Stoked!

I've made it to the end of December and met my exercise goals. I consistently kept to my 2.9 mile jog loop and didn't overextend myself. I'm still injury free! With swimming I met a similar goal. I've been swimming my 1000 yards nonstop consistently. Both goals I met ahead of schedule with the plan to take the next step in January.
In case you haven't noticed, January is here with a vengeance. In fact, we're well into the second week of January and I've been having trouble deciding how to proceed to the next level in my swim and run.
But the decision making process is behind me now. Last Saturday I went for a long jog. I jogged four miles. My goal was to finish. I set out at a pace I felt I could keep up all day and just had fun with it. I was happy for two reasons. First; I was able to finish. Second; my average speed wasn't all that much slower than on my short run. And last night on my short run I smoked it! It's very encouraging when you see improvement. So in summary, I now have a long run and a short run with the goal to do each during a week.
Now on to swimming. Being more clueless on how to improve in swimming, I didn't really know where to start. I didn't even know how or where to begin researching online. But today I approached the main, morning lifeguard at the pool. I thought I had overheard that she is a swim coach. When I approached her, she confirmed that she is a swim coach and was more than willing to help me! She suggested I begin with some kick exercises. Perfect. I have my next step in my swim progression. She also mentioned that when I take my breath that I stretch out too much and that I should keep my core tighter while swimming. Great! How cool is it to have a coach who is analyzing my swim technique and willing to give me advice and pointers? I'm stoked.