{"id":464954,"date":"2021-03-14T07:30:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T14:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=464954"},"modified":"2021-03-14T15:47:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T22:47:47","slug":"thoughts-while-swimming-6500-yards-in-birthday-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/thoughts-while-swimming-6500-yards-in-birthday-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts While Swimming 6500 Yards In Birthday Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There was literally a new moon on the horizon at 4:45AM as I stood by the edge of the pool.\u00a0 Dark skies, light rain, and 46F degrees of temperature surrounded me as I dipped my goggles into the water.\u00a0 I stood there contemplating my belly button for a minute embracing the elements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrent, you really don\u2019t have to do this,\u201d I said to myself.\u00a0 \u201cThere are better ways to celebrate your birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sixty-five hundred yards non-stop was my goal.\u00a0 I will let you figure out why I chose that number.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Swimming a straight 6500 is more a medicine than a workout.\u00a0 It is more meditative than a challenge.\u00a0 It is more of a celebration of life than a bodily punishment. It is more of an ageless example than a timeless feat.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I did it for many reasons.\u00a0 To show that age is relative to the state of mind.\u00a0 To show that one can thrive in the middle of a pandemic.\u00a0 To set an example to those younger as to what old is not.\u00a0 I did it for my newborn grandson, so that someday he may be inspired to challenge himself with high goals.\u00a0 I did it for my wife who just survived a stage two cancer scare.\u00a0 I did it because I can.<\/p>\n<p>I count no laps when I swim, nor do I look at a pace clock.\u00a0 I wear no hand paddles, fins, pull buoys or listen to music.\u00a0 Long ago, I convinced myself that If a person can run 5 miles, why can\u2019t I just swim 5 miles.<\/p>\n<p>I also learned that if I don\u2019t get in the water the first thing in the morning, I will not swim that day.<\/p>\n<p>So with all that in mind, I started my Apple watch and Finis Smart Goggle and jumped in, feet first of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay, let\u2019s do a 3000 warmup, 500 swim, and then a 3000 warmdown,\u201d was my first thought as I sped through the first 300 yards with my mind all over the place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust find a rhythm.\u00a0 3 cycle breathing.\u00a0 Long exhales. \u00a0Streamline off the wall.\u00a0 Get into the moment.\u00a0 What was the meaning of my dream last night anyway?\u00a0 How can I take my mind back there? \u00a0Hey, what is that on the bottom?\u00a0 Is that a giant snotball?\u00a0 Check it out on the flipside.\u00a0 It\u2019s now over by the underwater light floating about a foot off the bottom.\u00a0 Passed it. \u00a0Circle back. There it is again, but it is moving over to the next lane.\u00a0 Good,\u201d I tell myself.<\/p>\n<p>Looks like one of the early masters just came on deck.\u00a0 Must be 5:15ish.\u00a0 I must be 1700 yards into it.\u00a0 Most master swimmers will now start filing in to their covid pre-assigned lanes.<\/p>\n<p>After every lap I glance around the pool to see who is showing up for their practice. In a knowingly poor technique fashion, I lift my head on each turn to grab a breath and to spot slow walking, parka hidden faces emerge from the forehead temperature taking station.\u00a0 They all are wearing masks, which is now eerily normal.\u00a0 This is the rain or shine crowd.\u00a0 Most don\u2019t know I have been swimming for 45 minutes. \u00a0My mind studies their everyday rhythm.\u00a0 Some sit bundled in a chair.\u00a0 Others, clad only in swimwear, swing their arms in a stretching ritual that probably has not changed since their college days.<\/p>\n<p>This is my version of bird watching and it is a good distraction from the constant flipping back and forth.\u00a0 They will be doing traditional sets. The same ones they have been doing for years, with just a slight variation of either a kick, pull, swim or perhaps a swim, pull then kick or even a pull, kick then swim on ascending or descending sendoff in a ladder sequence at an easy\/hard hard\/easy progression.<\/p>\n<p>My mind goes back to writing those workouts just like I did 30 years ago as a national team coach for USA Swimming.\u00a0 As I return from my mental time travel, I see that all the masters have stopped and are now hanging on the wall waiting for their first set.\u00a0 From years of note taking, I know that the time is now 5:40AM. \u00a0I have probably logged 3000 yards without even looking at the clock.<\/p>\n<p>I lose my concentration and come back into the moment and realize that I am only halfway toward my goal.\u00a0 I start to question myself as I usually get out at this point.\u00a0 But today is special.<\/p>\n<p>I slog through the water trying to get back into a rhythm.\u00a0 I become more aware of the present.\u00a0 Things that I would not be mindful of start paining me.\u00a0 My right shoulder twinges on recovery, so I work on extension and try to recruit different muscle groups.\u00a0 I now realize that my left chin has been scraping my left shoulder for an hour during breathing and I now have chafing there.<\/p>\n<h3>Then The Big One Hits<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cA cramp in my right calf.\u00a0 Damm!\u00a0 Stop pointing your toes Brent!\u00a0 Don\u2019t push off the wall so hard.\u00a0 Straighten your foot.\u00a0 Kick with the toes curled.\u00a0 You can\u2019t stop,\u201d I tell myself.<\/p>\n<p>The cramp releases and then moves to my left calf.\u00a0 \u201cBrent, you are dehydrated.\u00a0 Idiot.\u00a0 I told you to bring water, but Nooooooo!\u00a0 You did not want to stop your swim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cramp stops for now and then I sense one in my thigh.\u00a0 That is a deal breaker.\u00a0 My pace slows to \u201cFirst Aid\u201d speed. \u00a0I deal with it as I send my mind back to high school when I would get huge cramps.\u00a0 We called them charlie horses and I had a stable of them.\u00a0 My coaches did not know about hydration then.\u00a0 We did not have water bottles on deck.\u00a0 If you told me about electrolytes back then, I would have thought you were going to shock me into swimming faster.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know how long my mind travelled in that reflectionary period.\u00a0 But when I came back into the present, I could see blue sky breaking through the gray clouds above as the sun was starting to rise.