I swam at Gosfield Lake again and managed to swim 1km!

I was already feeling more confident when planning my second trip to Gosfield, it’s somehow easier once you know what to expect.  My plan was to try and swim one lap of the short course (300m) in front crawl and then muddle through a couple more loops in a mixture of strokes.

I really struggle with my kick in front crawl.  I try and alternate between a ‘total immersion’ style 2 beat kick and a gentle flutter kick, but I’m not convinced I do either quite right.  Whilst searching out videos of other people swimming in order to gain a bit more insight into what I should be doing with my legs, I noticed a few things.  Some of these swimmers didn’t keep their arms in line with their shoulders on entry, they crossed in front of their heads.  Some weren’t keeping their legs tightly together when they kicked, some were lifting their heads quite high to breathe. All things I have beaten myself up about. They had something in common though, they are all amazing athletes who either enter triathlons or swim very long distances.  I was reminded that perfection is not a pre-requisite to achievement, or even getting started.  My stroke was probably just as good as the people I was watching and this gave me the confidence I needed to aim for the kilometre.

I entered the lake slowly and took my time to acclimatise, though with the water at 17 degrees, the icy bite was gone.  I set off for the first marker buoy with my head down in front crawl, giving myself the pep talk about not worrying about the rest of the distance, just to focus on each stroke.  One of the videos I watched had the soundtrack of Mika’s ‘Relax, Take it Easy’ and this seemed like an ideal mantra to repeat, as well as a happy song to sing to myself.  The first marker appeared and off I set for the second.  By the time I had completed one loop, I felt I had really found my rhythm.  As per my plan though, I switched to breastroke.  Less than halfway to the first buoy again, I changed the plan.  Breastroke just didn’t feel as smooth and effortless, so I switched back to crawl and this is how I stayed until the end!

I can’t begin to describe the sense of achievement!  I came across a quote from Nelson Mandela – ‘It always seems impossible, until it’s done’. How true. Now that it’s done, I know that I can do it again and add a little bit more distance.  Maybe there will come a time when what seemed like an impossible goal becomes my warm up….  We’ll see!

I often hear people putting something off because they’re waiting for the right time/ waiting to be thinner/ waiting to be quicker/ waiting to be a bit better.  The time is now, just as you are.  Perfection is something of a myth and an extra pressure we put on ourselves.  Good enough is just that – good enough.  It’ll get you started, probably get you to your goals and saves putting things off unnecessarily.  Find your inner confidence and go for it!

I have a coaching session booked with Jason Tait from Swim Smooth in an endless pool this week – another one of our generous gifts from the This Girl Can/ Henley Swim team.  Hopefully I can get my kick sorted out once and for all!