More From Olivier Leroy (Be Excellent in 2017

Heyo! I was at one of the local lap pools this past Monday afternoon, feeling a little sluggish. Why, you might ask? Because I was doing my best to swim off the barrel of egg nog that I funneled into my mouth-hole over the holiday break. About mid-way through my workout, while enjoying the fast lane to myself, another swimmer hopped in. Only thing was…he was going a little faster than I was goin’. Which was a surprise… Unlike the majority of the lap swimmers who frequent mid-day open swims around town this guy could really swim. After about 100m I noticed that he was catching me rather quickly. (We talked later--he’d swum 4 years at an NCAA div I school, was a senior national qualifier, and had trained with a local Olympic medalist.) So yeah, the guy could swim. The egg nog hangover was put aside for a moment, and I sped up a bit. After all, no one likes getting passed. By the end of the workout I felt pretty good. The so-so workout had turned into a 9/10 in the log book. I’d pushed myself simply because that other swimmer had jumped into my lane. And it got me thinking. We tend to fall into lockstep with the people and swimmers around us. The people we hang out with… The swimmers we train with… They influence our actions and behaviors as much as we like to think they don’t. They could be going faster. They could be going slower. But we will always speed up to swim with a fast-moving current, or we will slow down to fall in line with slow-moving water. So in 2017 pick things up a little bit. Choose an environment that forces you to train a little bit harder. Here are a few ways to do so: Pick a faster interval. Break your “comfort zone” intervals and level up. You know you’ve been thinking about doing it… Now’s the time to pull the trigger on attempting it. Pick a faster lane. You’ve been eyeing up the faster lane for weeks, if not months now. Sure, the kids are older and faster, but their wake will pull you along. The fear of getting passed and lapped is a powerful motivator, so use it. You’ll be surprised how much faster you can train when you swim out of what’s comfortable. Make it a little harder on yourself. While your teammates use a pull buoy for the pull set throw a band around your ankles. Or go without paddles. Or swim without goggles. (Okay, skip that one, terrible idea.) It’s tempting to stay within what’s comfortable and familiar… But if you want to give 2017 the chlorinated kick to the butt that it deserves you are gonna need to throw yourself into an environment that encourages you to accomplish big thangs. See you in the water, Olivier P.S. What’s your deal for 2017? What do you hope to accomplish? What do you need help with? Consistency? Being mentally tougher? YourSwimBook can help you with goal setting, creating an awesome routine, and helping you plot your way to domination in the water. Your PB’s will never know what hit them.