Today is a bad day.

Just as I'm getting to the good part of my dream, I hear an unwelcome ringing that brings me out of my slumber every morning. Some mornings, like today, earlier than others.

I sat there at 5:30am hoping and praying that I didn't actually have to wake up right now. I rolled out of bed and somehow managed to properly put on my clothes, go to the bathroom, and brush my teeth with barely opening my eyes. "Today is not going to be a good day," I thought to myself.

There are certain mornings where you wake up and you feel ready to take on the day. At least make it through half the day until it's time for the highlight: the nap. But today I cannot nap. Today I have to swim, lift, go to physical therapy for a swim related injury, do homework, go to class, go to practice, then do more homework and study for a midterm exam tomorrow. Where do I have time to nap? Waking up and knowing that I can't go back to sleep until 10:00pm the earliest makes it so much harder to get up and moving in the morning.

When the clock hits 6:00am on the scoreboard at the FAC, it's time to dive in. Some days I'm the first in the water. Today, I stalled as long as possible. I really did not want that freezing cold water to touch me and send shivers throughout my body just yet. It was inevitable. I was cold for the first 30 minutes of practice. My muscles refusing to get warm, my mind getting frustrated, my shoulder aching... I was dreading this practice.

The main set went by really quickly. 14 minutes long to be exact. But it was still difficult. I struggled to keep up with the girl in the lane next to me whom I normally have no problem keeping pace with. I could not give this practice my all. I was not mentally or physically prepared. Could it have been from the lack of sleep? Or maybe I was still tired from the difficult practice we had yesterday afternoon? OR maybe it's just one of those days.

That happens often in swimming. You have good days and bad days. If you don't have something positive in your head to keep you going, it's going to be a bad day. I cannot think of why I do this to myself. Why do I wake up early to get crushed by a practice and then have to go back later on that day to get through another one. I'm struggling to keep my goals in check and my attitude positive. I think today is a bad day.