I'm thinking the level of anxiety I have leading up to meets, especially championships, is telling me competition is not worth it for me. I wish I could see myself improving through a season so that I can be excited to find out how fast I'm going to race at the end of it. Unfortunately, I'm at that age where I'm only getting slower, and I don't have the technical background to draw upon that some others do. I always feel relieved just after a big meet, but in the months and weeks leading up to one, I have anxiety even going to the practice pool. I dread the fact that I'm facing work, not leisure. That almost guarantees a bad practice. 'Sounds crazy doesn't it? Is it time for me to quit competing? In re-reading my first sentence I'm considering, maybe I need a therapist to help me learn what small reward keeps me going back to something so stressful, or to figure out how to give myself permission to quit. I saw a video on USA swimming in which they mention, Ryan Murphy used to puke before big events. That was a little validating. So how do you forumites manage your anxiety? Or if you don't have any, how did you achieve that serenity?
But for me, that feeling - and the other feelings associated with challenging yourself and then after rising to that challenge - is why I love competing so much. You just dont get those kinds of feelings in every day life.
So true! There is nothing like that feeling of satisfaction after a meet, when you know you did your best in your races (even if it didn't show on the clock). After I hit the wall at the end of my last race, I always let out a WOOHOO!
I always enjoy the conversation around the ribbon table (and in the locker room) at the end of the meet, too. It's so funny! We all have tons of ribbons from the races we have swum over the years at the local meets, but it's a ritual to pick up the ribbon from each race, find the correct sticker for it, and stick it on the back. My husband just laughs at my insistence on doing so, but I pointed out to him that even the best swimmers with tons of medals do it, too! At my last meet, as we walked up the stairs of the UGA pool, I watched a FINA Top Ten swimmer huddled around the table with her friend, looking for her stickers to put on her ribbons. Those ribbons probably just got thrown in a drawer (mine go in a bamboo box that looks like a treasure chest) when she got home, but it's all part of the swim meet ritual. It completes the cycle of training hard, testing your training, and getting rewarded for your accomplishments. That cycle shouldn't end just because you're not a kid anymore!
But for me, that feeling - and the other feelings associated with challenging yourself and then after rising to that challenge - is why I love competing so much. You just dont get those kinds of feelings in every day life.
So true! There is nothing like that feeling of satisfaction after a meet, when you know you did your best in your races (even if it didn't show on the clock). After I hit the wall at the end of my last race, I always let out a WOOHOO!
I always enjoy the conversation around the ribbon table (and in the locker room) at the end of the meet, too. It's so funny! We all have tons of ribbons from the races we have swum over the years at the local meets, but it's a ritual to pick up the ribbon from each race, find the correct sticker for it, and stick it on the back. My husband just laughs at my insistence on doing so, but I pointed out to him that even the best swimmers with tons of medals do it, too! At my last meet, as we walked up the stairs of the UGA pool, I watched a FINA Top Ten swimmer huddled around the table with her friend, looking for her stickers to put on her ribbons. Those ribbons probably just got thrown in a drawer (mine go in a bamboo box that looks like a treasure chest) when she got home, but it's all part of the swim meet ritual. It completes the cycle of training hard, testing your training, and getting rewarded for your accomplishments. That cycle shouldn't end just because you're not a kid anymore!
