Finally reached an actual fitness goal for the first time

[BopGun]

When I started swimming regularly again last year for the first time since the mid-'90s, I had in mind the ability to huff and puff through 1500 meters/1650 yards) in 40 minutes as a very big milestone. Dunno why that came to mind, but it did. I just know I couldn't have done it in high school the last time I was in the water.

Progress on the Couch to 1 Mile program came very, very slowly. I couldn't make it through a mile nonstop until 5 months in, and it took me nearly an hour once I did get there. However, I noticed that I was slimming down while my shoulders, back and arms were getting a lot of work, so I took heart in that and kept at it.

I gradually shaved time off of that and reached a plateau of 42 minutes on which I was stuck for quite a while. On Friday, I made up my mind to hit the pool for 4 straight days for the first time since high school, and yesterday I worked my ass off...and made it. 40:00.

Or so I thought. I wanted to push myself all-out in the water again tonight to see if I had been imagining it...and I wasn't! Did it with something like 25 seconds to spare!

I know I'm no great shakes athletically...hell, I've known that since I was 10. However, I can now get in a 200-yd warmup, the mile and then 200 yds of sprints (such as they are; I'm slow to begin with and by then I'm just about out of gas) in the same length of time that just the mile took me 5 months ago.

I've had MANY instances in which I haven't been making any noticeable improvements and wanted to quit. You, my fellow nerds, are a large part of the reason I didn't. My new long-term goal is to be able to do it in 30:00.

Thank you! To any of you that are frustrated and discouraged with the fitness arena you've thrown yourself into...DON'T QUIT! Pressing on, even if you don't get the results you want, is a powerful symbol that you love yourself, no matter what adversity comes your way.

I was bullied without mercy in middle school and high school because of my total absence of athletic ability (in whatever context you like: strength, foot speed, cardio conditioning, etc.). Coupled with emotional abuse that I was also subjected to at home, it utterly crushed my self-esteem and left me paralyzed by fear for more than 15 years at the thought of exercise. It took me 36 years to learn the notion I just expressed in the last paragraph. Please, for your own sake, don't let it take that long!

[CrazyMags]

BopGun, your strength is in your spirit my friend. You inspire me always to do better and to be better than I was yesterday and your dedication to bettering yourself has been an inspiration to me these last few months as well.

Your heart and your determination make you just as strong as anyone on this planet. Don't forget that!

I'm so happy for you I could burst, I think I may just steal those pants of yours instead, you probably need a smaller size anyway.

Love you my friend! <3

Big hugs!!!

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[tomocalypse]

That is some inspirational stuff right there.

You managed to turn a woot about your own awesome success into an awesome inspiration speech for the rest of us, and for that I thank you.

 

Mucho congratulations comrade

[Prairie]

Way to go! That's a pretty big goal, too.

[Liberator]

 "Pressing on, even if you don't get the results you want, is a powerful symbol that you love yourself, no matter what adversity comes your way."

 

Wow! Powerful thought! 

 

Keep loving yourself! You're awesome. 

[Raev]

Reminds me of Bruce Lee and the card he kept on his desk.  "Walk on"

 

Well done, indeed.

[sarabamanda]

That is awesome!! You are an inspiration!

[Dradis]

Do a lot of swimming myself, so well done!

 

I'm not one for long hard slogs, so if you fancy a change i recommend some swimming intervals. I do 2-3 lengths (depending on your pool size) at max pace and then pause for maybe 30s and then repeat. After 10 sets i usually leave the pool with a bit of a burn and thoroughly shattered. Plus it only takes about 30mins

[Arawyn]

Congratulations on your accomplishment! Hitting a milestone must feel amazing. Good luck getting to 30 minutes! 

[BopGun]

Awwww. Thanks, all.

 

Raev, your goals are interesting to me as I entered last year with very similar goals for myself...not identical, but very similar, including the 15% BF level. My attempts to meet them were an unmitigated disaster because of shitty form that I couldn't correct on my own and that I didn't have the cash to pay for coaching to address. Still don't, so I've had to turn my attention to other things now, as you see.

 

Dradis, I finish each day in the pool with 5 such intervals...and they are a PITA to get through given that I'm wiped out by the time I start them. I never swam competitively or trained similar to such until high school, and for the one year that I did it I was a sprinter with no speed (42.something was the best I ever managed for 50 in a meet...as a male 16/17-year-old junior. I sucked with abandon...) so I'm quite familiar with short sets. lol. I might go back to them as more of a thing eventually, but not now.

 

This week is the first time since I was 17 that I've hit the water 5 times in a week, and I'm a touch sore right now but feel really good otherwise. Again, thanks for the encouragement!

[CrazyMags]

Knowing you when you WEREN'T feeling really good and seeing you so happy and proud gives me all the feels BopGun <3

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[alienjenn]

dude....

 

you

[childofscorn]

Holy shit. XD  I am so incredibly proud of you right now that I could just burst.  I know how hard you've been working through all of this, and it just gives me such pleasure to see you hit this milestone.  Honestly, words fail me right now, so I'll let Kool & the Gang take it from here