Cruella? Who me?

So I am giving a swim lesson with one of my clients. She has an irrational fear of the deep water, but none-the-less it is a fear, irrational or not. I was making her, more like forcing her, to swim in the pool that has a deep end. There was a lot of pleading from her to let her swim in the other pool, but it was just not going to happen. Needless to say she finally swam to the deep end. Now, you might think I am unsympathetic and cruel, but she needed to do it and it was only going to happen if I made it happen. Poor thing had shaking hands when she reached for the wall. We did this several times and she did great. I was so proud of her.
To give you a little back ground, my client (as I will call her), did not know how to swim at all before she came to me. The first time I met her she walked up in a cute swim suit that had a little skirt. I giggled about the skirt and the next lesson the skirt was gone. I asked her why and she said it was because I teased her. That is probably true....oh well. Anyway, she has imporved a lot from pure dilligence on her part. She came to the pool and practiced on her own and worked very hard. Her goal is to participate in a sprint triathlon.
THAT is the reason why I forced the swimming in the deep pool. I want her to be successful at her race and not freak out when she sees the deep end of the pool. That same day, I told her (forced her) to swim in the middle lane of the deep pool. Again, there was a lot of protesting. Guess what...SHE DID IT!
After all this was done, she asked if my lisence plate read "cruella". I said no perplexidly:) It seems someone who has a swim sticker on their car and has a "cruella" lisence plate. It is it NOT mine. I have no idea why she would have thought that that was my lisence plate. I think MOTIV8R is more discriptive of my coaching:)

You Don't Got to Train!

Alright, I am going to give some of you guys a hard time. A lot of people have finished with their BIG race of the year. The race schedule has slowed WAY down and it is time for people to enjoy the season, to not worry about how to squeeze in extra train time. Long training days will come in due time. Many athletes are now so used to training a couple of hours a day, that doing something for thirty minutes seems pointless. I am telling you that it is not pointless. It is actually very beneficial. It is a great time to focus on technique and work on the area's that are weak. It also allows time to do things that you have had to sacrifice not doing due to the fact that training was up there on your priority list (hopefully at a minimum family, and work, came before training on that list).

Now it is time to go do the things that you have wanted to do but couldn't afford the time. Slow down, take a deep breath and take your time. Before you know it, the new year will be here, your racing season will be picking up and the small sacrifices that you will have to make in order to train will be here. Don't make the BIG mistake of training for a race year round. You will regret it because there will be a great likely hood of you becoming injured, sick, over trained, and hating the sport. Having been a professional triathlete I ALWAYS cut back my training time after my BIG race of the year. It was good for both my body and soul. When the time came for me to train I was strong, fresh and ready. I can guarantee you will be as well.

Trail Running....Really?

I wake up the other morning to coach swimming. I see a message left on my cell phone. I am thinking...'OH GREAT! I am getting up way to early for someone to cancel their lesson." So as I am driving to the YMCA the message goes as follows.."Hey Karen, it's Karen (isn't it always the case you hang out with people who have the same name as yourself) I just signed you up for the swinging Bridges 35K." I laugh to myself thinking it is a good ploy to get me on my computer to sign myself up (which of course, I had no intentions of doing). So I get on my computer later that day and get my notification confirming my entry into Swinging Bridges 35K. Thanks Karen! I guess she thought (knew) I would never sign myself up. I suppose since Karen went through the effort of signing me up I am obligated to do my first 35K trail running race. My skills at trail running are, to say the least, pitiful. Running off road would be the same as giving me a pull buoy when I am swimming....SLOW. To tell you the truth I am a little excited about trying this trail running stuff out. Hopefully I will not sprain an ankle or get too many "Darby's" (A "Darby is when you fall forward and hit the ground skidding in a forward or sideways motion) usually ending up with some good looking abrasions. Anyhow, I am learning that trail running really does require trail running shoes. And that this is going to be a challenge.