Swim Across the Sound Update: Less Than One Month To Go!

Sometimes swimming is great, sometimes swimming is a grind, and sometimes it's both. Less than a month out from the 2022 Swim Across the Sound, and we've gotten into a space where it is very much both.

Let's start with the simple reality: I am swimming very well. 

But I've also been swimming a lot, so this isn't exactly a surprise.

From the 2017 Swim Across the Sound.
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I typically train on a four-week cycle with three working weeks followed by a Rest Week. With that, I generally try to put in three or hopefully four swimming days per week alongside two or hopefully three sessions in the weight room every week. 

But while weight training is great, I cut it out a couple of weeks ago in order to (massively) increase my swimming volume with the predictable result that my muscles recovered at the same time that my recovery ability increased overall due to the reduced workload. This allowed me to go from putting in maybe 2500 yards per swim with long Saturday swims in the 3500 to 4000 yard range to now putting in at least 3400 yards per swim with long swims in the 4500 to 5000 yard range. At the same time, my standard pace per 100 has gotten somewhere between 5% to 10% faster overall.

All of this was by design. This was The Plan.

But it *is* a grind. 

More to the point, there is a very real reason why I don't swim this much all the time and/or compete on a Master's Team. Bottom line, I'm just not in that headspace anymore, and honestly, that's a good thing.

However. I got excited when I started swimming better, and the desire to double-down kind of grabbed hold of me. Among other things, I decided to stop drinking over the month of July, so that I could *really* focus on recovery and swimming well. Part of me wanted to let the sport take my life over for a month one last time, and though I realize no one cares, I wanted to see if I could see my six-pack again.

Alas, I found myself at the Boat Club this past Friday just not enjoying myself. Worse, my wife very much did not enjoy my company, either. For whatever reason, I just don't seem to have the bandwidth to focus solely on swimming while also focusing on the rest of my life. I was just sitting there, kind of obsessing on what I wanted to accomplish in the water later that weekend. 

Unfortunately, life can only have one Top Priority by definition.

As it has been, swimming remains a balance with the rest of my life. Hitting that balance is and will probably always remain one of the trickiest parts of the sport. I need to now swim well while I'm swimming but engage fully with the rest of my life during the rest of my time. And yeah, you know, that's probably not how Tom Brady does it, but...  

It's Tom Brady's job. For me, that's just not the case.