2016 has got off to a cracking start and I am really seeing an improvement in fitness in those adding an extra session into their week be it the ocean swim on Monday mornings or an extra pool swim. Quite frequently people look across to the faster lanes and wonder when will they be that fast…how do they do that…. well its all a matter of numbers.
Take an age group swimmer, training for national or state competition from 12-18 these swimmers would swim more than 20 hours a week, each week for 50 weeks of the year, and some times more. Think about that. Do you have your golden Swimming women hat yet? The Golden Hat is awarded after 50 swims…50 hours of coached swimming. Often that 50 hours can be spread across many weeks whereas these youngsters would rock up 20 golden hats a year.
What comes with that time in the water is feel. When you first start swimming there are so many things filling your head that you have to think about, often it can just be survival and not getting a nose full of water that dominates thoughts, but the more hours you put in the more you can absorb, the more you can feel, the better you become.
Its like learning to count in 25’s or 50’s and using the clock pool side to know how long things take and how far you have swum. These things all take some getting used to. So next time you look over and wonder when….think of the hours you have put in, smile and feel good about how far you have come. Then and only then set yourself a goal a few numbers ahead of where you are now. If you can count it you can achieve it and I would love to help you get there.