The Impossible....

I remember back to mid-summer, it was early morning swim practice and we were in the outdoor 50 meter pool -- my favorite! Coach was asking each of us what our next competition was and what our goal time was. I was gearing up for Nationals, followed by World Championships. At that point in my triathlon career, I was an average swimmer at best compared to most triathletes. I remember telling Coach Buzz my goal to do a 24 minute 15K swim (I was currently doing 30 minute 15K's in competition). I don't remember exactly what he said, I just remember thinking to myself "he doesn't think I can do it, he doesn't think it's possible." I knew in my heart of hearts that it was possible. I didn't know how I was going to improve my times that much or how long it would take--I just knew I had the drive and the tenacity to keep at it. So through months of consistent training, waking up at 4:20 AM 3 times a week for swim practice, staying in the pool doing drills 15 to 20 minutes after my team mates and coach have left, putting in at least one extra day of swimming each week, spending hours in the gym doing upper body strength training, and doing a lot of visualization and positive self-talk....Today I did the impossible! The training set today was 100m x 5 at race pace. I wasn't too sure what race pace for me is at this point. I asked coach if 1:50 was too slow? (since last season I was doing 2:00). We decided I should shoot for 1:45. I pushed off for my first set -- I finished, looked at the clock and shrugged with an "oh, man". I wasn't looking at the clock correctly and I thought I hadn't hit a 1:45--coach said "what? that was a 1:36!) I was surprised and charged up at the same time. Then I did the next set and the next. I kept it around 1:40 for all sets. Then we did the same thing w/ flippers focusing just on stroke technique and coach told us to stay at about the same times. I was flowing and consistenly hit around 1:26 - 1:30 w/ flippers. I could see the amazement and enthusiasm in coach's face. He told me how proud he was of me for how far I've come. I've had a very grateful heart all day for the gifts God has given me...the gift of persistence, the gift of passion, the gift of desire, the gift of dreaming, the gift of a strong work ethic, the gift of great coaches, mentors, & cheerleaders, the gift of athleticism, the gift of a healthy body, the gift of a champion's spirit, and even the gift of adversity.

On The Road Again

Yesterday was a great ride with the team. We rode Fieldstone Farms to Alan Jackson's and back. Yes, we passed Alan driving in his beautiful rag top Bentley. It was a bit chilly Saturday, despite the layers of clothing and the bright sunshine. I didn't mind the cold and the fact that my toes were frozen all that much, I was just so happy to be out on the road again, riding past all the farms, the horses, watching the deer bouding across the fields and over fences, being with my team mates, etc. I did come to some realizations on my ride....mainly, I deserve to spend more time on my bike building up my base. It's not quite as strong and I'd like to believe it is. I am not being to hard on myself, seeing as I've been through a lot this past couple of months. It is not so important where I am at...the most important thing is where I am going. I'm going to Nationals and I'm going to World Championships in September. And I'm going to be a sponsored athlete in 2006. I put in two applications this past week for sponsorship--one for Snickers to be part of the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Team and the second to Team Polar (as in Polar Heart Rate Monitors). My ideal is to be selected for Team Polar. I'm sending a ton of positive energy to both sponsors and I've got cards posted all over the house stating "I am a sponsored athlete", "I am an elite member of Team Polar", "Melissa Marie Guthrie -- Team Polar / Team Snickers". I should hear back from them both in the next 4 weeks. I am really looking forward to being sponsored this year and for the years to come. I will have amazing opportunities to do publicity events (you know how I love to be in front of the camera & holding the microphone--lol!), I'll get my clothing and gear provided, I'll get to meet and spend time with other amazing athletes. Of course, I have an obligation to be a top performer and get myself on the awards platform so that I can promote my sponsor. I'm visualizing it daily.

Speaking of visualizing. I had a great visit with Dr. Todd (aka. Dr. Todd Smith), my chiropractor. As I've stated in previous posts, he is committed to seeing me reach my goals. He has challenged me to wake up 30 minutes earlier every morning (that means 4AM on Mon, Wed, Fri) to meditate and visualize more intently on my goals. He has also challenged me to restructure my day so that I am going to be earlier and getting a solid 8 hours of sleep a night. We are completely revamping my training program to address a couple of muscle imbalances in my legs (part of that is from my broken foot) and in my shoulders/upper back which goes back to when I broke my collar bone in college. We are also going to tweak a few things in my nutrition program such as specific days will be higher protein days or higher carb days depending on training and some days will be vegetarian days (I'm a flexitarian anyhow and do not eat all that much meat). I am really excited and completely committed to my program. I'm all about planning my work and working my plan with focused energy and attention.

Well, better wrap it up. Tomorrow's Monday and you know what that means--5AM I'll be diving into the pool to swim 2 miles or so and you'll probably be off in dreamland.