Training Blog Week 1 - Staying in the Quiet
- Jace Morgan
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
What's up peeps, It's week 1 of training for my epic SUP (Stand Up Paddle) Expedition from Lake Wawasee to Lake Michigan.
If I am being honest with you, I was nervous to start this week.
Three months of offseason will do that to you. Even when you stay active, even when you keep lifting and moving and doing all the right things, there is something different about stepping back into structured endurance training. It feels like standing at the edge of something big again. You know how demanding it is going to be, physically and mentally, and you cannot hide from that reality.
This week marked the beginning of Block 1 of the Follow the Flow training plan. On paper it is labeled foundation and mental tolerance. That sounds simple. It is not flashy. It is steady Zone 2 rides, aerobic swims, core work, short easy runs, long mobility sessions. Nothing heroic. Nothing dramatic.
But I knew exactly what it meant.
It meant the quiet was over. The offseason comfort was over. The real build had begun.
The night before the first long bike, I caught myself thinking back to the start of Lap the Lake. Not the day of the swim. The months before it. The moment I decided to stop talking about it and actually train for it. That same weight sat in my chest this week. Not fear of failure exactly. More like respect for the work ahead.
When you have already done something hard, you understand the cost.
The first ride was ninety minutes steady. No surges. No coasting. Just smooth pressure and patience. It felt awkward at first. My legs were fine. My lungs were fine. But my mind kept asking, Are you really doing this again? Are you ready to give up the comfort of normal life for another big goal?
That question lingered longer than I expected.
During Lap the Lake training, I learned that the hardest part of long endurance work is not the peak effort. It is the sustained attention. It is choosing not to distract yourself. It is letting the mind settle into repetition without trying to escape it.
Block 1 is designed to put me right back inside that space. Three to four thousand yards in the pool at easy aerobic pace. No big intervals. No race simulations. Just long exhale underwater, stroke after stroke, flip turn, repeat. There is something humbling about returning to base work after you have already proven yourself. It reminds you that fitness is rented, not owned.
I remember swimming around Wawasee and thinking halfway through that I was glad I did not rush the base phase. That swim was not built in the final weeks. It was built months earlier in quiet pools when no one was watching.
This week felt like laying bricks again.
Midweek there was a steady ride described in the plan as uncomfortable but sustainable. That phrase stuck with me. Uncomfortable but sustainable. That is the edge where big goals live. Not in all out efforts. Not in collapse. Just below panic. Just above ease. Sitting there for seventy five minutes, I could feel the gap between offseason fitness and where I need to be. It was not dramatic. It was subtle. A little more strain in the breathing. A little more awareness in the legs. Nothing alarming. Just honest feedback.
And instead of letting that discourage me, I tried to respect it.
The long ride at the end of the week stretched past two hours. No music. Just wind and rhythm. Somewhere around the halfway point I imagined sections of the route. Turkey Creek narrowing and bending. The Elkhart River winding through towns. The St. Joe pulling everything north toward Michigan.
One hundred forty miles.
When you say it out loud, it sounds irrational.
But I have learned something about big distances. They only feel impossible when you look at them all at once. When I swam seventeen miles around Wawasee, I didn't think about seventeen miles. I thought about the next buoy. The next shoreline bend. The next feeding stop.
This week was not about proving anything. It was about reintroducing myself to discipline.
The fear I felt at the beginning of the week was not weakness. It was awareness. I know how demanding this will be. I know the early mornings and the fatigue and the mental strain of doing long steady work when no one is cheering yet. I know the doubt that creeps in during hour three of something repetitive.
But I also know what happens when you lean into it.
There is a moment during every endurance build where you decide whether you are going to train for the idea of the goal or the reality of it. The idea is exciting. The reality is structured. It is patient. It is sometimes boring.
This week I chose the reality.
I showed up for the bike sessions. I swam the yards. I did the core work even when it felt small. I spent time on mobility instead of chasing extra miles. I treated this first week not like a test, but like a foundation.
Lap the Lake taught me I can suffer. It proved I can go to dark places and keep moving. But Follow the Flow feels different. This is less about dramatic suffering and more about sustained steadiness. Paddling for hours through shifting currents will not reward spikes of intensity. It will reward calm efficiency.
Block 1 is about building that calm.
There is something grounding about starting again. It strips away the hype. It reminds you that nothing carries over automatically. Every big goal demands fresh commitment.
By the end of the week, the fear had shifted. It was still there, but it felt different. Less like anxiety and more like focus. The kind of focus that says, This is going to be hard. And that is exactly why you are doing it.
This paddle does not start on the water. It starts here. In steady rides. In quiet swims. In choosing discipline over comfort.
Week 1 was not dramatic. It was honest.
And that is exactly how I want this journey to begin.
Next week, the volume increases slightly. The comfort decreases slightly. And the real test begins when repetition stops feeling new and starts feeling normal.
We are back in it now.
Thanks for reading,
Love you all!
Jace
Become Part of the Crew!
If you have been following along and this journey resonates with you, there are a few simple ways you can support the effort and become part of the crew behind Follow the Flow. This paddle is from Lake Wawasee, just north of the continental divide, to Lake Michigan and is a massive undertaking. It takes months of training, gear testing, logistics planning, and a lot of community support. The goal has always been bigger than just the paddle itself. It is about telling the story of where our water goes, educating people about the watershed that connects our communities, and proving that ordinary people can take on extraordinary challenges when they commit to the process.
If you want to help fuel the journey, the easiest way is to check out the Follow the Flow wish list. It includes some of the gear and logistics items that help make the expedition possible. Every item crossed off that list brings this mission one step closer to the water.
Another way you can support the journey is by picking up a copy of my book Beyond the Buoy. That story came from swimming seventeen miles around Lake Wawasee and learning what happens when you push past the limits you thought defined you. Every book purchased helps support the training and preparation behind this next adventure.
You can also grab some Follow the Flow or Beyond the Run merchandise. The gear helps fund the project and it also turns the journey into something bigger than just one person on a paddleboard. When people wear the shirts or hats around town it becomes a conversation starter about the rivers, the lakes, and the incredible watershed we are lucky to live in.
However you choose to support it, just know that it matters.
This is not a solo effort. It is a community project built by people who believe in adventure, storytelling, and protecting the water that connects us all.
So if you want to be part of the crew, take a look at the links below and jump in.
We are just getting started.
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