{"id":2001,"date":"2017-10-19T12:50:46","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T16:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/?p=2001"},"modified":"2017-10-19T12:50:46","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T16:50:46","slug":"swim-the-suck-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/swim-the-suck-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim the Suck 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

A magical swim down the Tennessee River. Towering gorges, rock formations and the leaves displaying a hint of ginger as they threaten to change into the colors of fall. The water a crisp 75F, flowing gracefully in parts, holding steady in others. The majority of the swim felt this serene. I like to recall those moments and note what I was doing to keep the feeling of calm, fluid swimming alive.
\n\"IMG_6016\"\"IMG_6020\"\"IMG_5999\"<\/p>\n

As in any marathon swim, there were the moments where the swimming felt anything like magic.<\/p>\n

Around mile 8 I was slipping. The overcast skies did not allow a ray of sun through, and my cold hands and feet were bothering me. My neck and shoulders were starting to fatigue and I could not decide if I was hungry or not, thirsty or not, able to keep going or not. I had anticipated to feel this way at some point during the swim. Training in the summer was disrupted by a long family vacation overseas with minimal training. I was picking back up with about 6 weeks before the race \u2013 my focus here was on carefully increasing volume in a way that I was not going to injure myself or get sick, and to practice my SwimEQ skills during every swim. These are the skills I most needed at mile 8.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6053\"<\/p>\n

I decreased my swim intervals from 30 minutes to 15 minutes and used this extra rest time to assess my needs. I also then allowed myself as much time as I needed to breaststroke, and then transition into smaller manageable freestyle intervals. The extra rest time also allowed me to enjoy my surroundings, to get my mind back to calm – green. I saw steep forested inclines reaching up to the low hanging grey clouds. I saw many pieces of\u00a0soaked wood and fallen leaves floating along with me. I allowed the cool water to soothe my\u00a0tired body.\u00a0I saw Damian sitting on the kayak calmly paddling along with occasional chuckle as he chatted with nearby pilots. I saw the swimmers near me, most of them we had shared several miles together in close proximity. I saw the aqua ducts of Raccoon Mountain and heard the swoosh of a speed boat from time to time. I wondered about my amazing friend Kirsten Sass who was racing in Kona – had she started her swim yet? How was she feeling in the water? This time may have felt like an eternity, but it was a morsel in the 10.36 miles of the swim, a half hour in my 4 hours and 46 minutes of swimming. It was time well spent and I enjoyed this time of grounding as much as the swim itself.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe final mile and a half into the finish was sweet and I felt like I had executed a great day of swimming. I began to process the day already \u2013 what did I do well? What can I do differently for the next swim? What did I learn about myself today? Making mental notes to become a better athlete, a better coach, and a better person.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_6163\"\"IMG_4918\"\"IMG_6130\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Swim the Suck 2017<\/p>\n

Chattanooga Tennessee<\/p>\n

Look, listen, feel, swim.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A magical swim down the Tennessee River. Towering gorges, rock formations and the leaves displaying a hint of ginger as they threaten to change into the colors of fall. The water a crisp 75F, flowing gracefully in parts, holding steady in others. The majority of the swim felt this serene. I like to recall those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2001"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/discoveryaquatics.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}