www.nytimes.com/.../19best.html
I believe the principles stated in thiis article will be helpful for improving performance across a spectrum of activities (not just sports). And I recall that some of the techniques mentioned in the article have been advocated in other posts.
See you in the water,
Philipp
I'm sorry, but I hate these kinds of articles. They imply that elites have some sort of mental ability to ignore pain through sheer will-power, and that this is the reason they are great. It is no secret that most successful athletes are incredibly driven -- and that this is one part (but only a part) of why they are great -- but mostly I call BS.
There are some good points in the article. The idea of a successful athlete being "in touch" with his pain and using it as a guide for proper pacing is a good one. I think you need to listen to your body during training and during a race, and I think that athletes who are more "in tune" -- pay more attention -- to such feedback will do better.
I believe that's where Allen is going with his post. I pretty much do exactly what he does: pain is information, it is important only in that it slows you down b/c it can signify that your muscles will become less efficient (and your stroke mechanics will probably also degrade).
The point about race duration made in this thread is a good one too. I think the proper focus and mental state (not to mention things like nutrition and warmup) are far more important than some sort of mystical ability to "push past pain."
Dealing with pain -- paying attention to it, pushing past it, whatever -- is, I think, more important in training than in racing. (The article does talk about this aspect of "pain management" too.)
Just my opinion, of course.
I'm sorry, but I hate these kinds of articles. They imply that elites have some sort of mental ability to ignore pain through sheer will-power, and that this is the reason they are great. It is no secret that most successful athletes are incredibly driven -- and that this is one part (but only a part) of why they are great -- but mostly I call BS.
There are some good points in the article. The idea of a successful athlete being "in touch" with his pain and using it as a guide for proper pacing is a good one. I think you need to listen to your body during training and during a race, and I think that athletes who are more "in tune" -- pay more attention -- to such feedback will do better.
I believe that's where Allen is going with his post. I pretty much do exactly what he does: pain is information, it is important only in that it slows you down b/c it can signify that your muscles will become less efficient (and your stroke mechanics will probably also degrade).
The point about race duration made in this thread is a good one too. I think the proper focus and mental state (not to mention things like nutrition and warmup) are far more important than some sort of mystical ability to "push past pain."
Dealing with pain -- paying attention to it, pushing past it, whatever -- is, I think, more important in training than in racing. (The article does talk about this aspect of "pain management" too.)
Just my opinion, of course.
