Last Friday night in China Town in Boston at the YMCA I met up with my coach Jesse Kropelnicki from Qt2systems for swim stroke analysis. Jesse as a coach is largely known for leaving nothing to chance in terms of the three individual sports that make up triathlon (swim, bike and run). I sought out Jesse because he is an amazing athlete and he is an engineer as his grown-up avocation. In our parts, and now nationally, he is simply the best in our sport.
When someone like me enters the fray of this task (Ironman), you can’t have thin skin. Taking criticism and making mistakes is paramount and you have to motivate at every turn. I had one of those moments on Friday when I learned that I was NOT doing the swim drills correctly for the past four weeks. It was a great reminder that building this base is critical in order to add the tremendous volume going forward.
As I applied my new knowledge in the pool this early morning, I could immediately see the benefits of slowing myself down and to pay close attention to detail. I was very excited that in only one session of Jesse watching me I was able to improve so much.
At the end of our swim lesson, Jesse in passing mentioned that getting to the big Island normally was a two year deal. I’m attempting to do this in my first attempt. I listened to Jesse because I have so much respect for him. He does not know me all too well yet. I liked hearing that because I wish I had a dollar for all the folks who said I could never accomplish a goal I set. I would never bet against me in this pursuit or anything else I set my mind to. “That a boy” is not going to do it for me, that is for sure!
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