I am such a creature of habit. Once I decide to do something on a regular basis — like my group runs with Pacers Silver Spring Fun Runners on Tuesday and Thursday nights — I am almost ridiculously committed to maintaining that routine.
Which is why I’m particularly proud of the brand-new swimming routine I’ve carved out for myself. I had convinced myself that swimming was way too time-consuming for everyday purposes, and that I should relegate myself to the stationary bike until I could run again. I realized pretty quickly how self-defeating that attitude was, and decided to make a point to schedule three swims per week until I can run again. Once I decided it was just that simple, it was.
While I was at it, I decided to break out of my routine of doing a quick 3,000 meters, then heading home. I started playing with the number, resolving only to NOT do exactly 3,000 meters. This led to a great 3,450-meter workout on Monday, and an awesomely tough 3,300 meters yesterday. Here’s the workout, which I did mostly with a pull buoy:
500 warmup. Main set: 300 free, first six strokes of every 50 fast; 3X100 stroke (I alternated free and breaststroke); 6X 50 free; repeat whole set three times.
For the umpteenth time, I realized my thoughts have the power to seriously influence my athletic performance, my mood and my general outlook on life. Thanks to a quick tweak to my pre-workout thought patterns, I’m actually looking forward to my next swim.
Amy Reinink 
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so true about learning (and re-learning, over and over) how much our attitude affects our daily life. i try to work on keeping a positive one, but i could kick negative nancy to the curb even more still.
great job on getting yourself to the pool and carving out the time in your schedule to make it happen. i’d much rather swim laps than sit on the stationary bike!
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