Thursday, June 04, 2009

i survived masters swimming at PITT

Although I did masters swimming before in Florida, I had not tried masters swimming yet at the University of Pittsburgh. I've been back in Pittsburgh for about a year, but for some reason I've been putting it off....and putting it off. I'm not sure exactly what my problem is or was. Deep down, I believe I was just afraid.

Back in my high school days, I used to practice diving at Pitt on the weekends. It was always super competitive and very intimidating~especially jumping off the platforms and three meter diving boards...That combined with my average diving skills and hitting the board a few times, it wasn't the most positive experience. My stomach knots up thinking about it.

I'm not sure if it was my past history with that pool or my simple fear of getting my butt handed to me once again. Either way today was the day to suck it up and deal. I made the plunge and I'm glad I did. If I want to make a come back next year, I have to suck it up and face my weaknesses. Swimming is definitely a limiting factor for me in triathlon.

Today's workout consisted of a 600 warm up followed by 24 x100s at a descending 5 second pace in sets of 6. Before I used to think 10-100s was a workout. hahahaah.... After hearing the workout initially, I thought to myself, "Yeah right there is no way you are going to be able to finish all of these". Once I started, my competitive spirit returned and my mentality shifted quickly. There was no way I was not going to give up that easily. (especially when I was swimming with a lane full of old men). Somehow I hung on for dear life and survived masters swimming at Pitt.

Thanx to Beth Shutt my new rockstar triathlete friend for giving me the inside scoop and coaxing me to go in the first place! Facing fears isn't easy, especially when pride gets in the way. Sometimes we have to let go and suck it up. The end result is well worth it!

In other news, I have my third session of PT tomorrow. I haven't gone much as I probably should know what to do anyway. Having an objective opinion does help however, especially from an expert at UPMC Sports Medicine. Tomorrow will bring my first lower extremity strengthening exercises. 25 days until I can run again! I'm on a roll finally or at least it feels like it.

1 comment:

  1. YOU DID IT! I'm so proud of you for facing your fears. I KNEW you woudl be able to hang on and I am so glad Beth was there to help too. That is just awesome. I love to see good people helping other people to achieve and do well. Way to suck it up and I promise you will see big improvements with Masters..for sure! Hope PT goes well. Thanks again for calling. IT was so nice to finally talk to you. Let me know if you want to do something fun sometime.. I'm game!

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