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I'm a bitch

Much like you are either a morning person or an evening person, you're either a talker through swim workouts, or a non-talker through swim workouts. By "talking" I'm not talking about the inane and sometimes unintelligible banter about who cheated more on the fly set or what one ate for dinner the night before. I'm talking about talking oneself through the set, as in, "okay, now 100 IM" and then 1 minute and 30 seconds later, "okay now another 100 IM".

I'm a non-talker. And I'm a bitch. I get annoyed by the talkers, even though, bless their souls, they are simply trying to keep us all on track. They aren't doing any harm--just chatting it up in the pre-dawn hours--and I should smile and say "You're right! It is another 100 IM! Let's go for it!" but instead I curse inside and feel guilty for not responding (I'm trying to gather more air, dammit).

Let's take it one step further. You're either a listener to the sets Tim gives, or a non-listener. I, of course, ahem because I'm perfect (duh), am a listener. And again, I'm a bitch. I hate...hate...it when people say "Now what are we doing?" or "What's next?" Again, these lovely folk we swim with are most likely only 50% unsure of what we're doing next. The other 50%, I figure, is a valiant effort at trying to make conversation and simply survive the hour. I know, I know it's hard to listen to complicated sets and remember and execute on them (as I type this I am internally already freaking out that I won't remember the set to record down below...) but still, I need air and I do not want to re-tell the next swim after each successive swim, to the rest of the people in the lane. On the flip side, if I miss the set, I just follow someone and do what they do. I refuse to ask someone 1 second before they are about to push off "Now, what's this again?" (Disclaimer: I'm sure that because I've just written this I'll miss the set and ask someone tomorrow morning this very question and prove myself to be utterly unperfect (egads!), but I still have to rage against the non-listening machine right now).

SO! Bless you, talkers and non-listeners. I know you are doing your best and I love you all. But forgive me if I ignore your questions and confirmations during a set. I'm swimming at 5:45 AM and that's about all I can handle. I'm sorry. I'm a bitch.

Hugs!

*warm up:
300 free then 4 x 25's fly for 3 strokes
200 free then 4 x 25's fly for 3 strokes

*set:
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
50 free
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
75 free
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
100 free
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
75 free
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
50 free
2 x 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)

*set:
25, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 25 fly (for 6-8 strokes)
each followed by a 100
alternate 100's as free/IM
pick either the free or IM 100's to swim fast
other 100's swum as 2 count

*200 free with fly
by length, number of fly strokes per length:
2, 4, 6, 8, 8, 6, 4, 2

Comments

Haim said…
I sure am glad I'm away in Kona so I don't spend the rest of the week wondering if Sarah was talking about ME ;)

Haim
Emmit said…
How eloquently you described the dilemma! If you're a bitch then I'm a dumb fuck. Usually when Tim is giving the set I'm like in my head thinking: "Wow, Tim is talking, how beautiful is that? God I love swimming, these people I swim with are so beautiful too and how cool is it to be working out this early in the morning. I wonder if this will make me strong and sexy? I love that swimmer build!" And before I know it, the set has started and I'm desperately trying to hold my cool and catch-on to whatever the person in front of me is doing. Usually I can piece-it together, but I will admit to questioning my lane mates many times. It's a really good day when I actually get what Tim's saying.

This has a lot to do with learning styles...I'm first a kinesthetic learner, then visual, then auditory...Sarah--I would assume you are first an auditory learner, as is 40% of the pop, which is perfect for understanding the sets given by Tim verbally. For me to be as quick with knowing the set I have to actually do it first (which is just redundant) or Tim would have to be using a chalk board and writing the set for me to see (which he's tried before, but is a total pain in the ass). So that day I said I had a learning disability, it's kind of true because verbal instruction is one of the least effective means to gain information for me...this is a big reason why I don't like to be a lane leader, because the lane leader has to get the set right away and usually it's not until we're half-way in that I get it.

So I'm sure it's frustrating for you, but it's frustrating for me too coming from the other end...somehow, miraculously, it all comes together and we each get a nice workout in the end.
sarah said…
awwwwww I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings at all - this is totally just me being smart-alecky about my preferences. I DO understand that learning happens in different ways and would never want to make emmitt or anyone else feel bad. i retract my bitchy post!

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