Just Do It!

Wednesday was National Running Day, but since my foot has shown little improvement over the last several weeks, I was not able to celebrate. Instead, I kicked off my summer swimming schedule this week! It has been nearly a month since the last time I\’ve swam, and it felt absolutely wonderful to get back out there. It was a little rough jumping in after a month and switching to long course and swimming outdoors, but I\’m super glad I was able to get back to doing what I love. Biking and using the elliptical are great and all, but man, does it get boring. 

I started at a new pool this summer, Old Keene Mill (OKM), I\’ve never been there before and I didn\’t really know anybody there. I was super anxious about going, because it can be difficult to figure out where you belong at a new pool. At GMU, I know exactly which lane I should be in and exactly who is relatively the same speed as me, so I know who to swim with. Coming to OKM on that first day was scary. I was told there would be a lot of swimmers from others who have gone there before, but there was more than I expected! I ended up going in the third fastest lane, because a bunch of big guys were popping into the first two. They were a bit intimidating and I didn\’t want to struggle the whole practice to keep up with them, so I figured lane three was a good spot for me. It took me the whole practice to figure out where in the lane I belonged, and who was faster than me at this, and who I was faster than at that. But by the end of the practice, I had felt like I had found a good fit. Although, I became very nervous about going back the next day, as I knew I would have to do it all again with potentially different people. 

Well, I had planned to go the next morning before work, but unfortunately, I let the anxiety get the better of me. I chickened out and went to the gym instead, blaming it on the fact that it was only 55 degrees outside, and it was much too cold to be swimming outside. I felt guilty the entire day about skipping, and even though I wasn\’t planning to swim on Tuesday, I told myself that no matter what, I would go in order to make up for skipping Monday. 

Unfortunately, Tuesday morning was even colder at a nippy 48 degrees. BUT I had said I would go no matter what, so I braved the cold and went to practice anyway. I think I made a good choice, because even though the cold kind of sucked, only three of us were dumb enough to brave it. This eased my anxiety quite a bit, and I was able to get used to the new routine without a whole bunch of people around. I also swam on Wednesday and Friday this week and each day it got a little easier to get up and go, and my nerves about being around new people has eased some. It\’s still a little scary, but I know it will just continue to get better the more I go.

I know it kind of sounds like I\’m rambling a bit, but I think the point I\’m trying to make is that trying new things–even if it\’s an old hobby at a new place–can be scary, but if you are passionate enough about it, you shouldn\’t let that fear get in the way of doing it. I could have easily let the fear of going to a new pool and meeting new people prevent me from swimming the entire summer, and I would be absolutely miserable if I did. Yes, this first week of being at OKM made me very anxious, but it\’s already getting better, and a couple of days of discomfort is a heck of a lot better than a whole summer of misery and boredom. Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and go for it!

I\’m excited to see how the summer goes at this pool, and maybe I\’ll even make some new friends out of it. Who knows what\’ll happen. One thing I\’m sure of though, is that I am sooo glad I don\’t have to go another summer without swimming! 🙂

Until next time!

Megan Reiffenberger