Shaine Casas Working to Stay Consistent, Present in Winter Training with Bob Bowman

The 4M was good. I think I've always been able to do it, I just never really went for it and also trained for it. So now I think with the training background I've had the past couple of years plus this new kind of system, I think that swim kind of represents where I'm at aerobically. Some good front end speed, but there was some really weird quirks with that race. My backstroke was actually slower than another time I've done it, so that was kind of confusing. But then the back half was good, so I'm just learning a lot. I'm just kind of moving past short course worlds. I think this is a good step towards long course. I'm really trying to do 200-400-ish distance to get ready for the long course because it is a little bit more swimming than yards. But yeah, I'm happy, training well, my head's in the game, consistent, it's just a good fresh start for myself. I was talking a lot to Rex, we were going back and forth a lot because we've been chirping in practice. And then I only did it because I was like, I think I can beat you. I was talking all week, so then I decided a couple of days before, I'll do the 4am. The time, it was like a good, I was surprised but also not at the same time. I don't know, it's kind of hard. I'm not trying to sound overconfident, but I thought that was where I was at, honestly. It's a lot of just energy management. I'm trying so hard to think about taking everything in steps, obviously coming off of a disappointing summer for myself and what I thought I was capable of. It's really hard to sit back and think about the big picture, which is LA, because at the same time there's a lot of opportunities in between. I want to be super competitive at those, but at the same time, I'm not trying to burn myself out or lose that fire that I have right now. I think a big part of that is just staying focused and taking it one meet at a time, one week or practice at a time, and just learning from that. All fall, I just was very emphasized on being present, because I felt like I kind of just overlooked the whole Olympics. I was bummed, and then I realized, oh wait, the Olympics just passed, like damn. That kind of hit me, so I have this new shift of just really enjoying each present day. Right now, it's just literally just show up, be consistent, put the, I forget what Bob said, put the penny in the bank or something like that, and just keep coming in, keep doing my thing, and we can reap the benefits when it counts. But yeah, I mean, just right now, just put in the work and enjoy it.