Introducing the "wetronome"

Today was a relatively short session in the pool as I had to get home for my daughter's birthday and some cake - it was delicious!  It was a pyramid session which is never easy and as I was nearing the end the coach put a "wetronome" under my swim cap.  Basically it beeps every time you should put your arm in the water and therefore you can pace yourself easier.  What a fantastic piece of kit.  I only used it for 100m but it certainly seemed to smooth everything out including my breathing.
In the next few weeks we will be getting filmed under water and our stroke analysed.  I have had this before and the "video nasty" is tucked away in a dark corner of my mind.  We all have an impression of what we look like in life whether walking down the road or swimming.  Seeing it close up in slow motion can shatter that illusion, it did with my swimming, but again the secret is mindset.
I don't kid myself on in the pool.  I only have to watch the swimmers overtake me and leave me for dead to realise my stroke is not as efficient as theirs.  But that doesn't mean I can't work at improving my stroke so that I exit the water having exerted less effort and therefore have more energy for the bike and the run - remember in Ironman that's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run!
Perhaps this is something we should all do in our life i.e. step back and reflect on what we are doing, why we are doing it and is it taking us in the direction we want to go?  That of course assumes you know where you want to go.  My motto is "A goal without a plan is just a wish" - reflect on that as you go through your day.  Have a good one.