So now that I have a dream, swimming 42,195 km and I’ve shouted it out loud – what now?
Now the journey begins, stomach tumbling, dolphins going wild within me,
Family’s comfort zone, work, studies, a dream with new volume has entered.
Swimming 42.195 km, these will be sixteen hours or so of continuous swimming, and minor breaks for eating and drinking.
Ori, my coach, says that we need a plan for a dream of this volume. He gave me some pointers, sent me a worksheet and I sat down to brainstorm.
My training program is built on 1 week filled and loaded, 1 week rest, tests in the sea, tests in the pool, testing legs, competitions, running sessions, oh yes and 1 day off. Once every 3 weeks 3 days of rest.
And for those who like the fine print, towards the end of the journey, the weeks summarized in 40 km swimming, 46 km swimming and the record of 52 km swimming.
Insides running wild, self-pity rising and I turn to negotiate with Ori, those who do not remember my coach.
He replies my mail with the exact same pointers, nothing has changed! Ori further adds some minor changes in the distances, increasing them slightly as a usual concern when it comes to matters of open water swimming, possibility of postponing the race due to the conditions of the sea, and it’s clear to me that I have to be ready.
How do I think that marathon runners prepare themselves for running the marathon? Really – how?
Ori answered that they have to run 32 km, the same as I have to swim 32 km before, if I want to fulfill my dream to reach to the mountaintop of 42.195 km, then on the way I have to pass the 32 km and the cliff of 20 km.
Now that I have a clear training program I decided to concentrate on the present, and plan each week at a time, I assume it will be easier for me to cope with the number of kilometers that are increasing on my excel spreadsheet, and if there is a negotiation going on, it’s between myself and I in my comfort zone.
And yes, inside my comfort zone there are daily discussions; my girls ask me again if tomorrow I will take them in the morning, and when I am working the evening shift, and in the negotiations with them there is a rainbow of answers, a few yeses and a few no’s, mornings and evenings.
And what can you do when there is also a partner that allows all this, and he too needs some rest, even at the price of the worst timing on my loaded training week. Someone whisper flexibility? It’s true and it’s hard, for a moment there I felt like the world was spinning around me – but it’s not.
Also at work there are attentive and considerate negotiations, flexible working hours, all preformed.
In my swimming instructors’ studies, I am blessed with an ideal course manager who knows this journey of mine is also hers – Consciousness.
Yes – that’s how it is with a dream with such volume.
I, and you, have 15.5 weeks of dreaming together.
