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New Year's Resolutions

As we approach 2014 many of us will be making ambitious New Year’s resolutions.  It’s a rarity that we actually keep them.  But if we keep in mind people who have overcome obstacles to achieve their goals, it can serve to motivate us as we work to keep the promises we make to ourselves. 

Think about Diana Nyad.  In September the 64-year-old succeeded in swimming from Cuba to Florida.  It took her 53 hours—and five tries—to make the 110-mile journey.  She had failed in her first four attempts, the first of which was 35 years ago, in 1978.  Her advice: Never give up, no matter how many times you have failed or how old you are.
 
Diana has become an inspirational figure for me.  I’m no great athlete and have never tried anything as challenging as swimming across the Florida Straits for more than two days straight in shark-infested, jellyfish-filled heavy seas.  I’m a regular guy who happens to love sports, particularly competitive open-water swimming.  But through my own small accomplishments, I have experienced the satisfaction and reward of overcoming some obstacles. 
 
I’ve competed in five open-water swimming races, including the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-mile swim three times and San Francisco’s SharkFest, where you swim the 1.5 miles from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park near Fisherman's Wharf. 

I was completely unprepared for my first encounter with competitive open-water swimming and I hated the experience.  The event was a 1.1-mile swim around a circuit marked by buoys in the Chesapeake Bay.  The murkiness of the water really freaked me out—I couldn’t see anything, not even my hand as I pulled it within inches of my face.  Also, I didn’t know how to efficiently spot my direction while swimming, so I had to continually stop, look up and change direction.  Finally, I chose not to wear my contact lenses, fearing they would get washed out even though I was wearing racing goggles.  I am very nearsighted, so when I would look for the buoys sometimes I couldn’t find them.
 
Despite being exhausted when I finished, I didn’t feel like I had accomplished anything significant.  The real swimmers did the 4.4-mile swim across the bay.  Despite a lousy first experience, I decided that I would try another swim, but next time it would be the 4.4-mile course, and I would be better prepared.

The Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-mile Swim, held annually in June, is a prestigious event.  Thousands of people from all over the country sign up, but the race organizers restrict the number of swimmers to 650 through a lottery.  The only qualification you need is to have swum the 1.1-mile or 4.4-mile races in the recent past or to have a coach vouch for you. 
 
The following January I got through the lottery process for the 4.4-mile swim.  I trained hard that winter and spring, going to three tough practices a week and doing some treadmill work as well.  The head coach of our Masters club, Mike Jacobson, organizes weekly open-water training swims in Herald Harbor in the spring when the water temperature reaches 50 degrees.  Those swims, which are about 2.5 miles, were invaluable to preparing me for the bay swim.

The day of the race was very hot and the water was warmer than ideal.  The current and chop were pretty intense, especially in the channel.  At one point the current was so strong that I was swimming at a 90-degree angle to my target just to avoid being swept into the rocky piling islands that support the bridges.  When I finally reached the finish line I nearly collapsed.  I had hoped to have a time of under two hours but finished in 2:05.  Still, I had done it.
 
I learned a lot from that experience.  I could perservere when I thought I couldn’t keep going on.  I worked hard to achieve a goal and accomplished it, giving me a heightened sense of self-confidence.  I had supportive family and friends who encouraged me, which was huge.  And I learned that the sense of accomplishment I felt far exceeded the struggles I experienced along the way. 

Of course, these lessons are transferrable to goals beyond a physical endurance test.  I would encourage you to set some stretch goals for 2014 in your professional and personal life and pursue them with dogged perserverence.  As you do, think of Diana Nyad and her advice: Even if you falter, get back up and keep trying.  You’ll be glad you did.

Happy New Year!

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