At the beginning of a new year, people often become introspective, looking back at the year they just experienced, and looking forward to new goals they hope to achieve. For a swimmer who finds themselves in the middle of a demanding training season that starts in the Fall and lasts through Summer, the beginning of the new year is just another part of what can be a monotonous training schedule, broken up by the excitement of championship meets every few months.
In our first blog posts of Behind the Blocks: Training for Trials, our athlete contributors voice their thoughts on the grueling holiday training period, staying focused, and gaining some perspective as they head into the next stage of their training.
Amanda Kendall: LSU / Mason Makos (Fairfax, Va.)
“Having another coach watch my strokes, someone who knows me really well, is always an added bonus to any practice. Plus getting to train more “yardage based” workouts is always a nice change from focusing on sprint workouts most of the time. One of my favorite things about being on a long break is that I literally get to eat, sleep, and swim. There is no worry about missing any school work or going to class…”
[Keep reading Amanda's blog post...]
Michael Flach: South Carolina / FISH (Annandale, Va.)
“As most of you who are familiar with the sport probably know, the day to day life of a swimmer can be exceedingly monotonous and sometimes downright boring. So instead of abrading you with my day to day training and putting you to sleep with my countless sets and workouts, I thought it would be more rewarding if instead I recapped some of the more exciting and meaningful events of my busy swimming week…”
[Keep reading Michael's blog post...]
Bradley Phillips: Virginia / Curl-Burke (Herndon, Va.)
“We have been practicing twice a day with a mix of swimming and weights/dryland sessions. Our head coach, Mark Bernardino, has spoken a lot about the importance of mental toughness during these practices. If we can focus and push ourselves to new heights, our team will be able to reach our goals we set at the beginning of the season. The constant mental and physical intensity of the onslaught of practices can be mind numbing…”
[Keep reading Brad's blog post...]