Blog Comments

Yeah great job; thanks for the race report!

Thanks so much for all the positive comments! I should have mentioned also that it was a great morning to be on the beach at partly sunny, 81 air - 82 water temperature. 1K swimmers were green caps and 3K swimmers were pink. 1K 50+ men were first, then 1K 18-49 men, 1K Women 50+, etc, was the order for heats of swimmers set about five minutes apart. The course was outlined with yellow sight buoys and red turn bouys. There is an upcoming OW swim on the same beach in October, which I am considering.

Congrats Frank!! We stayed on Siesta Key and wish we would have still been down there to cheer you on. Impressive swim!

Congratulations, Frank!

Nice job on the swim!

Wow! Congratulations! So glad the weather was nice for you too. Was the water temp good? The pool was an awesome 78-79 degrees - perfect for competition (IMO)

Yes, very nice swim Frank. Congratulations.

Awesome!

Great job - I saw some pictures on Facebook and it looked like a great day for the swim.

Thank you all for the encouraging comments! It was a frustrating experience, but later on I remembered that I also overcame competition anxiety during my first year of high school swimming. Just as was suggested, I will get experience at local meets and progress forward from more conservative entry times towards becoming more familiar with competing versus just training.

My 10 year old daughter is my most steadfast advocate. She put on my hat and stood next to coach Chuck in the pouring rain watching me get ready for the race and also during my race. Later on she said "Daddy, since you swam slower in the 800 race than expected, now you will know how to swim faster than expected in the next time you swim it".

I've had many swims where everything seemed great until I hit the water and then I felt like crap, got tired way too early, etc. It happens. As Sojerz said, you've got to put it in the rear view as much as possible. Your next swim could be totally different.

Think like a baseball pitcher, just forget about that last pitch that wasn't where you wanted it and got deposited into the stands. You can think about what happened later (or not) - go after the next batter (your 3k), thinking about how you've trained and what you want to do. Enjoy, it'll be fun.

Originally Posted by pwb

Frank, I am sorry this didn't go as you wanted, but it was definitely not foolish to enter it. You had every right to be there. I know it stings now, but you've already learned something and are already making plans for the future -- do more local meets -- and that will be good.

Let the 800 go. Have some fun with your daughter. Enjoy the rest of the pool events and then the 3K.

Patrick gives good advice. And he is right -- of course you should have signed up for the meet. I recall getting very nervous for meets when I started masters after a 24 year break. One of my first meets was Worlds at Stanford and I made lots of rookie mistakes there. Going to local meets and getting more experience will blunt the nerves. I was pretty cautious about my entry times back then too. Doing that tends to make you feel less disappointed if you don't achieve an aggressive time. Good luck on the 3K. I'm sure it is valuable for your daughter to see you experience adversity, hang in there and bounce back.

Frank, I am sorry this didn't go as you wanted, but it was definitely not foolish to enter it. You had every right to be there. I know it stings now, but you've already learned something and are already making plans for the future -- do more local meets -- and that will be good.

Let the 800 go. Have some fun with your daughter. Enjoy the rest of the pool events and then the 3K.

Frank, I'm sorry you didn't swim as well as you had hoped. I can certainly relate to your experience after my 1650 at Nationals as I spent a lot of that race seriously considering quitting. You said something very supportive and true after that race -

You swam the event even though nervous, had some difficulty and yet finished 6th. That shows character, tenacity and athleticism. You can proceed forward to your next swims with confidence!

You too showed character, tenacity, and athleticism and I bet your 3k will be great!

Have a great meet!!

Rest well and have a great swim!

Good luck Frank!

Let me second that. Have fun. Swim fast.

Good luck Frank. You will do awesome.