\u00a0 I knew that I was probably 5000 into my swim by now.<\/p>\n<p>5,000 yards was the maximum straight swim for me in preparation for today\u2019s swim.\u00a0 I was now in new waters.\u00a0 I began to name all the presidents backwards and forwards to take my mind off my swim.\u00a0 \u201cNow did Tyler or Taylor follow Polk?\u00a0 How did Chester Arthur become President?\u201d Grover who?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>I thought about all the greater challenges that so many people have faced over time and those that are having tough circumstances now.\u00a0 I thought about over 500,000 people dying in the United States from covid and the families affected.\u00a0 I thought about the kids locked away from school. I thought about business being closed for good and all the lost jobs.\u00a0 I thought about the recent story of the grandmother being allowed to hug her grandchild for the first time after her covid vaccination and how important that is to all of us.\u00a0 I thought about the declining years of my own mother now 94 and in skilled nursing. \u00a0Her only visits are via zoom calls.\u00a0 I thought about all those hardships around the world and how trivial my foolish challenge of just swimming 6500 yards was at the moment.\u00a0 I realized that there was no distance I could swim that could parallel those that overcome real life challenges.\u00a0 I thought about it all and how petty my personal challenge was.<\/p>\n<p>It was then that I told myself that I could peek at the clock to get this over.\u00a0 If the clock showed I had swum for a straight 1 hour and 45 minutes, I was probably closing in on 6000 yards.\u00a0 It read 6:28AM.<\/p>\n<p>I peeked at the Apple Watch and it said 6,025 Yards.\u00a0 I knew I was there. \u00a0I swam 75 yards to take it up to 6,100 and then decided to swim a 400 IM in my mind.\u00a0 It was one of my college specialties.\u00a0 Mentally, I saw myself back at Eastern Kentucky swimming the first 100 fly. \u00a0I transitioned from fly to back and then to breast even though I was still swimming freestyle.\u00a0 With 100 freestyle to go I was now mentally and physically bringing it home.\u00a0 I hooted and hollered to no one\u2019s understanding as I touched the wall.<\/p>\n<p>I did it because I could for all of those who can\u2019t but should.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/thoughts-while-swimming-6500-yards-in-birthday-suit\/brent-6500-swim-032021\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-464956\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"464956\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/thoughts-while-swimming-6500-yards-in-birthday-suit\/brent-6500-swim-032021\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021.png\" data-orig-size=\"750,1624\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Brent-6500-SWIM-032021\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Brent-6500-SWIM-032021&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy:&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-700x500.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-473x1024.png\" class=\"size-large wp-image-464956 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-473x1024.png\" alt=\"Brent-6500-SWIM-032021\" width=\"473\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-473x1024.png 473w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-92x200.png 92w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-709x1536.png 709w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-300x650.png 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-450x974.png 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-416x900.png 416w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021-533x1154.png 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Brent-6500-SWIM-032021.png 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_464958\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.finisswim.com\/shop\/swimwear\/training-swimwear?utm_source=swimmingworld&amp;utm_medium=web_banner&amp;utm_campaign=springtraining20&amp;utm_term=march2021&amp;utm_content=sw5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"attachment noopener wp-att-464958 noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-464958\" data-attachment-id=\"464958\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/thoughts-while-swimming-6500-yards-in-birthday-suit\/finis-suit\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FINIS-Suit-e1615690720348.png\" data-orig-size=\"300,276\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FINIS-Suit\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;FINIS-Suit&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: FINIS&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FINIS-Suit-700x500.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FINIS-Suit-1024x942.png\" class=\"wp-image-464958\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FINIS-Suit-300x276.png\" alt=\"FINIS-Suit\" width=\"200\" height=\"184\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-464958\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: FINIS<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>PS: Oh! And as far as the \u201cIn Birthday Suit\u201d headline.\u00a0 Well, I want to thank John Mix and FINIS for sending me the new swimsuit for my birthday that I wore (Seen twirling in the lead image for this story.\u00a0 Sorry for the clickbait!) and a new set of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finisswim.com\/shop\/swimwear\/training-swimwear?utm_source=swimmingworld&amp;utm_medium=web_banner&amp;utm_campaign=springtraining20&amp;utm_term=march2021&amp;utm_content=sw5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Smart Goggles<\/a> that became my hidden running clock.<\/p>\n<p>Go out and set a high goal and if you want to win, first help someone else win!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There was literally a new moon on the horizon at 4:45AM as I stood by the edge of the pool.\u00a0 Dark skies, light rain, and 46F degrees of temperature surrounded<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":464789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,9,122607],"tags":[127687,24138,126032,24996,127124],"class_list":["post-464954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-masters","category-swim-life","tag-birthday-suit","tag-brent-rutemiller","tag-covid","tag-finis","tag-smart-goggles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Thoughts While Swimming 6500 Yards In Birthday Suit<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Swimming a straight 6500 is more medicine than workout. 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