So, the swim practice today was, at times, awkward. I won't go into detail as to why, because even the reactions of swimmers to this situation are grimaces, but at least they are understanding grimaces. All I will say is that board shorts, nylons, and a Tyr suit make for an interesting work out (P.S. Don't buy Tyr suits). And video cameras should not be allowed at the Halloween practice except under specified conditions, agreed upon by the swimmers.
However, today's practice was fun. And I beat a bunch of people! But that's 'cause I dressed smart, not entertaining. That's okay; the Halloween practice is either a science or it's an art. I choose the former.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Rut's End
Okay, so the writer's rut has probably not ended, but for The Telethren and for Son of Sferesh it has. Inspiration - or is it determination? - has struck me right between the eyeballs and I have once again picked up the tatters of failing stories. I'm not much of a seamstress, but I'm doing what I can. I worry that Blanchette is reaching the point where it will start to tear, though. Can't let that happen. I think that I shall launch a preemptive strike on that problem first thing tomorrow morning. And maybe I'll try to delve into Matters of Life and Death, but I think that one is semi-doomed. Of course, I never thought I'd finish that devil of a chapter in The Telethren either, so I guess there's hope.
Sorry if that didn't make any sense, I'm just letting my thoughts drip out of my ear and onto the keyboard, just to give you some juicy new candy.
Sorry if that didn't make any sense, I'm just letting my thoughts drip out of my ear and onto the keyboard, just to give you some juicy new candy.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Blue & Gold
I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy! Today was the squad Blue and Gold meet and I am ecstatic. My team, Gold, lost, but I'll get over it. But who cares about the team, let's move on to me, 'cause I'm awesome. Today in the 200 yard IM (a 50 of each stroke) I tied the time I got last year at the state meet...at the end of taper (taper = rest). Then came the butterfly. I wasn't expecting to do too well, because as I was warming up, my arms still felt like lead because of the IM. But I killed myself on it and I got a 1:13.03. Guess what that means. That means I shattered (okay, I only beat it by 1 sec) the time that I got in January of 2004 and haven't touched since. I spent all last year trying to beat that time, and now I've finally done it! In the 200 free relay, I didn't do so well, so we'll skip that part. In the 400 free relay, however, I exceeded anyone's expectations. I was the anchor because the captain who signed the relay up forgot to change the order. So here I am, standing on the block, watching the lead the first two swimmers got going down the drain. But look, the third swimmer has held on to at least four seconds of the lead! Everyone is yelling advice at me, so I ignore it all and instead see a bunch of frantic motions and hear a steady roar of encouragement that only made me feel worse. The anchor on the other team was the greyhound, and let me tell you, I was seeded with a 1:07.41 and she has a 1:01. I jumped in and left everything I had in the pool, fully expecting my efforts to be futile. But much to my surprise, my relay still won, and I got a 1:04! Yipeee! I am so pleased with today, even though I felt like I was missing half of my all lunch period long.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Breaking Point
MY FAVORITE CAP DIED TODAY!
Anyway, recently I have learned a lot about coping. Three AP classes, one honors, two concurrent enrollment, and swim practices on top of that creates a lot of stress. Add in attempts to not only get by, but excel in all of the above things is pretty heinous. But recently I've decided that I'm okay.
Reports and pressure to get teamates to practice have been piling on top of each other for quite some time. Recently we switched from basic practices to stroke lanes -- a method I have never experienced. In afternoon practice, we now do the workout with the stroke we specialize in. Today I maxed out on the bench. Today, in a nutshell was one big metaphor.
105 pounds is my limit. 110 pounds is five pounds too many. It is a small difference, but it is enough. I am not at my emotional maximum; I guess I'm doin' all right.
Today at practice was an extreme cycle set. We do sets of sprints at our limit times and repeat the set of sprints several times. I swim the butterfly, the most demanding on upper-body strength of the strokes (normally I don't admit it, but I want to set the mood). We had to go through the set six times and my muscles were screaming by the end. Some people at practice tend to stop when they're tired. That's their decision, none of my business. But I've made the promise to myself not to stop unless I have to (i.e. charlie horse, goggles break, etc.). I managed to get through five of them, though I was rather short on oxygen. While adjusting my cap before the last cycle, it snapped. Perfect excuse to skip the last part. But I decided not to. Caps are silly things anyway, right? Well, not so right, but that's okay. On the last set, I pushed it harder than I had before, even with the added five pounds of wet hair trailing behind me. But the set that had looked to horrible going into it didn't break me. I made it through with flying colors.
This may not seem like a big deal to those of you that don't swim, but it is to me. And there, at the moment I hit the final wall, I knew that I was going to be okay. I'm under my maximum by quite a ways yet, and I am still unbroken.
And it's a great day to be alive. I see the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes. I've had some hard times in the neighborhood but why can't every day be just this good? ... I guess I'm doing all right.
Anyway, recently I have learned a lot about coping. Three AP classes, one honors, two concurrent enrollment, and swim practices on top of that creates a lot of stress. Add in attempts to not only get by, but excel in all of the above things is pretty heinous. But recently I've decided that I'm okay.
Reports and pressure to get teamates to practice have been piling on top of each other for quite some time. Recently we switched from basic practices to stroke lanes -- a method I have never experienced. In afternoon practice, we now do the workout with the stroke we specialize in. Today I maxed out on the bench. Today, in a nutshell was one big metaphor.
105 pounds is my limit. 110 pounds is five pounds too many. It is a small difference, but it is enough. I am not at my emotional maximum; I guess I'm doin' all right.
Today at practice was an extreme cycle set. We do sets of sprints at our limit times and repeat the set of sprints several times. I swim the butterfly, the most demanding on upper-body strength of the strokes (normally I don't admit it, but I want to set the mood). We had to go through the set six times and my muscles were screaming by the end. Some people at practice tend to stop when they're tired. That's their decision, none of my business. But I've made the promise to myself not to stop unless I have to (i.e. charlie horse, goggles break, etc.). I managed to get through five of them, though I was rather short on oxygen. While adjusting my cap before the last cycle, it snapped. Perfect excuse to skip the last part. But I decided not to. Caps are silly things anyway, right? Well, not so right, but that's okay. On the last set, I pushed it harder than I had before, even with the added five pounds of wet hair trailing behind me. But the set that had looked to horrible going into it didn't break me. I made it through with flying colors.
This may not seem like a big deal to those of you that don't swim, but it is to me. And there, at the moment I hit the final wall, I knew that I was going to be okay. I'm under my maximum by quite a ways yet, and I am still unbroken.
And it's a great day to be alive. I see the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes. I've had some hard times in the neighborhood but why can't every day be just this good? ... I guess I'm doing all right.
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