Stretching the Edges—Together Comfort and growth rarely live in the same neighborhood. Yet we keep looking for shortcuts between them—ways to expand without feeling that edge of discomfort that signals real change. Once I started noticing resistance in myself, I saw it everywhere: The colleague who says, “I could never speak in public.” The friend who insists they’re “not creative.” The neighbor who feels they’re “too old to learn something new.” And in the pool, when swimmers—beginners and…

When the Goal Gets in the Way Last week, I wrote about trust—how the water meets us when we show up, just as we are. How learning to trust might be the most powerful thing we can do. This week, something happened in a lesson that reminded me how easily trust slips—not from fear, but from something more subtle. I was working with a 6-year-old who had just discovered he could push off from one wall, arms in streamline, eyes on the bottom, and glide all the way across the short side of the…

AI Can’t Feel You can ask an algorithm for a training plan for your next 5k, 10k, or even a 20K swim. It will spit one out in seconds. It looks complete: distances by week, technique with recommended drills, threshold sets, open water skills practice, it even recommends practicing fueling and mental strategies. Convenient? Absolutely. But also completely missing the point. AI can write a training plan based on the latest in exercise science, but it can’t help you feel the water. And when…

Find Refuge in the Water Last September I turned 50. I thought that I was handling “middle age” just fine – until I had to pull out the reading glasses that I reluctantly purchased – I broke down crying. But that’s just one piece of it. The swim studio project I have been pouring myself into has been dragging out, tangled in unexpected regulatory hurdles and unforeseen expenses. Every step forward seems to come with a new roadblock. And beyond my own struggles, there’s the flailing economy, a…

Time moves in circles How can the same 24 hours feel so incredibly long? Yesterday had 24. The day before too. But now—on the eve of my 50-mile swim—time moves slowly, each moment stretched… Here I sit, exactly 24 hours before we head to the dock to set out for my 50-mile swim. I know this moment will never happen again—no moment ever will—but this one feels particularly poignant. The last few weeks have been vacation hours: soaking up the big city of Boston, then maritime meanderings in…

LESSONS FROM THE WATER READ PREVIOUS ARTICLES WEBSITE SCHEDULE SUBSTACK Hi there, I got back from a week in Loreto, Mexico coaching with SwimMastery founder and my coach, Tracey Baumann, at the tail end of which I got sick. I was excited to share my lessons from the water right away, but the body has a way of reminding us what’s important. Which gave me the opportunity to sit with everything that happened there longer. We had 13 swimmers from across the US and three women from Guaymas, Mexico…