Welcome to 2013! This is a clean slate, a chance to start fresh-so make it a good year!

I am currently in the process of packing to leave tomorrow for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (or at least attempting to). I’m sure the first thought that comes into everyone’s mind is: oh wow, how nice, that will be fun! And it will be, to a certain extent. This isn’t exactly your typical winter vacation, to a sunny area, where you wake up at noon and lay in the sun until you are fried or get hungry. It looks more like this: wake up at 5 A.M. to be in the vans by 5:30, be in the pool by 6, swim, swim, swim, get out of the pool at 8, take a nap or catch some rays until we pack up the vans again at 1:30 P.M., are in the pool by 2, swim, swim, swim, and get out at 4. Repeat that same basic idea for 6 days straight (but some days add dryland, which is running, abs, things of that nature, and weights as well).

Now like I said, it will be a fun week. But at the same time you must understand that we are being pushed to our limit in and out of the pool. In addition, it is hard not to think “ya know, I could still be at home with my family doing whatever I wanted if I was not an athlete.”

As always, I don’t talk about athletics to make people feel sorry for us, because we did choose this. But it is certainly not as easy as it may seem, and it is an extremely large commitment. At the same time, you meet so many great people and accomplish things that you never thought you could. Our team is like our second family, we are always looking out for each other. I guess I really couldn’t imagine my life without swimming; it is what I have known for the past 13 years.

Try something new to challenge yourself this year-you never know what you might achieve!

Happy Wednesday!