November 18, 2009
The soda can effect
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Homework is starting to pile up. Final Exams are less than 1 month away. You haven't been home in months. All the diving hall food is starting to taste the same. And practice sucks! You're working hard, you're putting forth the effort, but the end result just isn't there yet. You're not performing at the level you want in practice or in meets and it's adding undo pressure and stress to your life. You have 2 choices...you can either focus on what the results are now and see where you want to be later and be discouraged, or you can focus on the hard work you've put in, the changes you've made and realize that your consistency will pay off in the long run.
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This is where the soda can effect comes in. Everywhere has seen winning teams shower each other with champagne. And inevitably, everyone has put their dollar into the vending machine, heard the soda tumble down, open the can and been sprayed all over their face. Let's relate this to swimming. Every day that you train, you are shaking your soda can. The harder and longer you shake, the more pressure builds. You won't to explode out and have a great time in the water, but you just can't. Now you can choose to shake that can of soda for 3 seconds, 3 minutes, or 3 hours. The longer you shake, the more that soda gets ready to burst. Finally, you pop the tab, and BOOM! The soda goes flying in every direction with great power and speed. The pressure is off and it's time to perform. When that soda is inside the can, that is you training your body as best and effeciently as possible. The longer you train, the more the pressure, but also the greater the result. You could shake the can for 3 seconds, not much pressure, not much of a result. But once, that can is open after a long shake, the soda is fast, powerful, and well worth the wait. In swimming you get to pop the tab when you rest. You've put in all the work, let your body adapt, and prepared yourself for the the long term. Once you rest and taper, you get in the water and just like an exploding soda can, you're off and no one can touch you. Those times that weren't up to your expectations were just a stepping stone to greater things instead of a setback. They were just another shake to the can. So the next time, you're frustrated with where you might be in training, ask yourself if you're shaking the can and shaking it hard enough and long enough. And if you are, have faith that soon, that tab will be popped and all your potential for greatness will be unleashed.
Posted by barness at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 13, 2009
These immortal words ring true. You can not fail if you do not try. And you can not succeed if you do not fail. Since our last dual meet on Halloween, the team worked day in and day out at becoming better. But somewhere along the way, we lost sight of our goals and slowly drifted away from the desired direction. We were unable to see ourselves veering off course until Wednesday when we fell flat, fell face first, with a thud against our rival DePauw. The team was crushed physically and emotionally. You can look at the score and see that we failed to win the meet. But that is not a concern at all. What we really failed at was swimming within ourselves and meeting our expectations. While we worked hard for the 10 days leading up to the meet, we failed to realized that we needed to work smart as well. I failed as a coach to see this as well. Mentally, I hadn't prepared the team to swim THEIR races. I hadn't done enough mental training with the team to learn to control our emotions and concentrate on what made Wabash great, instead of what made DePauw great. I failed to set a standard of urgency, creativity, and accountability. It is through these failures and this defeat that we will be able to reach an even higher level of success. The difference in swimming between and elite team and a good team is minimal. It's a turn here, a start there, and the mental fortitude to never back down when facing failure, but rather staring failure in face, slam the foot to the pedal and drive right through to success. We gathered for practice yesterday for a station workout. We had 6 stations and 6 groups. Each station held a purpose and each group held a strong focus. It was one of our best practices of the year. We were able to take a step back and see what changes we needed to make with our strokes, with our approach to the sport, with our approach to our team and our goals. As a team, we realized we are capable of being more, of being better. We saw that the little corrections can lead to drastic improvements. We saw our potential and decided to focus our sights on driving past our potential and to a new pinnacle of success. We will no longer try, we will only do. Even Homer Simpson knows that "trying is the first step towards failure," but what he forgot to mention was that if you're not failing, you're not working hard enough. Failure knocks us down, so that we can pick ourselves up with more focus, more determination, more purpose and consistency that lifts us to success. Our failures will not define us, only give us the character and stamina to better ourselves and each other so that we will appreciate success when we arrive there. When we accomplish our goals this season, this moment will not be seen as a failure, but rather a moment of motivation that directed us to our final destination.
Posted by barness at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 09, 2009
Rivalry
There isn't much for me to comment on about the DePauw/Wabash rivalry and hasn't been echoed by others many times before me. But what I can say is that this rivalry has been good for the team. The guys have stepped up their training, focused on improving themselves, and stayed motivated on a common goal. The excitement continues to rise, the anticipation begins to boil over, and the adrenaline has started to flow. That competitive flame has been nurtured for the past week and has now become a fire. Come Wednesday at 7 pm, the Little Giants plan to put on a show. Getcha popcorn ready!
Posted by barness at 01:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 28, 2009
Pain or Pleasure
Here at Wabash we are starting to pick up the intensity this week in the weight room, during dryland, and in the water. With the increased intensity often comes more pain and soreness. As human beings, often times we see this pain as bad, but is pain really bad? In some cases, yes, pain is bad. Pain can signal that there is an injury or that muscles are breaking down, but these sharp, consistent, throbbing pains often are the result of an injury. But often times swimmers have a hard time distinguishing between injury pain, and what I call "hard work" pain. Pain is as much psychological as it is physical.
