Mind Games

I am now in my fourth week of "training to train." I would have thought by now that the swimming would be getting a little easier. But, alas, it is not. I still go out and flop around in the pool like an idiot, hoping that the master's guys in the next lane aren't laughing too hard at my form. I have been trying to do my drills as well as work on some sort of endurance, but I just don't remember it being so hard before. I suppose it may be because in the past, all I've had to worry about is surviving 400-600 yards. It is a bit more daunting thinking about 4200 yards! All my pool time hasn't been a total waste though. It has been great for me to just get used to being at the pool twice a week, whether I like it or not. And I've somehow suddenly learned how to breathe to my right side. I've always been a left side (only) breather. Every time I'd try it in the pool, I'd nearly kill myself from sucking in a mouth full of (nasty) water. Somehow this year it's been much easier. Of course, I'm still so freaking out of breath while swimming that I can barely make it 3 strokes between breaths, so as to alternate which side I breathe on... I guess my only choice is to keep on working on it and be thankful for the little goals I am achieving along the way to the big goal next September.

One great thing I have found at the pool is that I swim on the same days as one of the guys from the tri club. Brad is a multi-time Ironman finisher and did Wisconsin again last year (his second or third time). He has been very encouraging to me all along and he keeps asking how my training is going. Little things like that are a big help in the grand scheme of things!

I've been pretty tired the last couple of days so my runs haven't been that great. I ran outside on Sunday afternoon in the spitting rain and wind. The only good part of that run was that it wasn't very cold. It was a mentally tough day to run, so I have started to work on my mental game during the run. I have found it is pretty difficult to keep my mind on the task at hand when my body doesn't really want to go. An old trick that I use for running up hills is to keep repeating the alphabet backwards as many times as I can til I reach the top. It gives my mind somewhere to concentrate while my legs just do the job of running up the hill. One I just read about (and that has been helpful so far) is for when you just want to stop and walk. The book says to convince yourself to keep running for the next 10 breaths you take, then see if you can keep going for 10 more. Let's just say that Sunday's run involved both mind games... but they did their job and I got it done!