This month, I hit my 1 year anniversary of my left foot surgery, started my second semester as a college professor, and began triathlon training again.
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First Masters Swim Practice
The swim instructor at my university has been trying to get me to swim with the Masters Swim team since I first got here. My hesitations were that my feet were not ready for serious swim training, that I don't have enough swim experience to hang with a serious swim team, and that the practices are at 5:45 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
On January 21st, 2014...
I finally overcame my fears and went to my first organized swim practice...ever. I had to wake up at 5 am! 5 AM!!! I threw on my swimsuit, packed up my gear bag, ate some whole wheat toast, and drove in the pitch black to my university pool. In between the yawns, I gave myself a pep talk. You can do this. You are an athlete. You don't know how it will go until you try. You had both of your feet reconstructed, so just being in the pool again is an accomplishment.
I walked in and started taking my warm clothes off. The weather was in the 30s, so I had on a ridiculous amount of layers. I grabbed a kick board, a pull buoy, and some fins. I made my way towards the coach and the other swimmers to introduce myself. The coach told me to pick a lane and to do as much or as little as I wanted to do with the team. During the warmup, it was obvious that these swimmers were legit. They so easily swam lap after lap including flip turns. I was already overwhelmed and we hadn't started the actual workout yet. I did my best to hang in there rep after rep, set after set, and by the end of the practice, I had swam 1800m!!! It was clear to me that I have some work to do on my speed, but technique wise, and stamina wise, I could keep up. When my coach said go, I went. Every time. I only missed a rep here and there due to the other swimmers being faster than me.
My coach also took the time to teach me flip turns at the end of practice. My swim training prior to this has been specifically for open-water triathlon swimming. So even during my pool workouts, I did not do flip turns, or push aggressively off the wall, because there are no walls in the open water. I was quite dizzy practicing, but I picked the technique up quickly.
I didn't only do well at the flip turns, my coach gave me compliments on my swimming. He couldn't believe that this was my first organized practice and that I taught myself how to swim via youtube, articles on the internet, and tips from my training buddies.
I felt a great sense of accomplishment on the way home. I hung with the Masters swim team, with very little swim experience, faulty feet, and a lower level of conditioning than I'm used to due to the lost training time with my surgery recoveries. How did I do it? Pure determination.
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For the rest of the month, I continued going to swim twice a week (making improvements with each practice), kept my walking up, and worked on strengthening and functional training exercises at the gym.
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In other news, I also bought my first car! I have been in school for a really long time and reliant on my parents. I have been fortunate to drive the cars they purchased for me since I was 16. This was a huge step for me because I handled the entire purchase from start to finish. I test drove multiple cars from various companies, selected the right one with all the features and the color I wanted (an orange copper color), negotiated the price, and signed all the papers.
Best part about it: I have a brand new SUV (that is big enough to fit my bike in the back), with all the bells and whistles, and I am completely financially independent from my parental units.
This girl is growing up!!!
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Reflection
With the new year, new car, and passing my first one year post-surgery mark, I feel a new chapter starting. It's time to put these surgeries behind me and move on with my life.
