Ande has done a great job of having all the various physical aspects of swimming covered but I need help with the mental aspects.
I'm really struggling with negative self-talk while I'm swimming. It feels like there's a huge jumbo-tron in my brain and messages are just running accross it non-stop while I'm swimming:
'Give up'
'ease up'
'quit'
'breaststroke's coming up, why not stop?'
'you suck'
I'm having trouble getting this stream of consciousness to stop. Not only that but I feel like such a fraud with my kids when I'm coaching. I stand there and tell them to get tough mentally but I seem to have the mental fortitude of a Krispy Kreme.
Not being able to 'get out of my head' seems to only happen when I swim.
Help?
Parents
Former Member
Paul - some ideas:
1. Try running. Or some other non-swim endurance activity. Cycling, elliptical, stairmaster, whatever. Work hard, do intervals, ladders, etc. Alternate with swimming. You'll need mental toughness to push hard at an unfamiliar activity. Getting back in the pool will feel like coming home.
2. Get a SwiMP3 or something similar. Music may give you some added motivation and distraction from random thoughts.
3. Mix it up. Pick some new stroke or distance that you've never done and work on that. It's likely you'll show steady improvement, and the motivation may spill over to your other training.
Kirk - whenever I am forced to work out after work due to schedule or just plain laziness in the morning, I find that a snack and some caffeine about an hour before the workout helps to keep my energy up. Like you said, I always feel better after a workout even if I didn't want to do it beforehand. I try to remember that and use it to convince myself that it's worth doing.
Paul - some ideas:
1. Try running. Or some other non-swim endurance activity. Cycling, elliptical, stairmaster, whatever. Work hard, do intervals, ladders, etc. Alternate with swimming. You'll need mental toughness to push hard at an unfamiliar activity. Getting back in the pool will feel like coming home.
2. Get a SwiMP3 or something similar. Music may give you some added motivation and distraction from random thoughts.
3. Mix it up. Pick some new stroke or distance that you've never done and work on that. It's likely you'll show steady improvement, and the motivation may spill over to your other training.
Kirk - whenever I am forced to work out after work due to schedule or just plain laziness in the morning, I find that a snack and some caffeine about an hour before the workout helps to keep my energy up. Like you said, I always feel better after a workout even if I didn't want to do it beforehand. I try to remember that and use it to convince myself that it's worth doing.
