This past Monday, I watched swimmer after swimmer do a heavy sigh when they walked onto the pool deck. It was the first day of long course! I also had to give myself a pep talk before my dive into the pool on Monday. "Alright, Jennifer- it's time to do this!". Now that I have 30+ years of training under my belt, I know it is a necessary pain, and some may describe it as a "good hurt". Growing up, we only had at most 8 weeks of Long Course training a year due to outdoor pools in Ohio with no heaters leading to a very short and painful training season. By the time you felt like you were in long course shape, it was time for Championship meets and to switch back to short course.
I will never forget the first practice of the summer: 1000 warm up, followed by 10x300s freestyle. Now, we probably only did this two summers, but to me that was how I knew school was out, and summer was here!
Now living in Florida, we get to start our long course set up the first week of April. I personally, love training long course, I think it is because we get different intervals and have different time goals than when we do Short Course.
However, as we get further along in our career as a swimmer, those long course times are going to be just as familiar as short course, but I enjoy the Long Course mindset that comes about this time of year. It is one of potential,
creating new expectations and goals to achieve.
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