Part 9: Seven

So a couple of weeks ago the lifeguards at the pool started noticing I was spending a really long time swimming. They asked how long I had been swimming for and I was stoked to tell them "five hours". I wasn't expecting them to reply that the record was seven hours at that pool, held by someone who has been absent lately. I reflected that seven hours was a whole lot of time to be moving for, I didn't trust my energy levels to hold up for that long when I was starting out. I'd have to be an absolute madman to try it.

I finally met the holder of the record today when he was pointed out to me by another regular. Now normally I am a pretty great person if I do say so myself... but I found myself on this occasion giving in to a level of competitiveness I didn't realize I possessed. I think I might have been able to hold off from giving in to this bad streak of mine if when the regular swimmer introduced us they hadn't said "Eli's coming after your record"... so naturally the first thing I said was "... I'm going to beat you"

Was it rude? Yes. Was it strange? Yes. Did I mean it? Absolutely. But again I had my energy levels to consider, could I really do it... could I be an absolute madman and do a seven hour swim? Well...

Today is the day that I became a madman. Seven hours down today, I am shattered and useless. My feet hurt like hell and my face is numb. My nostrils hurt from the chlorine. My body is screaming for food. I feel an absolute headache coming on and I have to go out tonight when my body is screaming for sleep.

I feel fantastic. There is a relaxation throughout my body that is strangely too akin to self inflicted exhaustion. I also have this sense of accomplishment, a month or so ago I would have spent less that seven hours active in the entire month so I can only view this as a success. I'm also beginning to not fit some things, some clothes are actually too damn baggy on me now!

I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the week, I can feel that there is some much needed rest I need to get so my swims are going to be much more sensible than today. I will reflect on this progress and figure out a new goal to aim for!!

MoonLite