SUPERSONIC SWIMMER

Supersonic swimmer??? Todays post is about being IN THE MOMENT..but at relatively different speeds. Its a deep thinking J.T. post and my grey matter is crying out from being over taxed.!!!!!!!

Sunday am was spectacular. It was clear and slightly cool in Cleveland. I was thinking about my Ironman Louisville fellow triathletes when I slipped down to the beach club in Euclid.

The water was like glass. It was incredibly clear . It was a giant swimmer pool without lanes.

My son, Pat urged me to swim and I'm glad I did. Thanks Pat!!!

See downtown Cleveland??? Thats about 10--11 miles away.

I knew the lake would start to ripple and soon. It was 10am and the boats would start to head downtown to be able to watch the Cleveland Air show and the world famous Blue Angels.

Yep..there they are. 3 years ago, I was fortunate to be able to fly with them. It was the memory of that ride...a once in a lifetime experience that got me thinking of IN THE MOMENT and how that sensation can envelope you...no matter how fast your body is moving.

Back to the swimming. Pat and I swam from the club, eastward about 3/4's of a mile. It was purely mystical. Each stroke cutting through the water. I was close to shore..the water about 3-4 feet deep..and I could look over at Pat 30 feet away from me and see him perfectly. Incredibly clear. With each stroke, I felt the power and I felt the sensation of IN THE MOMENT!!!. I realized I was going only 2 miles per hour, but the feeling was no less defining that when I was strapped into one of those Fa-18 Hornets, going the speed of sound.!!!! In, the jet, I felt the speed...I felt the g-forces when we did manuevers but it was hard to gauge distance. I remember that day when we had been out for about ten minutes, the captain asked me if I thought I knew where we were?? I said...ohh Mentor?? (25 miles from Cleveland). He laughed!!! "How about Erie Pennsylvania?????' I was astonished we had gone so far, so fast....

Well, thats the feeling I had as we hit the 3/4 mile spot which was the old beach club I grew up swimming off of. My 2 mile an hour crawl was so IN THE MOMENT..I had no idea how fast we had arrived at that spot. As the swim progressed..more boats and skiddo's were in the area and the ripples soon became little waves. We swam about 1.7 miles.

The sensation of speed and time can distort our perceptions. Run outside in an open field?? You feel slow. Run down a tight hallway and the speed is amazing. A hard fought bike segment of a triathlon might feel real slow to you...but you check your timer and realize you averaged 20 miles a hour. Its all about IN THE MOMENT. What was working for you at that Moment was defining to you and no one else.

A 9 hour Ironman might seem slow to an elite racer but who amoung us wouldn't love to see what its like to be that fast--that strong for 140.6 miles.???

Our world is speeding ahead. Google. Text messaging.. Chips that compute millions of things per second. Its mind boggling. But what slows down the world...what makes sense to us are those MOMENTS when we connect to what is pure and real.

Being an endurance athlete all these years has done more for me in keeping the perspective when covering world class athletes. I can relate to the committment needed. I can't go 4.4 in the 40. I can't dunk like LeBron.. but I have had many of THOSE MOMENTS when I break down everything else and experience an almost zen-like Moment. It is truly awesome. Its winning the lottery of life... time after time...after time. Heres wishing you many IN THE MOMENT experiences.!!!

GETTING LUCKY IN KENTUCKY.

Props to all my tri-buddies for surviving a very tough, hot..hellacious Ironman Louisville. You guys are incredibly tough for taking it to the house down in Kentucky. It had to be a furnace!!

Look forward to seeing many racers this coming Sunday at Portage Lakes. I'm doing the Sprint.

MOTIVATION QUOTATIONS

Remember to check out the Motivation quotations...J.T Originals...!!!

LIFE'S A BLAST....GOT DYNAMITE????????