Teach me some mind games...

SwimP3 made by Finis Best money I've ever spent for swimming. Loads and charges through your USB port and holds about 2.5 hours of music and will go over 3.5 hours on a full charge.

I agree! I just got my SwimP3 player for Valentine's Day from my husband. Now I listen to music as I swim, and I don't want to get out of the pool. Last night I swam for over an hour hardly stopping and could have kept going. One more song... one more song.... I've been swimming for almost 20 years in the same old pool, and I usually do the classic sets and workouts, timed intervals, etc. I swam for 4 years with the high school and age groupers (while in my 40's). Last year I trained for a distance open water race and loved it, although the time spent doing the distance in the pool could get grueling. Not really boring, but the counting and spelling words and phrases out to keep count of laps got old. I have not tried counting laps since getting the player, so don't even know how many yards I did last night. But I felt like I was dancing the whole time, even flying.

Well, FINALLY! I know I have posted about questions as to how to quiet my mind during long swims (up until this weekend, my long swims were only about 2 miles), but now I at the 4-mile mark or in that vicinity; working my way up to 18 miles. I have always have an overactive brain and suffer from boredom or too much thinking along the way. I think my brain is learning to finally quiet down on its own. During my 3+ mile swim yesterday, I realized that I had NO thoughts whatsoever after the 2 mile mark. I had been waiting for something like this because if I don't think, I automatically swim BETTER; it's like being on cruise control. We all approach great distances so differently and I am relieved that I know that I can finally swim on automatic and let my brain rest because at some point, I will need it to kick in and help me when situations arise for miles after the 5 or 10 mile mark; at least something will be rested!!! donna

1-2-3-breathe 1-2-breathe 1-2-3-breathe what the f was i thinking signing up for this breathe ... :dedhorse: I thought this during every (all 3) 400IMs I've ever done, both 200 flys, and now even 200 frees ... So you are all nuts and amazing. The ONE time I swam a mile I just zoned, sang, thought about the rest of my events, what I wanted for dinner, solved some of the worlds problems, etc. When I ran a lot I thought of all sorts of things, I did choreography in my head (I did gymnastics for a long time and would choreograph beam & floor routines), basically anything other than swimming ... during my MRI last year I tried to go through every season of Friends and think of the first and last episode of the season, I'd think about what I wanted to but at the grocery store, Nordstrom, Target ... Just relax and let your mind wander ... don't think about anything ... Oh, and Morgan, sprinting is better! :agree:

I agree with the zen thing. With the sensual deparvation, it's really easy to focus on very small things and just enjoy that. I often work through things one at a time. So you can do many, many yards/meters just looking or feeling how your right arm enters the water... then the left arm, then how few bubbles you can make, the shape of your pull, your roll, your wake, your body position, that thing that's moving like a snake next to you, :) the position of your head, where you really would have told your boss to go yesterday, how the water feels today.....hmmmmmmmm

I agree with Paul. As he knows, I work through issues in the pool, sometimes as i swim it's like my day or whatever is a reel of still photos. as i swim they move until eventually they move away and it's all about how you're moving in the water. if in the pool, i may focus on one thing every 50 yards, or 100. since i come from the TI school i'll focus on slipping my hand in the water, rotating to see how weightless my recovery is. before you know it, it's zen and there is no thought but the movement of the swim! :)

I like to turn off my mind for awhile, it is comforting to all of a sudden realize you were swimming for an hour or more. I have to constantly talk and interact socially for work, so the anti-social side of me comes out underwater. I had an MP3 player, but the ear plugs kept coming out. But that open water rythm of stroke, the glide and serenity makes me wish I would have started it along time ago. So dont think of anything, try it.

hey everyone, it's awesome to see how many responses this thread is still getting. I got an mp3 player for my birthday, gonna try it out this week. I have a hard time thinking of nothing. I am a writer and ADD so I just have a constant rush of thoughts in my head. Unless I'm doing interval sets I have a REALLY hard time just thinking about swimming or thinking about nothing.

Yes this is a good thread. As we hear, distance training is about 80% mental?? I thought you all might appreciate this that I found in the book Haunts of the Black Masseur by Charles Sprawson: "The swimmer's solitary training, the long hours spent semi-submerged, induce a lonely, meditative state of mind. Much of a swimmer's training takes place inside of his head, immersed as he is in a continuous dream of a world under water. So intense and concentrated are his conditions that he becomes prey to delusions and neuroses beyond the experience of other athletes." Neurotic and delusional - yep, that can happen!

I lose track of how many laps I`ve done due to going into the "zone". I`m thinking of getting some sort of lap counter. Does someone make such a thing?