Wait... I'm the Pace-Keeper?? :looks around:...Seriously?

After last night's meltdown a good nights sleep provided me with some clarity.  I headed to the pool this morning, because nothing makes me feel better than a meeting with my oldest friend (the pool).  And the pool delivered, as per usual.  The water was Swimming Commercial perfect  (and, in case you don't obsessively watch the swimming championships on ESPN and you've never seen a swimming commercial,  typically the camera would be the swimmer-  and it dives into a crystal clear pool, showing under water the glints of sunlight reflecting off the moving water, and with the sun shining and an empty pool, it was exactly that same feeling this morning.

I got a bit of a late start, so I wasn't in the water until 6:40 and the pool was EMPTY!  I was thrilled.  AND-  someone finally got  the message at Lifetime and turned the heat up on the pool (or, maybe it was the 5am Ironmen that warmed it up for me ;-)  )

I start doing my thing, and eventually the 7:00 swimmers start filing in and taking up the other lanes.  Now-  I need to take a bit a detour here, just briefly.

In competition swimming-  your coach, the professionals, the books, magazines, fellow competitors etc  tell you to always keep an eye on your competitors and pace them.  So, when you are competing, you are breathing both right and left so that you can spot each swimmer on either side. And you want to make sure you are always keeping pace with them.

Typically, when lap swimming, everyone is at different skill levels, but there is always that one person that everyone has sighted that they try to keep pace with- to challenge themselves.

As I'm swimming back and forth back and forth, I look around and notice that everyone is within ten or so strokes of ME!  *I* was the Pace - Keeper!  Now, it took me about 200 meters to actually believe that I was the pace keeper but sure as shit, every turn I made, there were four consecutive flip, flap, flap, flop, sounds ten, fifteen, twenty seconds behind me.

I don't think I've EVER been the pace keeper before.  Ever!!! But today!  I WORE THE YELLOW SHIRT (well, figuratively anyway).  Talk about riding high-  after coming to that realization, all of my concerns from yesterday just melted away.

:spins and tra-la-las with ribbons and glitter:

I had a really decent workout too.  I did just under mile in about forty-ish minutes.  Woot Woot!  And seriously, like I said yesterday- working with Brutus is helping my swimming immensely.  And not just in my stroke return (which as I said yesterday, is Awesome!)  but also just in my overall stamina and power.

So-  woot woot!  For being the pace-keeper!!  What an awesome morning it was!  :)