What am I trying to prove?

Where land meets water, an invitation lingers, not just between elements, but between versions of yourself. You could remain on shore where it's safe, familiar, predictable. Or you could cross into the unknown. Shannon I'm Shannon Keegan, and this is Stories from the Water, where we dive into the courage it takes to begin, the resilience that keeps us moving forward, and the wisdom that only emerges in the space between. Hello. Welcome back to Stories from the Water. I'm Shannon Keegan, and today I'm going off script, trying to think if there's been an episode that I've done off script. I can remember one several years ago, but it's been a very long time, and I'm observing in myself the comfort I have of just inviting someone on to be a guest and just being the person that asks them questions, but not always showing up myself. So it's something I'm working on, and here I am today. It's come up in a few of my conversations lately with guests about how did this whole podcast thing get started? So I just wanted to take a minute to take you back in time to one of the early episodes of what was originally Virtual Swim Practice, where the world had shut down in March of 2020. And I just had a small network of people I'd been coaching or swimmers that I knew and just invited them to jump on a zoom call with me. And we tried visualization. I think I showed up once in a cap and goggles and I didn't really know what I had to offer, but I knew it was helpful to be connecting with people. So I had a brainstorm to see if people would answer some questions that I maybe had in myself about what my motivations were as a marathon swimmer. And I thought I'd invite people on as guests. And lo and behold, people said yes. And they answered my emails and they made time out of their day to join us. I think we were meeting at like 5 o' clock in the morning or something on Tuesdays and Thursdays that first year. And it was definitely a buoy for me through the pandemic, for sure. After a few months of this, I started getting questions by email from people like, hey, I've heard about this thing that you're doing, but it's the middle of my nights because they're in the other side of the world. I don't know. Is there, you know, can you share a recording? And so I thought, well, gosh, I've got this audio recording. It seems like there's some way I could share this. And I just looked up, well, how do you. How do you make a podcast? And there that was how the original Marathon Swim Stories was born. Just that need for to share what the stories which I knew were gold. This was people's origin stories. How they got motivated was taking the people who we, you know, idolized and wanted to be like and being able to see ourselves in their stories so that we could than maybe try something that we never wouldn't have otherwise occurred to us to try. And that is something I've tried to preserve. I've tried not always not been great at it all the time, but I've tried to let people's stories be what leads the way for them to unfold organically and not to lead with somebody's accolades or accomplishments or their resume. I really want us to be able to see ourselves in them. And if we see what they've done, we might be like, oh, I'll never be able to swim across whatever. And so we might not listen. Not that we wouldn't listen to that story, but I didn't think we would have the same maybe response as you would if you were just listening to somebody's story and you could hear yourself in their story like, oh yeah, they also, you know, did swim practice or when they were 10 and they, you know, tried triathlon or what have you. And so that's something I've tried to preserve. But as the years went on, I think it's been. I think it's been six years, maybe almost this month, since what was Marathon Swim Stories was first released into the pod universe. And over the years, people would reach out to me and I was surprised that they maybe hadn't ever even heard of marathon swimming, but they were looking for guidance in pursuit of swimming longer distances themselves. And it helped me over the over time and hearing this from people, it made me realize that the word marathon and the name maybe would filter it out from some people's radar, right? They maybe wouldn't even think to listen to it. So I went into last year. It had been on my mind for quite a while. But last year it really occurred to me. I really wanted to open the name up to be more inviting for anybody who was curious about stories from the water, which is how that name got updated. And I wanted to also, just in the work that I do, I coach adults toward marathon events. I coach kids just looking to learn all four strokes. I teach lessons to kids that are brand new to the water. And I have conversations with the parents of those kids. And it through These connections and relationships and this just understanding I've been building of our human relationship with the water, it's made me want to help people understand that where other people are coming from. Which is why I've invited guests on who maybe have had stark fears of the water for years and maybe haven't gone on and swim long distances. And so I'm curious to hear from you what stories from the water means to you. I have obviously my personal motivations and of wanting to inspire people to find out what they're capable of in the water is what I've always held in my heart leading with the story. But I'm curious what stories from the water means to you. And if you were a listener of marathon swim stories and continue to listen, I'd love to hear what's kind of changed or shifted for you, if anything has changed or shifted. So if you're willing and able, I'd love if you just dropped an email to Shannon trepidwater.com and let me know what's what's up for you. When it comes to listening to this podcast, I also thought I'd take a minute in this episode to discuss kind of what's for years has felt to me like a kind of smattering of offerings that I'm trying to really bring under one umbrella. And the stories from the water, the podcast being kind of the leading edge of that and the people out there who find this podcast and maybe come to me for some instruct. I also have events like swimbound, which was a five month virtual coaching experience that ended in a trip to the island nation of Dominica. I had some guests, previous guests who were part of that adventure and I'm also looking to do a houseboat based experience without the virtual coaching piece of it this fall in August, if that's something you're interested in. Spots are extremely limited for these, but it is an amazing opportunity to not just find out what you're capable of in a very safe container and learn from other people and learn also about yourself and your body in the water, which is the heart, I think, of what I teach. In my community, the Water's Edge, we explore topics beyond the workout because the workout is the measure of performance and I think that that