You may think I fell off the edge of the planet...well, I did, so to speak! Fell off the blogging planet anyway. My life is completely FULL--to the brim in ways I cannot describe. I never even posted about the results from Nationals, which were surprising and amazing, to say the least. That weekend I swam faster than I even imagined I could. It was crazy. I swam 6 individual events and placed in the top 10 in 5 of them. I smashed my previous times and won all my heats. I even raised my head after one race to hear the announcer over the speaker saying my name and stating my time and how much time I had dropped. It was blissful and fun and a huge adventure. I made friends with other swimmers who swim the masters circuit and even ran into an old swimming acquaintance from my youth--unbelievably, she recognized me! I guess I must look the same. The morning I awakened to fly home, there was a text message from my friend who is the chairman of the Utah Masters' Swimming Association notifying me that I had broken a state record in the 100 IM that had stood since 1993! THAT wasn't even on my radar, but how fun! I returned home with a new zest for life and sense of achievement that I couldn't have acquired any other way. And you know what? I seriously have the triplets to thank. If I had not traveled that road--the torturous pregnancy that I barely survived and the 2 years of sleep deprivation, not to mention the other body woes such as weight gain and chronic fatigue set on by hormonal depletion and adrenal fatigue...and let me not forget the mental exhaustion and craziness from caring for them the first 2 years--I don't think I would have ever summoned up the sheer will it took to get back in shape after all these years, train for, and race in a meet among other top athletes in the nation! But what a blast!
But there are other developments in my busy life that are just as noteworthy! Almost a year ago Lifetime Fitness hired me to develop their youth swim program into something respectable, (at the time they had a whopping 9 kids in the program) so I spent the winter months working on that and trying to get approval for a team in the Salt Lake Country Club Swimming and Diving League, which turned out to be no small task. They do not allow people into the league easily! We were finally approved by the league in March, and after jumping through quite a few hoops to get our initial payments paid, I set out to create a brand new team! After years of coaching as an assistant to 6 different head coaches, I have quite a few opinions about how a team should be run--and this summer I had the opportunity to set them in motion and test them out.
AND IT WORKED! Lifetime Fitness now has a thriving youth swim program! We began the season with about 30 kids, and ended the season with 70, and we are just beginning. I hired an old friend from back in my Utah All-Stars days, Kyle Lambson, to be my assistant coach, and we rocked the swim world! In the conference championships we even beat two other teams to finish 8th overall! So what are my opinions, you might wonder? Well, first is passion--it is important for kids to develop a passion for the sport. Swimming is a ton of work, and if it's no fun with no reward, kids get worn out very soon. Next is vision--not only do I have to have vision for how our team is going to be, but I must instill in every swimmer a vision of who they are to become as swimmers. Then comes communication--between coaches, swimmers, parents, all around. When people know what's going on, they are happy. When they don't, they are frustrated. Finally, I included life concepts into our training. Hey, when I have a captive youth audience (and what's more captive than in a swimming pool for 2 hours/day?), I'm going to capitalize on it! So I selected the following life concepts and introduced them one by one each week throughout the season:
RESPECT, PERSERVERENCE, COURAGE, GOAL-SETTING, UNITY, TEAMWORK, AND ENDURING TO THE END (we often referred to this as "race to the finish!")
I saw tremendous personal growth in the kids as they developed as swimmers that made my job so much more rewarding. We began the season with a group of kids who didn't know what the heck they were doing and finished the season with a SWIM TEAM, who were unified and happy, and even swimming FAST! It was absolutely amazing. More than amazing. Astounding. Even though I knew it could be done, it amazed me to see it come to fruition. Once again, the Lord has proven to me that "If I build it, they will come!" to use an old phrase! I am so proud of my team. I love them and know them and am so grateful that 3 years ago I was unappreciated at my former job so much that I felt the need to leave, albeit brokenhearted. I'm so grateful that my 2 years spent at Pepperwood was laced with the feeling of not being needed and league controversy so that I felt compelled to pursue starting a brand new program. I feel more sure than ever that when life seems confusing, feels painful, and the path appears dark--that the Lord knows where he is taking me and by darn I just better trust HIM, because wherever He's taking me is always more grand and more beautiful than I would have ever experienced had I stayed where I was!
So yes, this year has been full of much work and stress, and had its moments of joy as well as fears and frustration. I'm still trying to figure out how to mother three 2-year olds. I better hurry, cause I've only got another month and then they'll be 3. Yesterday for the first time I had that sinking feeling you get when you realize your baby is growing up. I have been barely hanging on for so long that I haven't really regretted their growth AT ALL. But when I told someone yesterday that they would be 3 in 6 weeks, for a moment my breath was taken away and I felt a glimpse of panic. What if I'm missing anything? What if I forget what they were like? What if I look back and realize that I missed something or that I wish I'd done it differently? All those things we silly moms worry about.I have peace in the knowledge that I am doing the best I can. That when I need time off, it is truly for my survival. That someday I will have enough pictures, enough videos, enough memories to keep their childhood alive. I love it when people say to me (someone said this today, in fact) "Was it SO hard when they were little???" Ahem...are you looking at them? Aren't they STILL little? It's challenging for sure. If only I could be everything to everyone then maybe all would run smoothly! Alas, this earth doesn't run smoothly, and that's the WHOLE POINT! It's gonna be chaos, painful, joyful, stressful, tearful, exhausting, and exhilirating...sometimes all at the same time! If everything went smoothly, none of us would ever develop the skills we need to survive and thrive! None of us would ever face challenges, hence none of us would ever grow and rise above and BECOME who we are designed to be.
So I will go take a nap. Cause I'm tired. And I've got a lot to do when those little girls wake up from their naps and those older kids get home from school.
