1390 Seconds of Unwavering Focus

In the final paragraph of last week’s post The Defining Event of My Life, I mentioned that I would swim the 1650y freestyle in the New England Championships the next day. It would be my final race in the 60-64 age group.

How did it go? Better than I imagined possible: I broke the Adirondack Masters 60-64 record for the event. Based on my training and my most recent race (13:56 for 1000y on Jan. 23, which I mentioned in my last post) I estimated I could maintain a pace of 1:25 per 100 yards if I swam well. That pace would project to a time of 23:45. Since it had been 10 years since I’d swum the event, I put that down as my entry time.

But I also had my eye on the Adirondack record of 23:20: If I swam a near-perfect race, I felt I could approach it. The challenge of trying to achieve that–the perfect race, not the time–had me really excited about the race.

When I hit the touch pad and saw 23:10 displayed for my lane, I had to look twice to be sure that was really my time. But disbelief quickly gave way to elation.

Again–not because of my time. In fact, during the entire race,  I hadn’t given a single thought to my time or the possibility of a record.

All I thought about was the many elements of technique and pacing I needed to execute at the highest possible level in order to swim a perfect race. From the time the starting horn sounded, my attention was occupied by an unbroken stream of consciousness about how I was swimming.

When I struck the touchpad at the finish, I knew I’d maintained absolutely unwavering focus for every one of those 1390 seconds. Though it was my slowest time ever for 1650, it was unquestionably the best race—and probably the best swim–of my life.

I felt as if I was working at my utmost capacity—body, mind, and spirit—every moment. And I’m even willing to assert that I believe my capacity for focus in a challenging situation is every bit as good as—no, make that better than—any swimmer on earth . . . even Katie Ledecky or Sun Yang.

Having Stage 4 prostate cancer undoubtedly means that my strength and endurance have declined. And for several weeks prior to the start of treatment (Feb 11) I had energy enough only to swim quite gently—yet perfectly—for 30 minutes or less, about three times per week.

On the other side of the equation is the highly intensive meditation and visualization I’ve practiced even while physically weakened.  These have noticeably increased my mental strength and emotional stability. And for my ability to raise my mental game, I have years of mindful, purposeful TI practice to thank. It has been an invaluable foundation for what I must to do to prevail against cancer. Experiencing the best swim of my life last Saturday was the natural culmination of both streams of experience.

I’ve begun preparing for Masters Nationals, where I’ll make my debut in the 65-69 age group, with great anticipation. I’m thrilled by how well my practices are going—and that I experience Flow in every one of them. I invite you to follow my preparation; I log every practice here.

May your laps be as happy as mine.

Terry

 

The post 1390 Seconds of Unwavering Focus appeared first on Total Immersion.