Going Beyond the Edge

I had been swimming the 500 freestyle at master’s swim meets for a number of years. I kept running into the same wall. No matter the amount of training that I did—no matter the amount of yards that I put it—my times stayed consistent: 5:15, 5:09, 5:12.

Race after race after race I kept hovering around the 5:10 marker.

I knew breaking 5 minutes was possible. I knew that I had it in me. I just couldn’t—no matter what I tried—figure out what I needed to do.

In workouts, I would swim 5 X 100 on an interval of 1:05. And, I’d make the set. After touching the wall each time—at or below the 1 minute mark for each 100—I’d think, “Gosh, if I can do this in practice with a drag suit on, surely I can break 5 minutes in a race.”

And then I’d swim in a meet.

And then I’d see another 5:10.

Repeatedly, I’d go back to my practice and do the same thing.

I’d focus on my 100 times.

I’d focus on the number of yards I was putting in.

I’d focus on all the things that I was used to that made me feel like I was doing really good work.

But, no matter what, I kept seeing those times that hovered around 5:10.

Photo by Julie Anne Photography

Comfort zones are interesting places. They can make us think that we are doing really important and worthwhile work.

During those years, what I didn’t realize was that change wasn’t happening because, although I was pushing myself, I was simply staying within my comfort zone. The workouts were hard, but I did them—and I created them—because I knew that I could do them.

The workouts were intense, but my thinking was staying the same: focusing on the same things set after set after set.

It’s easy to get caught in our comfort zones and think that we are really pushing ourselves.

Why?

Well, work within our comfort zone is still work. Work within our comfort zone can lure us into a false sense of actually making progress.

To really change—to really make progress—we need to find ways to work outside of our comfort zone.

It’s easier said than done, though.

In order to challenge our comfort zone and expand, we need find the edges of our confines. Using the famous Saturday Night Live skit featuring Christopher Walken as Bruce Dickenson asking for “more cowbell”, Seth Godin tells us that, “[w]hat Bruce is getting at is the idea of intentionally discovering the edges and corners of the work that you’ve decided to do. To go to one edge or another. And then to go beyond the edge, because the only way to know it’s an edge is to cross it. As the artist George Ferrandi said, ‘If you have to ask ‘should I keep going?’ the answer is ‘yes.’’’

To go beyond our edge—we need to push past our comfort zone—we need to find our Bruce Dickinson.

Find Your Bruce Dickinson

His name was Ryan L’Roy and he was from Atlanta. He was the best swim coach I’ve ever had.

I was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota. Despite living on pennies as a graduate student, it made sense—at least I justified it to myself at the time—to join the University of Minnesota Master’s swim team. Practice was from 6am to 7:30am, and practice was only a two minute walk from my office. Since I was already swimming every morning, I justified to myself that it was worth the $60 a month to swim with a group that would push me. And then, I’d simply jump over to my office before 8am and start cranking on whatever project I was working on at the time.

Ryan was a distance freestyler in college. He wrote the most amazing sets—sets that still continue to influence my thinking and set design 8 years later. His sets were hard, but fun. They were well-orchestrated. Ryan’s sets kept you on your toes, but made your believe in yourself. Despite doing the same things as I had always been doing—swimming yard after yard after yard—Ryan got me to explore the space of swimming without moving around too much.

“You can’t think of distance freestyle events in 100s,” he told me. “You have to think of them in 50s. Especially that second 50 of the 500. That’s the 50 that sets the tone for the rest of your race.”

For years, I had been think of the 500 in terms of 5 X 100. And, in thinking of the race in terms of 5 X 100, I was opening the space for a time gap to happen.

The time gap that inevitably happens from the first 50 to the second 50. On that second 50 I allowed myself to settle into a pace that was comfortable to me—a pace that I knew too well—a :31 for a 50. If you do the math, string a bunch of 50s at :31 together for 500 yards and, well, you get 5:10.

It’s wasn’t earth-shattering.

It wasn’t a huge leap.

It was simply discovering an edge—discovering a corner—and then finding a way to go beyond it.

We started doing sets that focused on sustaining 50s at my 500 goal pace.

10 X 50 at 45 seconds trying to hit sub-:30 for each 50.

After one or two, I’d find my groove: :29.8, :29, 6, :29.7

We’d do longer sets that included repeat 400s or 500s.

Ryan would tell me beforehand to focus on the 50s.

As we’d move through the sets, Ryan’s fist would go in the air as I’d turn to indicate that, “Yes, there you go…there is your pace.”

I had to immerse myself in the process of finding my rhythm.

And, achieving goals is all about finding rhythms and then simply repeating those rhythms over and over and over.

Ryan L’Roy helped me to find edges and corners of swimming that I didn’t know existed. He helped me to thinking about training differently. He helped me to think about racing differently. He helped me to think about swimming differently.

Swimming: same activity.

Swimming: same space.

I just had to explore the space differently.

And, that’s what coaches help us do: explore our space—without too much movement—to make drastic improvements.

And Then Keeping Finding Your Bruce Dickinson

I’ve hit 5:00.51. I’ve hit 5:02 on a number of occasions. 5:10 is no longer my space.

I’ve gotten to a new space because I was able to break out of a comfort zone. As much as I tried to do it on my own, I needed Ryan L’Roy to help me out.

We all need a Ryan L’Roy. We all need a Bruce Dickinson.

And then, eventually, we need another Ryan L’Roy.

We need another Bruce Dickinson

Coaches help us explore our space to find the edges and the corners.

I haven’t made it (yet), but I know I’m engaged in the process to get there. I needed Ryan—my Bruce Dickinson—to go beyond my edge of 5:10.

I still have other edges—others corners—to explore to finally achieve a goal—breaking 5 minutes in the 500 freestyle—that I have been working on for over 10 years now. I’m currently working with a new coach to help me get there. I’m currently trying new techniques to explore areas that are outside of my comfort zone.

Life is on the wire,
the rest is just waiting.

-Numerous Sources

I love living on the wire, regardless of the outcome. It’s a lot more fun than waiting.

Seth Godin asks us: “Are you on the wire? (Or are you just waiting?)”

And I’ll ask you the same thing:

“Are you on the wire?”

“(Or are you just waiting?)

Whether you’re already on the wire, or waiting to get on the wire, let’s chat…there are a lot of edges and corners to explore.

You can move past your current comfort zone.