can take us a long way, but I don't know that it sustains us. Which is why I talk with my swimmers about having a practice and yesterday in our monthly Q and A, we spent time talking about how we could bring more fun into our practice because some of our swimmers are Feeling a little bit of pressure because their events are starting to come up now that it's already June and some other big long events are coming up and they're feel, feeling this pressure to meet cutoff times and show up at the pool. And so those are the kind of conversations that we have at the water's edge. And I would invite you to find out more. There's always a link in the show notes to find out more about the water's edge. And then I also have my subscribed swimmers who I coach one on one toward their specific goals where we do a lot of video analysis and we get practices each week and we talk about those both as a group each month, month. But then also individually I have one on one calls with them. And so this whole kind of arc of my instruction is starting to feel more, starting to feel more like I have an umbrella and that the work that I do within that with my swimmers is contained. I think for a while it felt like I was just kind of all over the map. And so that's feeling really good. As I go into my older years, you might recall I swam twice Now I've attempted 50 miles for my when I turned 50 two years ago in September. And I think going into this kind of second phase of life, it is really what it is and wanting to, you know, with a 9 and an 11 year old, I'm, you know, wanting to live health as healthfully as I can through all those years. And I know that the go, go, go kind of I got to do more necessarily going to be the thing that gets me through. So I've been trying to find a practice that is sustainable that will sustain me in my life as well. What I was doing, where I would do these big buildups to having a biggest swim and then kind of having almost a phase of depression and not really wanting to show up at the pool afterwards. Really wasn't feeling like it was working with my life and fortunately discovered the swimastery way, which is the method that I teach now. And it's been really cool to see since 2021 was when I started. So coming up on five years of this swim mastery technique, understanding that with honing my joint safe movement patterns I can not only be safe in my joints so that I can swim for the rest of my life, but I also am able to swim as far as I want to whenever I want. And that's been hugely, I think, I think I'd say liberating almost just because the pressure isn't on And I've really been able to engage and love the process, which is very new for me. If you've heard my episode last year with Tracy, after my double memphre attempt, I've just started to really appreciate that to cut the time out for myself to do the movement. The movement being swimming, walking, hiking, running, because all of it's important to me. I love swimming, I love the water, but I love just taking my dog for a walk first thing in the morning, too. But it's new for me to actually cut that time out for myself and honor it and not let my other demands, whether it's making lunches for my kids or getting my swimmer sets out the door to really honor that for myself. That's still a growth opportunity, but it's just something that I've really come to appreciate. And in, I guess that's kind of takes me to. The last thing that I wanted to mention was just that in this kind of new love I have of the process, I had a recent opportunity to swim across the Mayan Channel. You maybe caught that episode last year with Orlando, the Mayan Channel Swim association, and they're doing a great job getting this event going. And it was just an unfortunate opportunity that when I showed up, there were some administration changes with the Port Authority and they weren't able to get my permit in time. And if I could have just stayed a couple more days, I would have been able to swim, but it just wasn't going to happen for me that time. And while I envisioned what it would be like, I hear all the time from people I talk to about the Dover coaster and the English Channel and think about all the work that people put into preparing. And I felt like I had done that too. I'd been showing up at the pool more than I ever had. And I had been committing, you know, to practice the things that had been uncomfortable for years past. I was really confronting and putting myself in. In that practice to maintain my. To maintain my, again, joint safe movement patterns. Is. Is what's. What's. What it is for me in this moment in my life so that I could still swim at speed and swim for distance. And this Mayan Channel swim was feeling like a really great, like, see how this was going opportunity for me. And then when it kind of dissolved away and it wasn't going to happen, there was some, definitely still some sorrow and some grief there. And it was just. It was interesting just to sit with those feelings and acknowledge what was going on for myself and to feel the pull to like oh, well, then what's next? I've gotta sign up for something else and even to hold on that and maybe not necessarily jump at it. I think I did sign up for a swim within a couple weeks. But it's put me in this very kind of interesting place with my swimming of knowing that I have this capacity and knowing that I'm in this place in my life that feels full and rich. And I'm so grateful, but wondering, you know, am I still trying to prove something? So I thought I would just share that with you today. I'm wondering what that's what it's like for you in your swimming. And again, I'd love to hear from you. Shannonntrepidwater.com and I think that was the main things I really wanted to talk about today. I just do want to say that I know there's a lot of things out there pulling for your time and attention. And the fact that you take time out to listen to me broadcasting from Talent, Oregon, out there to the into the world. I just really, really appreciate it. And so thank you for your time and your attention. And if you would like to share your story on Stories from the Water, please reach out to me. Thank you. Thanks so much for spending part of your day here listening to Stories from the Water. I know there are thousands of things vying for your time and attention, so the fact that you choose to be here to tune into these voices, these experiences, truly means a lot. Stories help us understand ourselves, connect with others, and make sense of this wild, beautiful world. They're more than entertainment. They're lifelines. They're bridges. And sometimes they're the spark that keeps us moving forward. If this episode spoke to you, if it made you feel something or see things differently, I'd love it if you left a review on your podcast provider or shared it with someone who might need it, too. That's how these stories ripple out and reach the people who need them most. Until next time, take care and thanks for listening.