Stop and Smell the Roses

It started as a normal friday morning. The alarm went off at 5am. Some sleepy curses, then grab my wetsuit, into the car and drive to La Jolla Cove. It was still dark when we arrived, but the water was very calm and the visibility good. Cold as usual at that time of the morning. Damn, looks like I’m going to need to do this after all. As it got a little lighter my swimmer friends arrived and we speculated as to how cold the water was going to be. Someone suggested it was 59F, why am I doing this again? Dipping our toes into the water, yep, it was cold. Sure this is a good idea? But off we went.

By the quarter mile buoy I’d warmed up enough to appreciate the calm clear water and stopped several times to watch the fish below. After the half mile buoy my friends took me back via the caves. What a wonderful sight, swimming through the middle of the caves. Then as we emerged at the other end we were joined by 8 (!) sea lions. They played in front of us in the water, swam along side us, darted under us and laughed at how slow we were. Why did I drag myself out of bed at stupid-o-clock and go swim in a cold ocean? That’s why!

Most of the time training sessions are completed rather than enjoyed. We have targets for them like building an endurance base, improving our lactate profile, getting practice at race pace etc. Sessions are designed on paper to meet an ultimate goal of completing a race, getting a new PR etc. And it’s that big goal that gets us out of bed and out to go training. Most of the time that’s it. It’s not always fun, sometimes it’s hard and a drag. But sometimes everything comes together. The weather is perfect, the company is great, your body feels wonderful and exercise just flows out, or some other magical event you can’t plan for happens, like swimming with sea lions. It’s then that you know why you really do it. In those moments the rest of the world ceases to exist, it is all about the moment and you don’t want that moment to end.

You can’t plan to have those feelings going out to a training session. They are spontaneous which makes them more special. If you go looking for them too hard you will never experience them. I have had them in many different situations, and they don’t require beautiful Californian weather and scenery. Some of my most memorable moments have been running through fresh snow, feeling the crunching under my feet, the falling snow muffling all sounds around me. Riding along Edinburgh harbor in the dark, watching the sun come up over the Firth of Forth. Doing a long scenic ride with Alan and stopping for an ice cream from the only shop in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere.

Of course I wish every training session was like that, but they aren’t. Yes, we still need to do those hill reps and those long tempo runs that burn our lungs. Because in order to be able to forget about your body and really appreciate the wonderful surroundings you are in you do need a certain level of fitness. Plus, if you don’t go looking for those wonderful moments they are so much more special when they arrive. Just make sure you stop and appreciate them!

Corina