Open water swimming in Lousville:
Louisville Landsharks hosts open water swimming all summer at Deam Lake in Indiana every other Sunday morning 6-8:30 AM. You must be a member, have a pink swim cap and a personal buoy to swim
TriLoco Louisville hosts open water swimming at Towhead Island Marina every Monday evening 6- 8 PM in the Ohio River. You do not need to be a member but you need a bright swimcap and a buoy.
Both clubs provide kayak support for rescue and safety during these hosted swims. NEVER swim alone in open water. Always have at least an observer on shore or a kayaker and use a personal buoy and wear a brightly colored swim cap. It improves your visibility to boaters and rescuers. We will talk about the differences between open water and pool swimming in our sessions.
YOU CAN DO THIS....A memory about how I almost quit
I remember when I began training at 52. I walked into a program at one place full of busy, focused athletes who had no time to chat with me. I couldn't figure out the bike set up and no one helped me...I ended up leaving without working out and feeling really dumb, old and like I did not belong. Depressed about enrolling in a training program for the Chicago Tri and thinking I'd never make it, I decided to go to the running day. It was awful. The group set out, and after a quick warmup, all these young fit athletes took off, and as I slogged forward, I watched them disappear around a bend and got discouraged. I kept going but was thinking, "I should quit" over and over. Then an amazing thing happened, the coach returned at a run, coming toward me. I figured he was just done and heading back to the gym. Instead he stopped and turned around, matched his gait to mine and asked me how I was. I confessed I was thoroughly discouraged and felt hopeless. (At 52 I'd been working 80 hour weeks for several years and was overweight and very sedentary...so really out of shape and about 30 lbs heavier) His reply changed everything; "I've noticed that you always try, no matter what and I'm impressed with your perseverance. We all start somewhere; in fact, I could not swim at all when I started training for my first triathlon 5 years ago! (he'd done 3 full ironmans at that point and was a certified coach) Don't quit, it takes time and it's hard work, but I can see you're up for it. You can do this!" I will credit this coach, Chris Navin, with keeping me going and inspiring me to be a coach and compete in a full ironman in 2015 and 2017. Try focusing on what you CAN do.. and noticing that you CAN do a little more each week. Keep yourself uplifted and positive and keep going. BTW that year, at 52, I completed the Chicago Tri OLY in 4:52. VERY SLOW, but the high I felt at that accomplishment was amazing. I now do OLYs in~3:30...still slow but as I shared last night, in range for worlds qualifications at my age group (AG) so yeah!
HOW TO KEEP GOING
Here's a trick you can use if you are very tired or discouraged: Make a deal with yourself. If you go to the gym and start working out, but after 15 minutes, you still feel too tired and just want to go home, you can go. 95% of the time, you'll stay and finish the workout. 5% of the time, you SHOULD go home and rest, and you'll know. This gets you there but gives you an out if you need it. I'm fine if you come to spin or swim and decide after 15 minutes you just can't do it. No worries. You know your body's needs better than I. This is not a do or die war; this should be fun.
