My training load has picked up recently. After last season I've committed to be serious about next season and have laid out some goals. I feel like I'm starting all over again, which isn't 100% true as I have years of racing experience and training under my belt.
I'm committed to following the plan I've written out for myself and following some general nutrition guidelines which have worked well for me in the past. The elimination of grains and processed foods has already impacted my energy level. I've considered hiring a coach and have talked with one in particular. I've only used two coaches in my 20 years of racing (one for less than a month) but I keep telling myself that if I want different results I need to train differently. A different perspective may be good for me but I digress........
I've felt a bit sluggish lately in the water. In fact, I feel like I'm swimming with a piano on my ankles. I can't get my hips up and have been falling apart in the middle of sets. Some of this is attributed to the weight lifting I have been doing but the form issues baffle me. I asked Matt Beck, my masters coach to look at me this morning. I moved done 2 lanes from where I normally swim because I had convinced myself I had lost my form and needed to slow down to concentrate. I arrived 20 minutes early to masters and did drill work until the beginning of practice. We started the set and again I felt sluggish. No feel for the water, my arms fatigued and I felt like I was dragging myself through the water. About 20 minutes into class Matt looks at me and asked me if "I think about putting my fork in my mouth when I eat or do I just do it". "I just do it"..... QUIT THINKING AND JUST SWIM..YOU KNOW HOW TO SWIM...NO GO... And with that my issues were solved.
As athletes we tend to over analyze and create issues in our mind. I manifested an issue in my head that wasn't there based on a couple of poor swims. The reality is, poor workouts happen and I coach people on this topic all the time yet I failed to realize it myself. Thus the need to consider someone else to chart my path.........
My mantra for the day became, Don't think, just swim........It was that simple.
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3 comments:
Glad your thinking about hiring a coach. Someone once pointed out to me that the
top 50 @ Kona are knowledgable enough to self coach, but if any of them did they
wouldn't be top 50. Athletes need an unbiased view. U see how I pretend like I
know what I'm talking about? Even a fool can be right on occasion. LOL.
Sometimes you just have one of those days. I've been having alotta those days recently!
Just gotta push through and train.
Why not have your wife train you?
Thanks Jay. Kathy is training for the Tucson marathon now. We have been doing a little running together lately but she is doing her 20 mile runs and I'm at 6. One of my goals is to get back to the shape where we can work out together again. I'm confident by the summer we will be back to where we were in 2004 when we trained side by side for Canada (and we finished side by side as well)
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