Often I will quiz my swim kids that I coach on the three values of my swimming and general life philosophy. Most of them get every point:
- Have a Dream ( Setting a goal)
- Hard Work
- Demonstrate Discipline
You need all three. Well, while I was swimming the other day, I realized that I may not have informed even my own wife of what my ultimate dream is. For the longest time, I've been keeping track of all my swims. Whether pool or open water swimming, I have been logging them in my spreadsheet. A long time ago, I was curious what the next major milestone is for me, distance-wise. I did some brainstorming and realized that the circumference of the moon is approximately 1/4th the circumference of the Earth. That distance is rounded up to 6,800 miles. I'm about 18 months away from hitting that goal of swimming around the moon. Here is my spreadsheet which I maintain after every swim which I started years ago.
I remember listening to an Olympic swimmer at a US Masters conference a long time ago mention that she had accumulated enough miles to swim around the Earth (25,000 miles). Wow! Say you swim an average of 2 miles per hour. That is 12,500 hours! Malcolm Gladwell oversimplified the rule of claiming that 10,000 hours of practice in a given skill turns you into a master of that skill. Once I reach my goal of swimming around the moon, that will really only put me 1/3rd into the Master status. I can't imagine lasting interested or living long enough to get to that level.
Anyway, I made sure when I got home to at least communicate that goal and thought process with Cathi. She has her own sets of goals, one of which she is getting really close to. Her desire to have ran a marathon in all 50 states is something she started decades ago. She is probably about 18 months from hitting that goal as well. In the process, she has accumulated hundreds of marathons. As of today, she has run 282 marathons and will reach over 300 by the time she joins the 50 states club.
What is your goal?
No comments:
Post a Comment