Have You Set a swim goal for 2011

[terry]

As you know cultivating a Kaizen mindset is a key part of TI philosophy. Striving for incremental, continuous improvement has been identified as an organizing principle of those who achieve Mastery and experience Flow.
As well, serious academic study of those who achieve eminence or excellence in many fields has verified that a startlingly simple distinction between them and their more "average" fellows is that the high achievers get that way because they never feel they're 'good enough.' They always feel they can get better and never give up that pursuit.
Those who rise to a certain point and stop progressing usually do so for an equally simple reason: They feel their level of accomplishment is 'good enough.'

It's said that most of us achieve far less than our true potential. I think this is so because, quite reasonably, most of us view ourselves as "average." But if it's only the rare person who never stops striving for improvement, then "average" will in reality mean underachieving.

Long intro to today's Discussion Starter: I'm most interested to learn:
1) the range of goals people on this forum have set for 2011,
2) how specific or general they are,
3) what motivates you to pursue the particular goal,
4) to what extent you have linked that goal to a 'higher purpose'
5) what sort of strategies you've developed to pursue your goal, and
6) how you plan to measure progress.

When posting, feel free to answer any of those questions and no obligation to answer all.

I plan to write a blog today or tomorrow where I answer those questions for myself, and will post a link here when I do.

[Mike from NS]

Terry,

My goal in swimming is two fold; or in another way primary, and secondary. I want first to learn to swim for recreation and as well for water safety. Competition swimming, at least at present, is not on my "to do" list. The secondary goal for the past number of years (and indeed my motivation) has been to be capable of swimming to the point of enjoying the new swimming pool being built in Halifax. The pool is practically complete and now I feel quite capable of swimming there when the doors soon open. My goal is near to realization! So what now? Now that I feel some ability my goals for this next year have shifted to learning the finer points of becoming a much more capable swimmer. The Kaizen learning you mention will continue for years since now my introduction to swimming has yielded some ability ~ a foundation on which I can build. I plan to set attainable goals or benchmarks and try to exceed them. When I do exceed them I will have my measure of progress. I think my next major or long range goal, once my solid swimming competence is acquired, is to investigate the possibilities of instructing people who are in the boat I once was. At least I know "from where they are coming" and understand their fears or concerns.

Mike

[Richardsk]

My plan for 2011 is to continue to improve in all four strokes, which means actually learning to do a legal butterfly, doing best times in as many events as possible, or if that turns out to be impossible to at least approach my best so far, and specifically to improve my backstroke and freestyle until they could be considered respectable for someone in my age group.

I think my breaststroke is almost at the respectable level now, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

I also intend to learn to do a decent flip turn (known as the tumble turn on this side of the Atlantic and in Australia).

[flppr]

My swim goal for this year is to knock 10 minutes off my finishing time in last year's Sharkfest race where I live. I need to continue to work on bsp and put in a lot more OW time.

[mike rubino]

Im new here and found TI by chance on Dr Fuhrmans Eat To Live site where one of the ladies suggested TI to me after she found out that I want to do a triathlon. Im 64 and two years ago I was 216 pounds. Two hours ago when I got out of the pool I was 153. One of my goals this year is to lose another 12 pounds so that I will be at the same weight that I was as a freshman in college . Im 5'7"

This year I want to;

Ride my bike 5000 miles and be able to stay with the A group on weekends for the whole ride.

Run 3 to 5 miles 3 to 4 times per week. Get to below 9 minute miles for a 5k run.

Swim at least 4 times per week , learn to be able to swim at least .5 mile freestyle without struggling. Take at least one TI workshop by March. [Id take one sooner but my DIL is expecting this month so I do not want to tie up a weekend and then not be able to make it.]

Right now I cannot put 4 laps together freestyle w/o a rest or switching to breaststroke.. My immediate goal as far as swimming goes is to learn TI well enough between now and June so that I can complete the swim portion of a sprint TRI w/o needing to turn to breaststroke nor stopping to rest.

If all turns out well , Ill increase my goals for 2k12.

