Sensory
As I go through my final long swim before heading to the Key West, I summon up the last 3 months of training. My coach Haley Chura turned me into a stronger swimmer. I learned so much and had so much fun swimming. I will miss these long swims as switch back to bike and run later on. 3 long distance swims: 4, 6 and 7 miles of looping around local Lake Alatoona cove at Red Top mountain. This all came together only with the help of people around me: amazing athletes I got inspired by, supported by, people who believed in me, made the training swims fun, people sharing the same passions as I do.
“Most self discovery happens during the toughest moments.
It breaks one down and requires you to dig deeper.
When I’m lying on the pavement at mile 80 and it’s 100 degrees out,
what motivates me to get up and finish the race?
That is the self-discovery that occurs.
You get a glimpse of your soul at times and see what really makes you tick.
You go deeper in finding out what’s possible and what one can achieve.”
—SCOTT JUREK
– What motivated you to sign up for this swim? – asks a friend
– I’m a long distance runner, – I’m saying, explaining about the 50 mile run at Destin in Feb 2015, the 50K runs and 2 Ironmen events in 2014. – so for 2015 I wanted a worthy challenge in swimming that would make me want to learn how to swim better.
But that’s not it.
The question gets stuck in my mind for a good portion of the long swim.
What I was always lured by in long distance events is – the way my mind works with the long distance.
– Oh, you run this much / train this much, good way to stay fit! – I hear sometimes
I smile when I hear this. It stopped being about sport as such long time ago. Maybe it never was about sport for me to start with.