Erik’s Blog: Board Shorts and Business Suits

A week after posting my goals for May I have to re-evaluate one of my goals. Not because it was too outrageous and unattainable. Exactly the opposite. I surprised myself swimming this last week which I thought would be one of my toughest goals to reach.

I had set my goal to be able to swim 500 meters straight by the end of the month at Ala Moana Beach Park which is a guarded ocean swimming spot. I haven’t been swimming more than three months (actually swimming like lap style) and the first two months I was lucky to get out once a week and it showed. I still couldn’t swim down and back the length of a pool (100 m) without stopping at both ends to rest.

Then in the last three weeks I decided I needed to buckle down and work at swimming or I was never going to be able to swim well. I started going at lunch and swimming where they have posts marking off 500 meters. At first I could only go about 50 m at a time. I would rest, treading water, and be on my way for another 50 m or so. The second week I extended my initial swim to about 150 meters in a row and then had to do the rest and swim cycle for the remaining 350.

Finally this week on Monday I was able to go 250 meters without stopping and I was ecstatic. It still took me the same amount of time to go the full 500 m but I could feel an improvement. I then swam yesterday at lunch and really surprised myself. I decided I was just going to try and relax and really go for the whole length, and it worked! I made it the full 500 m in just under 12 minutes.

I realize that being able to swim 500 m in a row without stopping isn’t that big of a deal. People swim thousands of meters on end for a couple hours at a time. But I’m psyched. I couldn’t swim more than 20 feet in a row without stopping and now I finally figured out that there really isn’t black magic in swimming. It is possible to become a swimmer.

This has lead me to look at my goal for the month and bump it up a little bit. I now feel as though a reasonable goal is to be able to swim the full 500 m in less than 11 minutes and also be able to swim 1000 m in a row. Now my re-evaluation may be putting my swimming goal out of reach but I feel that with the progress I have made so far there is a possibility of seeing even more improvement in the next two weeks.

As you think about goals you have set and reached, don’t be satisfied with them, extend your goals. Push yourself a little more. Just because you have reached a goal doesn’t mean that’s the end of the road. As you continue to move your goals out in front of you don’t look back at what you’ve accomplished. Keep looking forward to the next milestone and keep trying to realize the next step in your process to get where you want to be. No matter the goal.