Hard Work Paves Road for Improvement

Few things are as much fun as swimming fast. Going best times is even better! This past weekend was a blast, as I not only swam very fast and also went a few best times to boot! Although I did not achieve my goal of going under 4:20 in the 500 free, I did go a best time by 10 seconds.

The 500 free was spurred on by a bet I’d made with a coach named Chris Davis. Unfortunately I failed to win the bet as I missed breaking 4:20 in the 500 free by .03 of a second. I must admit that I was very annoyed and frustrated after the 500. Truth be told I really don’t have any experience racing the 500 and just took it out a bit too slow. However, the fire is still burning inside me and mark my words, “I will break 4:20 before I retire from swimming.” Even thinking about that 500 still rubs me the wrong way.

After not being able to sleep much after the 500 fiasco, I still came back the next day and swam an awesome 200 free. My previous best time in the 200 was 1:33.55, in a full body suit. The plan was to go 1:33 something. The race felt great and I hit the wall at 1:33.29! Wahooo. As Eddie Reese always says, “The hard work and sacrifice always pay off if you’re patient.” This entire year of training has been some of the best of my life. No better way to boost my confidence, and drive home that all the hard work is worth it, than improvement.

The final day of the meet was the 100 Free. Interestingly we hadn’t done much speed work leading up to this meet. All eyes and preparation had been on the 500 free. Therefore the pace we did in practice was mostly all 500 pace. Generally leading up to meets we increase the amount of speed work we do (ie fast 25’s, fast 50’s, 15 meter sprints with fins on…etc) to prepare my body to go fast. Without having done much in the way of fast training I had no idea what my 100 would be like. My goal was to go 42 low. I knew I would have a great second 50 I just needed to get out fast the first 50. I went 20.4 and 21.9 for a 42.33. 20.4 is a bit slow going out for me. My easy speed just wasn’t there like it normally would be. 42.33 is still a fast time that I’m very pleased with.

What a great weekend of racing. I’m so happy with how my body recovered after every race. There’s no question that my fitness level is as high or higher than it’s ever been. My complete trust is in my coaches. We’re continuing to work hard and prepare for even more fast swimming. Hard work is the way to success! Thanks y’all for continuing to support my dreams:)