I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, and once I was all “caught up” on the new posts in my feed, suggested posts started popping up for me to look at. A LOT of these were about swimming. Whether it was showing a new drill, a race, new tech suits coming out, or something else entirely. Either way, it really made me miss swimming!!

Flash forward to today, and I’m scrolling through my old Facebook photos trying to come up with an idea for a blog post, and I come across a lot of my old swimming photos. Again, I’m reminded by how much I miss swimming! Thinking about it, I haven’t been in a pool since August. That’s HALF A YEAR without swimming. Easily the longest period of time I’ve been out of the water since I started swimming at ten years old.

After taking some time to reminisce, I just had to share some oldies, but goodies with yall.

Looking through these pictures brought up a lot of great memories, and a part of me feels guilty about not having been in the water for so long. It was such a big part of my life for so many years, it feels weird for that not to be the case anymore. But part of the reason I loved swimming so much was the friendships I made and the conversations we would have in between sets. I miss the competing too, but not nearly as much as the practices.

I think that’s a big reason why I’ve switched to running more lately instead of swimming. I can run with run club twice a week, and some people get together several days a week, so there’s always someone to run with. Ever since I moved back to South Dakota, I basically swam by myself. I did get a few people to come swim with me last year before Covid hit, but it wasn’t the same as having people my speed or quicker pushing me through a workout. Not trying to say I wasn’t thankful that I had someone to keep me company, because I definitely was, it was just different.

I was talking to someone I swam with in college a while back and he told me it was totally normal to feel burned out with swimming and want to try something new. I swam almost year round for 15 years, which is a long time! It’s not like I’m never going to swim again, because I definitely will be getting back in there before long. But at the same time, I think it’s a good thing to expand my horizons and keep up with running too. Especially now that I actually LIKE to run!

So, with that being said, I may not be “Swimming Through Life” as often as I used to, but you better believe I’m still working hard and loving life! Keep moving everyone!

**Also, as a side note, I sent out a sneak peek of Sink or Swim’s first chapter to my mailing list contacts. If you’re interested, check out my website and sign up!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger