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.