Swimmers often view pain as bad, but maybe if swimmers viewed pain as productive or pleasureful different results would occur. I remember swimming the mile for the 1st time, around the 800 mark, I started to get a dull throbbing pain in my stomach. I told myself to shut up, don't stop, and work harder. Around the 1200 mark, my arms started to hurt, so I went to my legs. Once I touched the wall after the 1650 mark, my legs, stomach, and arms all were in pain. Then I looked up at the clock, saw a best time and the pain was gone. I think that moment changed my perception of pain. From that point forward, whether it be in practice or at a meet, I would try to find that pain threshold and push it further. Every time I swam the mile after that I couldn't wait for the burning pain in my stomach to hit me.
To me this signaled that I was working hard, and that I was on pace for a great time. Pain became something I searched for instead of something I hid from. There have been studies done on marathon runners and pain. Most of the best marathon runners in the world find pain to be a pleasureful experience instead of a harmful one. That is the mentality that all great swimmers need to have now. If you want to get better, and you want to reach new heights, you can't hide from hard work. You can't find from pain. Instead be aware of your body. Be aware of good pain and bad pain. Be physically tough. Be mentally tough.
So the next time, you jump in the pool and you have a threshold set, lactate set, hypoxic set, or anything that will cause some painful discomfort, don't back down. Push yourself harder. Search for more pain. Don't worry; be excited. Make sure that you become comfortable being uncomfortable and you'll see that the strides you make are more than you could have imagined.
Posted by barness at 03:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 15, 2009
Get Out Swim or Get Up Swim?
It was 4:04 and we had just finished our team meeting talking about the practice schedule for the rest of fall break when Evan Rhinesmith told me he was gonna do a get out swim and go 1:00 in the 100 breast. I liked the idea and told him that I'd cut out the 2nd half of practice if he did that. We finished warm up and I pulled everyone out of the water. The team started to buzz, cheer and rejoice when they heard the deal. Some were even so confident to say that it was a done deal before Evan jumped up on the block. The team rallied. Guys on both end the pool. Guys on both sides of the pool. Music cranking, guys screaming. Rhinesmith plunges to the wall...59.99 (and if he didn't glide it would have been 59.6!) Everyone goes crazy. Now a novice woudl believe they went crazy because they got out of a part of practice. But I believe they erupted because they saw a teammate get up and raise the bar. It was at that moment I saw the team get infected. No not with the swine flu, but with confidence, with pride, with courage. Next Adam Current tried a 50 fly (24.7), Eric Vaughn busted the 100 fly (54.3), Chad Woods blazed a 1:52.9 in the 200 free. David Birrer tossed his hat in the ring for a 1:59.61 in the 200 fly. Then Vetor thrashed his way to a 47.99 in the 100 free. Alex Beck even came within milliseconds of breaking the 50. barrier in the 100 free. We even had a 200 Medley Relay clock a 1:39.7. It starts with one practice, and sometimes it starts with one person, but confidence and attitude can be infectious. Today the team didn't get out of practice, they got up and raced with confidence. If we can go to every meet this year with the same confidence, swagger, determination, and pride that the team infected each other with today...well we'll let the results so you what will happen. Get Infected!
Posted by barness at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 07, 2009
That's What I'm Talking About
FAST SWIMMING INDEED!
51.9 from Vetor on a push
59.4 back from Evan Rhinesmith for a personal best, and a 54.5 free as well
55 freestyles from Sanders and Beck, as well as a 56 from Woods!
Adam Current only 5 seconds off a PR in the 200 back with a 2:16...and going sub 2:20 on a 200 fly.
Fozkos breaks 2:00 in the freestyle...and Kermin gets close to sub 2:00.
Everyone got up and posted some times today! That's how we get it done!
Posted by barness at 06:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Swimming Fast!
We're in the middle of our 3rd week of practice and the team is adjusting nicely. As everyone knows, practice and swimming is more fun when you are able to get up, race, be competitive and knock out some fast times. We've had that over the past few days, and it's been very promising. On Saturday, David Birrer popped off a 2:03 in a 200 Butterfly lactate set (just dominated!). Craig Vetor and Robert Fozkos clocked a few 22s in their 50s as well. Yesterday, after complaining about another Tuesday kick set ( a morning where he had to do 20 x 25s on :20!!!) the team egged Chris Kermin on to to a get out swim. He was reluctant, but got up for a cold turkey 100 free. Chris rocked a 51.2 which was great. What was even better was to see the team get behind him. There was a lot of encouragement from the guys, and lots of jumping up and down as Kermin was on his pace for more than 75 yards. I hope we keep that going today as we get ready to blast out 6 fast 200s or 6 fast 100s. Confidence and positive attitudes are infectious and lead to happier swimmers and in turn better, faster swimmers! I'll update everyone with how the set goes in a few hours.
Posted by barness at 04:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
