Mental Training

 Recently, I've spent a crazy amount of time reading about running, running form, shoes, training, nutrition, tapering, tempos, intervals and the like--this is because (obviously) I want to improve my running.  Strange though.  I suspect each of us humans on the planet that were gifted with the appropriate appendages have known "how to run" since shortly after learning to walk.  Why then so much time spent re-learning?  Without question, the answer is because we stopped doing it.

Unless you're a career criminal running from the cops (or a professional athlete) there are few careers that demand constant practice in this sport. I submit then its lack of practice in the endeavor that results in so much drama (trauma) for those of us trying to re-enter the sport.

This brings me to the basis for this post:  swimming.  I've been swimming and have considered myself a swimmer since before I knew how to ride a bike.   Growing up in California and being blessed by having a pool in my backyard as a kid--I've spent a bunch of time in the water.  I swam with some club teams and even spent a time on the high school swim team.  I was never great compared to my contemporaries, but I wasn't horrible either.  This, I think, is why I was so frustrated Sunday.  my cardio is excellent due to my running, and yet I could barely manage two laps before feeling like I would sink.  I couldn't time my breathing--heck I couldn't figure out how to breathe.  NOTHING felt natural.  I eventually gutted-out 500 yards, but I needed help.

I put some time in researching swimming.  Specifically, freestyle techniques.  The most revolutionary idea revolved around the concept of the age-old saying about the shortest distance between two point being a straight line.  Because of this, your arm-strokes should resemble an hourglass to lengthen the time/distance your hands are pulling through the water...  I also learned how far to have your head in the water (hairline--unless its receding,) the importance of rotating your body and why the standard flutter-kick isn't great for endurance swimming because of the amount of energy needed to execute it.

The last few days were spent visualizing time in the pool--telling myself its not about how fast you can go (at this point) but how long you can go, just like my running.  Tuesday, I put this in practice and swam 1000 yards without stopping.  That was forty laps (not all of them pretty) at a go, compared to two laps previously.  Success!  This afternoon I plan to swim for 30 minutes and hope to get 1,500 yards in before taking a break.