New year new skills and little intensive coaching

I don’t know about you but as soon as Xmas is over I am one of those people who tear down the decorations. Day after boxing day is usually my limit and then its out with the old and on with the new 🙂

And so it is that this morning I started looking towards my own challenges for the New Year.  If you have been reading my posts you will know that one of my big passions aside from my work and my 2 gorgeous girls, is open water swimming – something that spawned from a leadership session I was running with one of my long standing clients… and a group conversation about values, purpose and achieving what you at first think is impossible …. a session that totally inspired me and gave me the push I needed to turn a long standing and well meant intention (to get fit) into concrete action. That year I entered into my first open water swim race (1/2 mile) and 18 months later I found myself swimming the length of Coniston Water up in the Lakes, continuously for just over 4 hours racking up my longest swim to date of 5.25 miles.

A positive attitude, some discipline and a bit of hard work served me well….but this year my vision is to refine and hone my skills and swim technique so that I can swim faster, with more flow in the water and a clear mind. When I entered the water the last time, the most I had ever swum was 3 miles. So it did involve a little leap of faith to go the distance. This year I want to turn a one off challenging event into something I know I can do with confidence over and over with a technique that makes going the distance quicker, easier and more efficient. Achieving far more, whilst taking less out of me. Isn’t that an art worth learning?!

And so today I have signed up for a weeks coaching at an open water swim school in Lanzarote where I shall swim very long distances routinely in a small group alongside expert coaches. As with the Exec teams I work with, Ive signed up for experiential learning, constant feedback (that includes being filmed in the water) and putting into practice what I have learnt in daily practice culminating in a race at the end of the week.

I am a little nervous (mostly that I might find myself in a group of REALLY serious athletes…which I am clearly not!) but mostly excited. I really want expert eyes on me to tell me where Im going wrong, to see what I can’t see.  I want the challenge, stimulus and learning from being around other people who want what I want, and who love what I do. Im hoping to make a huge leap in technique that week that will serve me well when it comes to the race in Sep …. and if nothing else take away some learnings to apply week in week out whilst Im training and Im sure, more new friends.

I will let you know how I go. For now, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and all the very best with moving forward whatever YOU want most for 2016.