Swim Rant

Okay, I'm cool now (and I've realized the meet isn't a foregone conclusion). I still want to vent, though. So today started off well. I dropped 1.5 seconds in the 100 back, my first event, to get a new time of 1:16 flat. I did my cooldown; in retrospect, I don't think the cooldown was long enough. That was one mistake. But the biggest mistake today was when the pool was open for warm-up, I remember looking across the pool at the people practicing dives in lanes open for race starts. I remember thinking to myself, "I don't need to practice that. Nah, I'll just get in right here and warm-up." I paid the price for my tiny, microscopic moment of arrogance. When I started to get up behind the blocks for my second event, the 100 free, I went "oh ****." The block was old, slippery, and SMALL! I swear, the blocks at this pool were made for leprechauns or something. As I got on it, I had barely enough time to gain stable footing before being told to take my mark. After taking my mark, I wobbled a little. The block was so small, my legs aren't accustomed to being arranged in starting position in such a cramped little area. When the buzzer went off, I dropped in, so badly that I broke my streamline. I went 1:00.83, almost two full seconds slower than my PB set last month. After that, I was so down that I blew off my cooldown. Another mistake. That probably affected my 200 breaststroke and later my 100 fly, both of which I did not do very well in. Ranting about other people in your swimming experiences is fun, but it sure sucks when the person you're ranting at is yourself.

Okay, I'm cool now (and I've realized the meet isn't a foregone conclusion). I still want to vent, though. So today started off well. I dropped 1.5 seconds in the 100 back, my first event, to get a new time of 1:16 flat. I did my cooldown; in retrospect, I don't think the cooldown was long enough. That was one mistake. But the biggest mistake today was when the pool was open for warm-up, I remember looking across the pool at the people practicing dives in lanes open for race starts. I remember thinking to myself, "I don't need to practice that. Nah, I'll just get in right here and warm-up." I paid the price for my tiny, microscopic moment of arrogance. When I started to get up behind the blocks for my second event, the 100 free, I went "oh ****." The block was old, slippery, and SMALL! I swear, the blocks at this pool were made for leprechauns or something. As I got on it, I had barely enough time to gain stable footing before being told to take my mark. After taking my mark, I wobbled a little. The block was so small, my legs aren't accustomed to being arranged in starting position in such a cramped little area. When the buzzer went off, I dropped in, so badly that I broke my streamline. I went 1:00.83, almost two full seconds slower than my PB set last month. After that, I was so down that I blew off my cooldown. Another mistake. That probably affected my 200 breaststroke and later my 100 fly, both of which I did not do very well in. Ranting about other people in your swimming experiences is fun, but it sure sucks when the person you're ranting at is yourself.