I despise tapering so much, it sometimes makes me NOT want to compete anymore. I feel moody, tired, and depressed and worried about my races because I'm so used to being very active on a daily basis. I remember reading that Laura Val doesn't worry about a taper but the article had no details. Is there anyone else who has been able to perform really well without cutting way back on yardage? I would be interested in hearing what you do.
4)If you do not know 100% that you will perform, then no matter what training/tapering you've done, you will not perform. It's that simple. Any negative self talk will decimate your efforts. You have to be so positively self-focused at meets, and not worry about anything else. I can recall at meets actually sitting behind the blocks and yawning before a race. I got life best times. I was so confident and mentally prepared that to actually swim the race was a mere formality. In the past I have visualized a goal time (100 Br) on the Colorado board and did that exact time TWICE in 2 months. The mind is powerful.
I have felt many different ways during different good races. Usually, I'm happy and lighthearted when I swim well, but I had a serious and distressing conflict with an individual before a nationals recently and got almost all best times. I think where I don't have confidence is about conditions. Cold is what gets me and I lose my confidence under those conditions because I have never gotten a best time cold.
4)If you do not know 100% that you will perform, then no matter what training/tapering you've done, you will not perform. It's that simple. Any negative self talk will decimate your efforts. You have to be so positively self-focused at meets, and not worry about anything else. I can recall at meets actually sitting behind the blocks and yawning before a race. I got life best times. I was so confident and mentally prepared that to actually swim the race was a mere formality. In the past I have visualized a goal time (100 Br) on the Colorado board and did that exact time TWICE in 2 months. The mind is powerful.
I have felt many different ways during different good races. Usually, I'm happy and lighthearted when I swim well, but I had a serious and distressing conflict with an individual before a nationals recently and got almost all best times. I think where I don't have confidence is about conditions. Cold is what gets me and I lose my confidence under those conditions because I have never gotten a best time cold.
