Thought for the Day

Friday, October 23, 2009

I Believe...

I haven't been blogging much even though a lot has been going on. The thing is, I've been apprehensive about swimming 2.4 miles. And the events that I've been doing generally haven't been very reassuring.
However, on Thursday night I did a Splash & Dash race at Tempe Town Lake, a 1000 meter swim and a 4K run. The swim was not great, but I know I can do better. And I managed the pace I will need to do to complete the Ironman swim within the cutoff time.
The following morning I got up and went to the pool and put in a good workout.
I'm swimming better every time, and feeling more comfortable every time I get in open water and swim in a crowd.
It's not going to be easy, but there's no reason to believe that I can't make the swim. It will take focus and hard work, but I should be able to make it.
I'm still scared, but I'm starting to believe...

5 comments:

PJ said...

Confidence is important. I'm glad you're starting to get some.

You will make the cutoff - I have no doubt of that.

Unknown said...

You'll be amazed at how much smoother you'll feel on race day than you do in training - the 2.4 miles will fly by then its time to smile on the bike!

Gary said...

Yeah! I like the sound of this post. ;-) You can do it Jerry!

Anne Findlay said...

Jerry, I was really nervous for me first IM swim, too. I constantly wondered, would I make the cutoff?

If you are consistently swimming at a pace that would get you through the 2.4 IM swim in time, you should be able to get through the IM swim just fine.

We had rough conditions for my first swim--choppy, white-caps, windy--and I was pretty freaked out. I had to really focus on swimming, rather than worrying about waves slapping into my face, etc. I swam each day (short) leading up to the race, and worked on my mental approach while in the water. This really helped. By race day, I had my mantra going and was thinking about swimming with the water, rather than thrashing about.

I am glad to hear your confidence is building. I can't wait to be out on the race course with you and the team.

Mike Fraser said...

Jerry, I wasn't going to say anything when I first read this, but I think it's important. This appears to be your weak area in the tri..not to mention up until 09 you really didn't do tri's, and now you're training and will compete in an IM for heavens sake. Signing up was a big step. Learning how to swim better was a huge step too I'm sure. Now, you're engrossed probably in half-day training on the weekends. You will be ready my friend. You've taken the learned, practical, and meticulous approach. You're almost there man. Taper week, focus, and a lot of patience.... You will have a great event. Good luck man.

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