Eileen Swanson's Tales

On Sunday I decided to partake in a ‘Quadrathon’ swim meet. The meet consisted of a 500 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 50 free. You could do all 4 or just one or none We all decided to do all 4 events and let me tell you, 4 swim events in a row is REALLY TOUGH! I can’t even begin to comprehend how those world class swimmers can do mulyiple events at the Olympics. And if you’re Michael Phelps, you do at least a dozen events. SO AMAZING!

Back to the swim meet…..I seeded myself with times that I thought I was capable of swimming. Of course this was not my goal race for the season, so I did a good solid several hours of training the day before. We all did, well just us triathletes! Some of the top swimmers at this meet were SERIOUS! I talked to a couple women who had been training 6 days a week in the pool for the season to begin with a bang at this meet! Wow, good for them. Everyone has different goals and aspirations and it’s cool to see and hear about them.

I was a little nervous about my first event, the 500. I knew it was going to hurt and all I wanted to do was hold 1.10s, race pace, but as soon as I dove in and looked at the woman next to me, I turned into a crazy sprinter! HA! I was in the last heat with the fastest women and they went out in 1.03-1.05. I did a 1.04 and thought I feel ok, SWEET! But by the 200 mark, I was thinking “oh s%#@” this is going to hurt really bad. I had friends cheering for me and I could see them telling me to pick up the pace. I tried so hard, but I was in serious deficit at this point and started ascending my splits. Oops. My last 100 went back down, but I ended up averaging 1.10s. Serious, oops!! I went 1.04s to 1.13s to end in 5.50 and first in my division. I was ok with this time, perfect for this time of year. The positive to this swim, is that this is a bit faster than the time I was doing last year and I was swimming 4 days a week for 75-90 minutes and now I’m only swimming 3 days a week for 55-60 mins. COOL!

Next up was the 100 free! This was by far the TOUGHEST event of the day for me. I am not a sprinter at all, although I have really fast turnover! My problem is my kick and push off the walls. I do not kick at all and I am not good off the wall. Even after the 500, I had some girls come up to me to tell me I could have taken off 10 seconds if I only kicked and stayed under past the flags. Thanks girls! The 100 was so hard since I was still tight and winded from the 500. I gave it all I had and came in at 1 minute high. Still good for me. Same time as last year when I was swimming lots. I placed 2nd in my division in this. I warmed down after the 100 alot more than after the 500 which probably helped my next 2 events.

The 200 free and 50 free felt way better than the 100 for sure! I had fun in the 200 and paced alot smarter than the 500. I came back on the last 50 to take 1st, holding 1.05 pace. The 50 is basically an ALL OUT sprint. Well, for me it looks so funny since I hit the water so hard in my regular swimming that this must have looked CRAZY!! I actually saw the video and it wasn’t as bad as I thought I finished off the meet with a 2nd place in the 50. This was such a fun meet. I am so stoked that my swimming is totally fine with alot less work. I am focusing more on the other sports as they need way more attention Cool times and such a great workout! I was exhausted….in a great way though!!

Start of the 200, I’m in lane 2

Next stop was Neiman Marcus. I had a pair of super cute jeans that were not the right size. So I went in there and returned them but felt bad about R and B waiting, so I decided to take the credit and return some other time. It was seriously going to take me another hour to find something that I really liked. I can’t rush when I shop, I need to take my time or I sometimes end up with stuff I never really wear. Of course when Reid saw me empty handed, he said I should go back in there and find something I like. He is AMAZING! SO PATIENT!! I decided it was cool and I didn’t want them waiting any longer, so we headed to our last stop on Union Street in the Marina district.

This stop was for Reid. He had some really cool stuff that he needed to exchange at guess where? Yup, Lululemon. They make awesome men’s technical wear, especially shirts and jackets. I was going to wait outside but the super cool Lulu employees said to bring Belle in. SWEET! So Belle and I got to look around and had so much fun with the employees in there. They loved Belle and just wanted to pet and squeeze her. Yes she is that cute HA! Since it was Inauguaration Day, Lululemon had a BBQ going on out front. I took this picture of Reid eating a hot dog and Belle of course just hanging out!

We really had so much fun in the city. As a bonus, the weather was gorgeous. It was a nice toasty 69 degrees!! We could not have asked for a better shopping day in mid January

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I never thought I would LOVE track. Who in their right mind would love killing themselves over and over again going in circles on a red rubbery surface? Hmm, I always disliked the thought of even setting foot on a track. After pole vaulting a bit my senior year in college, running with the crazy fast UCLA track team a bit as well, I still did NOT like track. Not only did I find it boring, it was REALLY painful as well.

Fast forward 10 years and I am in love with track, even though practice is at 6AM!! I have to thank my awesome training partners for this. Carrie, Steve, Reid, Ed, Simon, Lloyd have made track so much FUN in a crazy sort of way. We love pushing, chasing, and killing each other over and over again and having tons of fun in the process. I am finally learning how to pace myself better, how to push myself past what I thought was my threshold, and most of all I am learning to let go when I need to.

I am more than Happy with the way the past 2 months have come along. I am learning so much about myself and loving everything that I do. I am listening to my body, listening to my husband who tells me when I need to stop, and I am the happiest I have been in a long time. I know it’s because of all the changes I have made in my life. I just let go of what was not working, followed my heart, and constantly remind myself how lucky I am to be healthy, young, and close to my family and friends. Life is precious, enjoy every moment!!