A little busy at the Swim hole today!

WOW! January presents the yearly challenge to all those who have decided it is time to get into shape.  This afternoon, every last one of them decided it was the day to go to the pool and swim as the way to lose the first few pounds.  I guess the quest for the beach in June must be in their sites!
I am lucky enough to be able to sneak away from the office in the afternoon to spend some time at the pool.  It has been awesome as this is generally quiet time and I can get a workout done with only one or two others there with me.  Not today!  When I got to the pool there were the same number of people as peak time.  By the time I was done my workout, my lane was like being in rush hour.  It was a line up of people.  Not so bad as most were moving along being respectful however, there is always the odd person who doesnt get it.  Oh well, I survived.
My workout today was tougher than usual.  Most days I have spent my time doing lengths and focusing on being comfortable doing the distance when the day comes.  I have pushed through the water to get to the point that I need to be at.  As I have proven to myslef that I can do the 2.4m swim(1:18), I now am on a quest to make it faster.  I spent 80% of my practice today doing drills.  damn they are hard when all your time is spent focusing on proper form and technique.  I did have a proper practice ready, but like a smart guy I left in sitting on the corner of my desk when I left the office today.  I improvised well and still manager to be able to do close to 1 hour of various drills.  I did come to a quick realization as I did swim some lengths after certain areas of focus.  It works!  As I focused on one area and brought it into my swim, I could feel myself moving more effortless through the water as well as being quicker than I was earlier.  As I am in 'base' training I am going to spend the next 45 days focusing more on technique knowing that the payoff will be there when I do head into my program.  I guess it should not come as a surprise as I have coached athletes on snow for years and preached that the drills and tactics will pay off results if you keep with them.   I did have a small breakthrough today as well.  To date I have been breathing only to one side, as much as I have tried bi-lateral I was not working.  After some of the drills today, I find myself feeling far more comfortable on both sides. Crazy thing....I dont know what drill led to the breakthrough, I suppose I will have to do them all over again 100-200 times to make sure it sinks in and becomes natural for me.  I also started to refine my roll with one of the drills as well.  I have been good at doing it so far, however, my timing with my breath has not been proper.  I suppose that whatever I did today contributed equally to a more timed roll and bilateral breathing.  Whatever the drills was I am happy that is in my toolbox and I look forward to figuring it which it was an keeping it moving forward.  Overall it was a great practice with the rush hour being a little distraction.  I suppose it is nothing compared to 2000 others at the start line.
Today I also found some of my personal aspirations being a motivation to my training.  I have set some goals for myself this year that I have started to work towards.  I am a big believer in reaching for your dreams and believing that they can be accomplished.  Over the past couple of days I have started some activities that are going to see them come into reality.  It is great when work and play begin to compliment one another and motivate you towards the journey that you are destined to follow.  As this blog is to capture my thoughts and feelings of the journey of this year, I am am going to prematurely thank those who will be on this IM journey as well as fulfillment of a dream.  They know who they are and they are a key to this al coming together.  Don't ever forget, 'Live for your Dreams'. They are realistic if you believe in them.  The only thing stopping you from achieving them is you!  Cheers!