It was that time of year again. I signed up for Summer of Seals. So just in case you aren't familiar with this competition, let me explain. You swim 500 Meters. Maximum push-ups, maximum sit-ups, maximum pull-ups. Followed by 1.5 mile run. All timed. Results earn points. Points make you win.
Last year I learned to swim for this competition. I was so proud of myself. This year I went the next step and took a swim class. That really helped with my swim time this year. I was able to drop a full minute off my swim time, which is really good when you are already giving your all. In other words, when you are already super fast, becoming super super fast is super hard. And I can claim super fast because I learned to swim as an adult and I was recently advanced from the beginning lane in my swim class to the not so beginning lane. Still the slowest in the not so beginning lane. Not even close to moving to the advanced lane. But I am still so pleased with myself. And because I probably won't remember how fast I swam, I'll just put it out there. I swam the 500 M in 11:15. Yes, most people can swim faster than that. But who is comparing?
See me doing freestyle? I couldn't do that last year. I learned to do that in my swim class.
Here I am doing those push-up. Man those things are brutal. I managed to push out 25. Hopefully next year I can do a few 100 more.
Here are the sit-ups. Kind of a blurry picture because I was moving so fast. Actually I was done. I managed to do 50. Next year I hope to make 100 in 2 minutes.
Here is my team. We had a great team. Flory Snyder(my visiting teaching companion), Dorias Swensen (my sister), Me, Meggan Baxter (used to be my visiting teaching companion, my work-out partner, my kids piano teacher, my friend, my motivator, etc.), and Jana Humpherys (my friend, my hero, served with her in the Primary while she was the President, etc). See! Isn't that the best possible group? The only ones missing were Rani from last year and my little sister Bonnie from last year. Bonnie didn't think it wise to be on my team since she was 7 months pregnant! Not sure that counts as an excuse!
Here we are getting ready for the run. That brutal run. Running is so hard. I do not like to run. Running makes me want to quit. But hey! I dropped off a whole minute from last year's time. I worked hard on that run. Hopefully next year I can do the run in under 12:30. This year I completed it in 13:45. Pretty good if I do say so myself. However, that time did not earn me any more points from last year. But so much improved.
I was so excited Jana was on my team. She had a baby in May. the first 2 weeks of the season, she wasn't able to work out so she walked to get her work-outs in. Then she nailed that run at 10 minutes. And she has a 3 month old baby! Seriously, Jana is amazing.
And I must comment about Meggan. That girl can motivate me. She pushed me on those workouts. She made me work so hard. And She beat me in everything. She was faster at the swim, could do more push-ups, and could almost do a pull-up. We worked out together all summer long and it was so much fun to have a work-out buddy. Of course I must say she helped me drop a minute off my time. I told her as we were in line waiting to swim that my goal was to pass her in the swimming pool. She doesn't like me passing her, probably because it never happened. But I told her if I needed to pass her, she had to let me. She told me there was no way she was letting me pass! I actually caught up to her and she did indeed let me pass. Miracle that I caught up to her. It had to be the adrenaline. She still swims faster than me.
Here is me on that run. Evan caught this picture along the way. I was hurting and wanting to quit. I was tired, ready to give up. Especially since nobody was around. But then Evan creeped out of the shadows with the camera and I knew I had to keep going. So glad that I did because of that minute that I was able to drop off last year's time.
1 comment:
You are such an inspiration, Steph! Way to go!!
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