Lessons from the Water

One Breath at a Time Is it just me, or did it surprise you too when we came back from the long Thanksgiving weekend and it was suddenly December? Sure, I’ve been hearing Christmas music in stores since before Halloween, but it still felt like the season changed overnight. Monday arrived and I found myself staring at the list of everything I wanted to wrap up before the end of the year—wondering how on earth I was going to fit it all into four jam-packed weeks studded with holiday events. I…

The Long Game We’ve talked about awareness. We’ve talked about redirecting attention. But the real work—the work that changes us—lives in the long game. Because once you see a habit… and once you learn where to place your attention instead… you enter the part no one really likes to talk about: Repeating it. Over and over and over. Sometimes with ease. Sometimes with frustration. Sometimes with no visible change at all. This is exactly where most people assume something is wrong. They think if…

Don’t Stop—Redirect “It’s so hard to stop lifting my elbow” is something I hear from swimmers all the time. So I ask, “What do you tell yourself when you notice you’re doing it?” The answer is almost always the same: “I tell myself to stop.” And there it is. When my kids were little, I saw this play out daily. They’d be tapping, humming, banging—doing something that made me crazy—and I’d say, kindly, “Sweetie, please stop banging the table.” They’d pause… and then a minute later, the…

The Power of Awareness This week, one of my swimmers said something that got me thinking:“I used to like swimming. Now I love it.” It had all the makings of a testimonial, but what moved me was the subtle shift in language — because words matter. We do this in SwimMastery all the time. I’m sorry, you don’t have a “hand,” because the moment you think hand, your attention goes there and you disconnect from your engine. You send your books away from your feet — not your head — because thinking…

The Invitation of Courage I recently learned about how some cultures value the job of a wailer — the one who cries out at funerals, giving everyone else permission to feel their grief. It’s an ancient, vital role: one person’s honest expression helps others grieve out loud and process their emotions. It’s curious to me how, as humans, we tend to move in lock step with the people around us. When people join my Intro to Efficient Swimming class, they’ve often tried adult learn-to-swim programs…

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…

Effort vs. Exchange As the seasons change—with cooler weather, darker days, and at times, water falling out of the sky—I’ve found myself on my rowing machine for movement. (Remember those Zones 4 and 5 I’m chasing to “age gracefully”?) After last week’s 550 yards, I’m reminded there are many ways to build the engine. Rowing, like cycling and running, builds cardiovascular capacity that carries over to the water—which is why I tell triathletes they’ve got it made. Their bike and run training…

550 yards This week, I realized I was swimming to the other side just because it was there. I was following my plan—I teach a class at Rogue X on Wednesdays from 12-1 PM and after class I do a 60 minute practice. It’s the only day of the week that I swim in a “regular” pool, and I’ve come to expect the level of effort that I put in so that I can check off the box for doing some amount of time in Zones 4 and 5. When I planned my week on Sunday, it looked great—I was going to get in strength,…

I want to quit. A few years ago, a coach pointed out my tendency to give up when things got hard. It stung to hear her say it—because it’s true. Now I see it everywhere. After dinner, at the sink with three filthy skillets—the kind with cooked-on food—my feet ache, my back aches, and I just want to leave them and sink into the couch. In a moment of disagreement with my husband, I want to walk out of the room. Two tasks left at the end of a long day—I think, Do they really have to be done…

You can’t go back This week, an 11-year-old came for a lesson and said she wanted to “go back” to some of the things she learned when she was little — because they didn’t quite make sense back then. No reluctance. No resignation. Just clear-eyed recognition that revisiting those skills would help her now. I had to smile at her wisdom. Most swimmers groan, “Oh man! I have to go back to basics again” — like it’s a punishment, a sign they’ve failed somehow. But this kid understood something most…

Alone, together This week I had the pleasure of layering coaching sessions with three swimmers; the intersections colored each person’s learning in new shades and launched them up the spiral of learning. But it wasn’t without reservations. From me: will they feel like they’re getting the same benefit as they would one on one? What if they don’t like each other? And I imagine, for them: each had to give up valuable one-on-one time and allow group dynamics. It was a risk. Do you prefer doing…

What’s possible for you in the water? Can you imagine being held by the warm salty waters of the Caribbean Sea, moving easily from one shape to another, sensing the forward progress you make in every moment? Can you imagine feeling such comfort in your body in the water that there’s no question of, “are we there yet?” Can you imagine watching the rising sun cast light on the cerulean waters as you journal about your intentions for the day—not what you need to accomplish, but who you want to…

Who’s in your corner? Do you stuff down your disappointment? Or talk it through? This week I have been reflecting and integrating what was not readily apparent after getting out of Lake Memphremagog. Immediately after the swim I debriefed with my crew and coach, but the lessons keep unfolding. This week I hosted a Q&A at The Water’s Edge where my community asked astute questions about how I kept going in the night despite the inconvenience of being cold, my decision making process before…

Hit Reset I gave up. That’s the thought I couldn’t shake as waves crested over the bow on our boat ride back to the marina—25 hours after I’d first pushed off into Lake Memphremagog. What does it mean to not finish—again? I had pushed off into a headwind at 3 PM the day before with 50 miles ahead of me. Through the night, I swam under stars, imagining I was playing tag with the boat, warmed by lemon ginger tea and imagining that I was snuggling with my kids. Eventually the wind shifted to…

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…

Is the water calling you? Your words have been swimming through my mind all week. As I read through your responses to the Swimbound interest form, three powerful themes emerged: You’re seeking more than movement—you’re swimming toward mental clarity, consistency, reconnection, and purpose. You want to swim better, not just harder—finding efficiency and grace over grinding out more laps. You’re standing at the water’s edge asking: “What’s next for me here?” Last weekend reminded me why that…

Do you leap or linger? Lately, I’ve been reflecting on thresholds—in part because I’m standing on one myself: a 50-mile swim coming up later this month. It’s the kind of challenge that asks me to show up differently—not just in the water, but in how I prepare, how I rest, how I relate to resistance. And this week, one of my swimmers asked me a question that got me thinking. He was lingering at the edge of the pool, delaying that first plunge, and he asked: “Do you ever take your time getting…

At the Threshold Happy August! Later this month, I’ll attempt a 50-mile swim from Newport, VT to Magog, Quebec and back. If I complete it, it will be the longest swim of my life. But this swim represents more than distance. It represents what becomes possible when you let the water hold you up—the same principle I teach every swimmer who steps into the pool with me. The distance changes, but the foundation remains: trust the water, trust your body, trust the process. This isn’t just a big…

Do you feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over? I do. With my little swimmers, and my adult swimmers. Humming. Lobster. Books. Spearfish. Streamline. Whale fin. Wing. Over and over and over. But that’s the point. Each time we do it again is a chance to notice something new. To let the body feel a little more. To choose presence over performance. Each stroke becomes an opportunity to meet the moment, rather than rush through it. But in life, I forget. I want instant results. And…

What is “hard”? The current subtly pushed us past each of the 12 bridges between Sellwood and St. John down 17km of the Willamette River, while the wind made the kayakers WORK. The contrast created lumpy water—each breath needing to be quick and precisely timed to get air instead of water. Sometimes you’d get water, spit it out, and try again. Dynamic. That’s the word that came to mind, watching my kayaker dig with each stroke—getting pushed back at every 30-minute feed, then fighting to get…