What My Swim Coach Taught Me
Lessons Learned Between The Lane Lines
The Birthday Tradition That Started It All
My high school swim coach had a birthday tradition that stuck with me long after I graduated. He swam for the University of Michigan, so was very hardcore, and his coaching style reflected that.
Every year he swam his age in the 100s. When he turned 40, he swam 40×100. If he turned 45, he swam 45. Before our practice he was almost done and when we arrived we would cheer on the final laps. It was simple: show up, count the laps on your own until you were done. No bragging, all personal.
When I Turned 40, I Made It My Own
When I turned 40, I decided to follow that birthday tradition. By then, I started my transition from Multisport to Ultra running. I was training for my first 50-miler, so instead of 40x100s, I ran 40 miles. That first year, indoors on the treadmill (those miles count) because of the blizzard that swept through Fort Collins, CO.
The birthday challenge became a personal ritual for me and now for athletes I coach.
Every year since then, I match my birth number to whatever I was training for. Distance. Time. It was something active based on the number of my birth year. Running 50k (43 miles) swimming 45x 100 + biking 45 miles+ running 4.5 if I was training for an Ironman. Since turning 50 and fully transitioning to Ultras, my birth number now = elevation gain.
In 2022, while preparing for the Georgia Death Race, I climbed 4,900 feet running Kennesaw Mountain repeats. The next year I pushed it to 5,000 feet at Fort Mountain State Park.
In 2023 I fractured my patella. Suddenly the big running birthday challenges weren’t possible. Instead of miles or elevation, I returned to the pool and swam my age in the 100s again.
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The Quiet Power of Swimming
That’s the quiet beauty of swimming. It’s the sport endurance runners can turn to when injured. The water supports you when your body needs support. The effort can be hard, but the impact is low. When running or riding isn’t possible, the pool is still there.
This month I turn 53. During the month, I will celebrate with 53x 50s in the water, another day climb 5,300 feet of elevation, and an added personal twist: 53 minutes of movement each day throughout March. Balance hard and easy days, because consistency over youthful heroics effort matters.
The Real Lesson My Coach Taught Me
The influence of my swim coach: it turns out the lesson was never about the number. It was about learning to keep moving, no matter what lane life puts you in.
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Wendy Mader has been immersed in endurance sport since her Division I swimming days at Eastern Michigan University and has raced triathlon since 1992. She prefers the training over the spotlight of race day. With a master’s degree in Wellness Management, where her research examined eating disorders among triathletes, she brings both lived experience and academic insight to the conversation around performance and health. Hee decades of experience navigating setbacks, she coaches athletes to chase growth, she believes longevity, not metrics, is the real measure of success. As founder of t2coaching, she guides ambitious athletes to execute, think long-term, and stay in the sport for life.
