from the regular swimming sessions.  I could only assume that the improved muscular development would be a benefit in the days ahead.

The fifth, and last session I decided to try something different.  I decide to use the session to try and swim as slow as I could and relax as much as possible to float.  There was some success in this effort.  I could feel myself float to the top as I experimented with different relaxation and speeds.  The session did not produce any better performance in how many laps I could swim.  I was still at only being able to swim two laps at best before I needed to take a break.

Today, the sun was out and it was warm again.  I headed up to our housing complex pool and suited up in the wetsuit with little expectation of anything more than the rut that I have been in for months now stuck at being able to only swim two laps at a maximum.  With the 1.2 mile swim looming in front of me less than six months away, I have been in the worried mode since I have not made much advancement in continuous laps since October.  My mode was to go up and swim because I know I am supposed to keep swimming often and magically something will finally happen.  Keep moving forward is better than not moving forward.

I slid into the water and faced my lane.  I told myself that again today we will swim slow, float, and paddle easily to not waste energy.  I pushed off and glided across the pool smoothly and quietly.  Before I knew it I was at the other side without my typical arrival gasping for air.  I turned and started again toward the other side.  Again, I arrived with ease and plenty of energy/oxygen for another lap.  Before I knew it, I had completed 6 laps.  That “just happened” as they say.  As I continued through my usual routine of 40 laps, I was able to complete 4 laps continuously almost every time.  I almost cried.  Then, I smiled and enjoyed the moment.  A moment of hope that this goal can actually happen.

Still, a long road ahead to beat the swimming monster, but finally a breakthrough.  Not “The” breakthrough, but a breakthrough.  Better than no breakthrough.