This past weekend, Jamie took a step or two, along with several freestyle strokes as she completed a goal for which she has been training for several months. At the beginning of the year, she registered to swim in the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim on Kent Island, Maryland. Swimmers came from all over (but most were from the bay area) to participate in the one mile swim. This swim was a qualifier for a second tier goal that Jamie had at the beginning of the year. The second tier goal, swimming 4.4 miles across the bay next year in an even more limited and competitive race.
In order to participate in the 4.4 mile race, one has to complete the one mile race in less than forty minutes. Jamie's time was 27:02, and she finished in the top 100 finishers for the race (there were 500 who registered). The 4.4 mile race takes over two hours for most to finish, and looks like it would be incredibly difficult. (In all honesty, the one mile race Jamie participated in didn't look like a walk in the park either!).
Her swimming (btw she's the one in the center of the photograph) is a great reminder about setting goals and staying focused. She set the goal in January to participate in this event, and has been training regularly for the last six months in order to be ready for this race. I'm really proud of her for her discipline in training, and her incredible performance on Sunday. She was pretty tired after the race, but I was just tired watching the mass of competitors swim into the open tide-water.
Jamie was incredibly tired as she stepped out of the water and crossed the finish line. After the race, she said that there was no way she could be completely prepared for that experience without actually swimming the bay herself. But, she couldn't do that, so she prepared by swimming A LOT back in West Virginia. There is nothing that quite compares with actual events.
It was a bit ironic too because one of Jamie's anticipated rewards after the swim was to eat some seafood while the five of us (me, her, her parents and my dad) were on the bay. It was ironic, because she wasn't as interested in seafood or as hungry as she thought she would be. I kind of think that for her, accomplishing her goal was more of a reward than eating a meal.
Are you training for any races or working toward any goals? What are they? How do you maintain your focus? I hope Jamie's swim can inspire you; I know it has certainly inspired me.
May you maintain your focus, and crush your goals as you pursue them!
3 comments:
Congrats Jamie! That is amazing. Chris Matlick and I complete the Rachel Carson Challenge several years ago - a 36 mile one day hike that takes place just north of Pittsburgh. The experience is still paying dividends in my life through the lessons I learned about about persistence, sticking with a goal, teamwork and mental stamina. Similar to the comment about swimming the bay - it was essential to our success that we hiked the actual trail beforehand, in small sections. I highly recommend the event, it was well run and the trail is beautiful.
Thank you for this post.
Tell Jamie congrats for me! I am planning on training for the Huntington half-marathon in November. I am building up mileage now and remembering how good it feels to set a goal and achieve it :)
Thanks for the good words.
@mommy relcuk The Rachel Carson Challenge sounds pretty fantastic. I just checked on it, and it looks like it is happening this weekend. While it is too late for me to try this year, perhaps there will be others who can give it a whirl. I may give it a whirl next year though--it sounds pretty amazing!
Here's the link if others are interested.
@T@R@ I will definitely tell Jamie Congrats. Hope training goes well and you crush the half-marathon in November!
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