Cannonball 2025, Gurgaon
First pool race. First 10k race. Some nerves and jitters at the beginning of the race, forgot to start the swim session on Garmin, started to record only after 18 laps - 1800 meters.
It became clear very quickly that I am not competing with the other swimmers in the lane! Having never done a 10k swim before, I was worried that if I pushed too hard, I might not be able to complete it. The longest I swam for practice was 5.8k! In hindsight, I could have pushed a bit harder and shaved 15-20 minutes off the time.
Most satisfying thing I heard during the race: “last lap”
My coach (Rachna) showed me a whiteboard in between, which I guess read, “Don’t count every lap”. I have seen coaches communicate to swimmers this way on TV and enjoyed it thoroughly! I thought to myself- Am I a swimmer now?!
My neck started to hurt while rotating to breathe! On the pain scale, it may be a 4/10. But every time I turned my head, I felt a sprain.
Mid-race thoughts: what am I doing here! Do I even belong here?
Learnt a lot of important lessons - Work on technique - catch, pull, glide, kick, EVF - all need to improve. I also realised it’s only a 10k and I could put in more effort. I don’t need to think about conserving energy as if it were a channel swim.
Thinking back, I also realised I don’t need to walk past the finish line as if it’s a formality! Take a moment to enjoy the finish line.