BTW I just received Triathlon Swimming Made Easy and spent 50 minutes in the pool this pm doing some of the drills recommended along with the superman float drills recommended here. This was my second afternoon working on these drills and felt I made some headway. When I got it "right", though not often , I felt like I was cheating . :]

[cynthiam]

Originally Posted by terry

Long intro to today's Discussion Starter: I'm most interested to learn:
1) the range of goals people on this forum have set for 2011,
2) how specific or general they are,
3) what motivates you to pursue the particular goal,
4) to what extent you have linked that goal to a 'higher purpose'
5) what sort of strategies you've developed to pursue your goal, and
6) how you plan to measure progress.

1 & 2) My goals for 2011:
- swim a continuous mile in the pool
- swim a continuous 20 minutes or more in open water (San Francisco bay)
- complete a 1-mile (or more) shoreline swim "outside the cove" (outside the protected OW area I swim in)
- complete an Alcatraz crossing ("naked"), whether continuous or not
- start learning butterfly

I want to feel capable and relaxed during all of these swims, whatever speed I'm swimming, so that's a goal that's embedded in all of the above.

3) My motivation is the excitement I feel at the thought of being really comfortable in the water, being able to swim in different types of water & conditions & distances, enjoying the sense of mastery and accomplishment, enjoying the feeling of moving thru the water, participating in organized OW swims at my club (for the swimming and social aspects). Long-term, I'd like to take some swim vacations.

4) The higher purpose is the pursuit of excellence (and how that may affect other areas of my life) -- swimming is the first physical activity that has ever called me to pursue a *practice*.

5) The strategies:
- return to doing mostly drills instead of so much whole stroke, especially now that I'm not swimming in OW for the winter
- get myself filmed periodically so I & others here can see what's going on w/my stroke
- commit to swim in OW 3 or more times per week once the water gets warmer
- strengthen my core -- I want to start rowing (wooden rowboats), so ergometer work will be a part of this.

6) Measuring my progress is pretty straightforward, though some will be more qualitative than quantitative. I think I'll know it when I feel it.

[terry]

Originally Posted by mike rubino

This year I want to;

Ride my bike 5000 miles and be able to stay with the A group on weekends for the whole ride.

Run 3 to 5 miles 3 to 4 times per week. Get to below 9 minute miles for a 5k run.

Swim at least 4 times per week ,

Mike
Welcome to the Forum.
Congratulations on the success of what have clearly been a significant commitment to reclaim your health. You've chosen to do it at a really great time in your life. (Actually any time is good, but - as I'm on the verge of turning 60 in several weeks - I've gotten the sense that this life milestone has prompted deeper self-examination and self-improvement than any previous one.)

Your running and cycling goals pointing to mileage and frequency are likely to be sufficient to continue good progress in both health and performance. Your swimming frequency goal will bring the greatest reward if you view that frequency (and 4x/week is very good) as More opportunities and consistency to create, refine and imprint the neural circuits of efficient, fluent movement.

To understand what fluent movement is, view the video at the link under my signature below and/or see the famous video of Shinji Takeuchi on youtube.

Also I suggest you read my remarks in this thread.

[Lawrence]

My goals for 2011 are really just the same as those for 2010, namely:

1. to continue refining my freestyle technique for efficiency and ease; with a view to

2. being able to swim freestyle comfortably and efficiently over indefinite distances.

The overarching objective is to be able to experience bliss when swimming, allowing me to enjoy pools, rivers, lakes and seas all over the world.

I have come to see swimming practice as akin to music practice: a self-contained pursuit that can last a lifetime and which promises limitless reward.

[westyswoods]

1. Refine my freestyle moving towards that flow state so often talked of here.

2. Increase speed through better technique and finding that propulsive connection.

3. Move into backstroke.

4. Become self confident and comfortable enough with skill levels to seek the opportunity of a possible path towards teaching.

5. Greater purpose of all is to move forward a healthier, individual who can share with others what I have been given by so many others. I see such a thirst by older adults who are not getting it for one reason or another.

Ultimate goal is a 10k OW. Physically very challenging but the mental part will be much more difficult for me.

[Louis Tharp]

Feel energized when I get out of the water.

Blog:
http://www.totalimmersion.net/blog/b...Louis%20Tharp/


TI Profile:
http://www.totalimmersion.net/compon.../Louis%20Tharp