Note to the reader: To help frame the context, this post was drafted in mid-August of 2012, and due to a lack of commitment by the author, this Blog experienced a good two months of inactivity, resulting in this now being posted on 10/1.
No, this isn't what it sounds like. So this summer I picked up a 10-visit pass to a local community pool because I wanted to add a new workout to my repertoire. I have done some occasional swimming in the past, but never anything on a consistent basis, I think I would give myself anywhere from a 5.5 to a 6 on a 10-point scale of swimming ability. My first visit was pretty comical, as it could not have been more evident that I was a rookie. Now, it's an olympic-sized pool that alternates between long course (50m) and short course (25m) setups. On that first day, it was thankfully setup for short course, and I think I did about 4 total lengths (100m) in 20 minutes, before I was exhausted.
For my 3rd visit to the pool, due to the timing of my day, I had no choice but to go during long course time. Not only was I out of breath by time I finished one 50m length, I was worried that I would have to stop midway and tread water.
Shortly after I started, this middle-aged guy gets into the lane next to me and starts killing it. I mean this dude was a freaking fish and was doing at least 8 lengths (400m) before resting on the wall. I was shocked at how long he could continuously swim. Finally when he took a second to breathe, I peered over to his lane and said hi. After introductions, Tom (who by the way is 52 freaking years old and still dominating in the pool) and I chatted a little bit about swimming - he told me he was a surfer and I explained that I had been a pretty avid runner over the last 3 years. Ironically he claims he can't run at all, and noted how swimming and running, though both great cardio workouts, are completely different. There wasn't much to talk about after that - he went back to doing 1 million laps between breaths, and I snailed my way down and back for one more lap.
With that day long in the past, I now write after an effort at the pool last night where I swam a nautical mile,1650m (66 short course lengths) in about 50 minutes. I never thought that would happen just a few weeks after meeting Tom. As I swam I thought about this post and what I wanted to say. I realized, during those laps last night, that Tom was a big reason I have come so far in such a short time.
In my experience, I've found that our culture is one that consists of two types of people - complainers and doers. With this particular instance, I could complain about how hard swimming was, or how I was "getting a great workout anyway" by doing 100m per visit; or I could stop worrying about limitations, and start stretching them. What often helps us to overcome these mental blocks and self-fulfilling prophecies that we create is for someone to show us that most "things" are generally doable if we are willing to work hard enough. We need a Tom that we can "peep" at and learn from or get inspired by. Tom from the pool showed me that a legit swim workout was dependent on a good rhythm, with both breathing and strokes; one might say it's about working smarter, not harder. I was in the pool flailing around like someone trying to escape from a straight jacket, using all my energy and oxygen to exhaustion.
The two take-a-ways here are that you should 1) look around your life and "peep" in on people who are doing things that you want to do but aren't doing yet - you don't have to know these people personally, but use them as "proof" that what you want is, in fact, within your reach. And 2) you need to appreciate that at any moment, as you get through your day-to-day, someone else could be "peeping" in on you, so be cognizant of how are you representing yourself. You never know when someone else could be making you their "hero" for a task. When it comes to swimming, Tom is more of a hero for me than Michael Phelps, because Tom showed me, up close and personal, that I could swim better. So the way you do your work, the way you exercise, the way you raise your family, the way you treat people...these are all things that you may be making a heroic effort for someone else, without even knowing it.
So go be a peeping time and find your heroes, but just know that someone is probably looking through your window as well.
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