Swim the WHOLE way

It sounds like a relative short distance, the 2.4 mile swim of an IM event. It's just 12, 100 feet, 4000 meters....but in the water that is a fairly long distance. Up till last Friday, I hadn't swam the whole distance in one session. I started to feel very nervous about the distance...my mind started to run away from me....what if I couldn't finish the swim, what about cramps, what if I trained for the bike and the run and never got to either of those events, and a million other doubts. I guess at this time in the training for an IM event, everybody starts to feel tired, edgy, constantly asking yourself questions whether you have trained enough yards, miles, etc or gone long enough and an hundred other doubts. I decided to put an end to all of that... I usually do my swim work on Friday evening in the YMCA pool which is 25 meters.... and 2.4 miles is a 160 laps..back and forth. I don't like running on a treadmill and swimming in a 25 meter pool is just like swimming on a treadmill...so I went to Mary T which has a 50 meter pool and is a different venue and a change of scenery. Once i got started and found my rhythm the 80 laps came relative easy in 1 hour and 50 minutes...another goal and fear accomplished and conquered. Let move on....