I have decided I am going to LCM Nats at Omaha with the goal of having fun.
You are probably wondering why I'd start a thread to announce that;it's because I have never done that before.I have been going to Nationals since 1975 and it has always been with one thing in mind, "swim fast",(by my standards.)This meant that if I met my goal I was happy and if I didn't I was pretty miserable until I figured out how to do better next time.For most of the time the concept of "fun" never entered my mind.A couple of years ago, when Don McKenzie died,Bob Strand wrote a moving account of racing him and one thing really struck me;before the race Don would say "lets have fun."I literally had never thought about racing that way.I started saying it to the people in the next lane from me at meets,mostly as a reminder to me of this truly alien idea(and never before the 200 BR.)
My last taper meet was at The Pacific SCY Zones and I did pretty well there,so I was pretty happy.Right after that I got sick and was out of the water 10 days and I hurt my back so that I couldn't swim BR hard or fly at all.All in all I have gotten about 4 good weeks of workouts in to this point and am ready to "taper".(How do you taper from 4 good weeks.) I seriously thought about not going to Omaha ,since I didn't feel ready to "swim fast." But then I thought ,"If a friend asked you what to do,you'd tell them to forget about times and just go to have fun." I am really not sure how this will work,but I decided to try.I'm not sure I can (I'm an old dog and this is a new trick),but if you see me at Nats and I look different,maybe it's because I am having fun.
I had a wakeup moment in Atlanta after blowing the 100 ***, my focus event for that meet, but not before storming out of the meet and back to my hotel. It was there that I realized I was still in my B70 full body suit and alone in my hotel room, I couldn't unzip it! I started laughing at myself and my behavior as I contorted myself into all shapes to get out of the darn thing. I called home and my very wise daughter reminded me to take the advice I always gave her after a bad swim. So I went back to the pool and changed my attitude to "have fun" and finished out the meet with 2 PR's.
Now I wish I could say I always have this attitude but that would be a lie. But on balance I've definitely shifted my thinking. Now my pre-race mantra is "Go for it, Relax, Have Fun".
I had a wakeup moment in Atlanta after blowing the 100 ***, my focus event for that meet, but not before storming out of the meet and back to my hotel. It was there that I realized I was still in my B70 full body suit and alone in my hotel room, I couldn't unzip it! I started laughing at myself and my behavior as I contorted myself into all shapes to get out of the darn thing. I called home and my very wise daughter reminded me to take the advice I always gave her after a bad swim. So I went back to the pool and changed my attitude to "have fun" and finished out the meet with 2 PR's.
Now I wish I could say I always have this attitude but that would be a lie. But on balance I've definitely shifted my thinking. Now my pre-race mantra is "Go for it, Relax, Have Fun".
