Getting over a bad performance

Sunruh, I was in your heat for the 500 free. I guess I can take some consolation in knowing I was in a fast heat and didn't come in last! that's a great upbeat!!! in my motorcycle racing i very rarely win (and havent in years), but i've never been last! i talked with Jeff and Ricardo about that race, all 3 of us thought it was bad for different and similar reasons.

You swam a gutsy race and probably would have lost if it was a 550! I would never bet against Mr Unruh. He is an unbelievable racer.

... it is how you react to it that defines you. I was not good at handling bad swims as a kid. When I came back as an adult, one of the promises I made to myself (in addition to NO MORNING PRACTICES! and not to be yardage-driven), was to get over it before getting out of the pool. More concisely, Leave it in the pool. Admittedly, it's not always easy.

Periods of good days rely on the bad ones. It seems like there is a great deal of luck, timing and individuality at meets down to the lane your in

I was not good at handling bad swims as a kid. When I came back as an adult, one of the promises I made to myself (in addition to NO MORNING PRACTICES! and not to be yardage-driven), was to get over it before getting out of pool. More concisely, Leave it in the pool. Admittedly, it's not always easy. Probably the best idea so far. And yes, it's most certainly not easy to do. ElaineK and PWB, I like the idea of swimming some different events. I started swimming the 200 fly last year because I never swam it as a kid, and it always seemed kind of intimidating. So now I can say I'm swimming harder events in my old age (47) than in my youth! Just to get myself off my butt, I just entered my club's local long course meet, swimming a lot of new events. Also entered a local open water swim, as I'm doing Ironman Boulder in 3 months and I want to see if I can continue my streak of winning the swim split in my age group (done that in my last 3 Ironman events). Starting to look at this past meet as my personal Pearl Harbor- time to fight back on the long road to victory!

i talked with Jeff and Ricardo about that race, all 3 of us thought it was bad for different and similar reasons. I swam in the next heat so I had a pretty good view of yours. Erwin swam a controlled race, but probably thinks he let the leaders get too far ahead at the 200. Hobson and Valdivia gave it a good shot, but couldn't keep up the pace on the back half. You swam a gutsy race and probably would have lost if it was a 550! Obviously you were hurting on the last 50, but you had enough in the tank to get the job done and that's what counts. I thought it was a great swim.

I would never bet against Mr Unruh. He is an unbelievable racer. Actually you're right. Erwin was coming on strong, but he was just as strongly not going to relinquish his lead.

The bad performance I had this year was narrowed down to the turn . In the 50, when you are caught and passed in that short portion of the race you know that is the problem exactly!!! in my 100, the 1st turn was so horrible that i went in 1/2 a body ahead of everybody but matt and came off 1/2 a body behind. when the first words out of one of your competitors (no names, but it was mark cox :D) says to you, "what happened on that 1st turn?" yeah, it *IS* that bad! those are easy to pick out. when you grind away on a 1000 and come up 2secs off....i'll blame the very hot sun and boiling water on thursday. clearly those both vanished by saturday and sunday. however, neither of those makes it easy to swallow. when we had usms nats at clovis in '09 i wanted revenge on that city. big time. at the '87 pan am trials there most of my team and most from socal all got some stomach bug. woke up the day before my race with the room spinning and ready to vomit at any point in the day. never swam so bad at a big meet in my life till then. and 22 years later i wanted to take that bad meet from '87 out of my mind...still have issues with that. i dont really forget about bad swims...i tend to remember them quite vividly...maybe helps me not do the same the next time...even it that spans decades of retirement.

Take comfort in the fact that you didn't fly from Florida to swim poorly (you look like you are from Ca). This too shall pass. As we get older sometimes we're just happy to finish the race. I have years when I just don't bother with competing - the joy is in the getting there for me, not always in the race. Let's hope you just plain old enjoy swimming, for swimming sake :) Yeah, I flew from Georgia to California for Summer Nats. in Mission Viejo and ended up "racing" all of my events with a dislocated rib. :censor: My times were HORRIBLE, because I was just trying to survive my races. "Racing" them was out of the question, because it was too painful. I had a blast there anyway! There were so many positive take-aways from that meet that I look back on it with all smiles. :D Trident, do try to remember the fun times you had at the meet and focus on those. Did you make any new friends? Did you enjoy Santa Clara? Did you get to see Nathan Adrian race? :banana: Were you there when the ducks took a bath in between 200 breaststroke heats? :lmao: I wasn't there, but King Frog (Allen Stark) made me LAUGH when he mentioned it in another thread. I have firmly made up my mind that no matter how I race in Montreal and Maryland, I am going to fully enjoy and treasure the experience. Hopefully, you will make up your mind to do the same at your future meets. Good luck! :cheerleader:

Listen to the advice of the blue one. The second and third one's are really key to getting over a bad meet. If you don't have friends or make new friends around you, you spend too much time thinking about the bad swim. Friends(new and old) help put a bad swim behind you really fast. :smooch: (My, how times have changed. I never thought I would be throwing that Smilie your way! Thanks, Wookiee!)