That subject line should be self-explanatory. Particularly when running, I count…1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Then I repeat. It helps with my cedence, helps keep the speed up, and keeps me from thinking about work/problems, etc. And I try to focus on one aspect of my form–usually the foot strike and toe off.
When biking, it is counting but the number goes higher than 8. There is no particular stopping point, except it can’t get too high or it is hard to squeeze it out in the right amount of space, and I focus on my cadence/pedal stroke.
Swimming, I just find myself counting and wishing it was over.
Also, I try to do the count on the weak side, because I believe that countingcauses me to accentuate the effort on that side.
Hmm… I’ve never counted anything during a race or training. I do, however, actively think about different things during each event.
Swim: Breathing and stroke length. Am I stretching out as far as I can? Is my breathing controlled? Am I swimming as straight as I can? Can I please find some friggin’ clean water here?!?!?! I really hate the first turn at the buoy. If everybody would just swim, we wouldn’t be packed so tight here, guys! Move it! I gotta get on my bike!
Bike: Oh man. my favorite part of the race. I’m focusing on PRing my time from the last race usually. So I’m motivated by that thought. Or, I’m thinking, am I going as fast as I can and still run off the bike. Sometimes I go too hard and blow it for the run, but nobody has a faster bike split when that happens, so not all is bad. Or, how many can I catch and pass in the waves in front of me? How’s my form? Am I as aero as I can get? Don’t need any help with motivation on the bike.
Run: How’s my breathing? Controlled? DO NOT look at your HR monitor! Am I running as fast as I can? If not, run harder. Leave nothing on the course. And I’m thinking, your competitors are coming up behind you, RUN FASTER!!! How bad do you want to place?
Breathing, for running, 1,2,3,1,2-three steps out, two steps in; Swimming, alternating sides, and bicycling watching out for traffic and self imposed TTs… 5-20 mile blocks within the workout distance.
In training, I generally day dream and I actually like getting outside “the present.” I train as much for mental health as physical and letting my mind run is something I love about training.
In race mode, I think of myself as some sort of machine and I’m just monitoring the systems - kind of like driving a car or flying a plane. It’s kind of weird but my consiousness is not “doing” the event but monitoring something else that is doing the event. I don’t literally think of myself in the 3rd person but it is kind of like that. I alsways have a plan including a pace in mind I want to hold and I know how I want to feel both in terms of technique and perceived exersion along the way and its just a matter of fiddling with the controls to keep it in the sweet spot as much as possible.
The best performances I’ve had are like driving down a straight highway. You get to the end and you don’t even remember most of it.
The worst races are like lossing an engine and having to kick my brain into “emergency mode” so I can run throught the check list, get the ship in the best order possible and limp home without crashing and burning.
Anyway, I tend do have dissociative thoughts during training and associative thoughts during racing. Elite athletes have associative thoughts in training and racing. Recreational athletes is the other way around.
DFL, I also generally count with the beat falling on my left side as it seems to make me feel more ambidextrious.
If I’m wearing ear muffs, (DecibelReductionRation of 30, where every 6 decibels is a perceived doubling in sound intensity) which I occasionally do to block out external noise, I can hear my heart beating very clearly. At that point I put my breathing in rhythm with my heart rate, and this tends to bring my heart rate down slightly. Once the breath and heart rate are in sync I get the cadence in step with the breath and heart rate as well. After those three are in harmony I began to play a little game with my eyes. When the breath is fully expelled my eyes are closed. As I inhale I slowly open my eyes until they are fully opened at the same time I have a full breath. As I exhale they slowly close, until at one brief point they are completely closed. I think many people would be surprised to see how uncomfortable they are, and how crooked they move while their eyes are closed. It’s actually pretty difficult to walk, run, or bike a straight line with eyes closed. It’s also very difficult to get all four of these in sync and KEEP them that way for an extended time, but when I do time seems to stop and it makes for an exhilirating experience. Another thing to note is that I try to not move my eyes at all. Instead I find it puts my mind in a powerful state, whether it’s alpha or a low level beta, if I gaze off far into the distance and let my focus be on my entire peripheral vision.
In the pool… count the pools you have left, focus on technique, think what you should be doing…
In running… count the time you have left, focus on technique, watch the chick that as just passed by, …
In cycling… try to do the ABC with the car’s plates. Like this… first… you look for a A… then for a B… when you are over… do it backwards… only the car in your lane counts… if you use a plate from a car in the other lane, you are disqualified… hehehe
In racing… if you have time to think you aren’t going fast enough…
In transition area… visualize what you have to do before actually doing it…
In the bathroom… think what are you dumping… is it breakfast? or lunch?
After Paula Radcliffe broke the marathon record in London in 2003, she said that all she thought about when she was running was counting her steps. Every time she got to 300, that was another mile done. It seems to work for her…
Swimming - Focus on stroke technique that’s probably why I lose count when I get to 2.
Biking - My mind wonders
Running - Focus on foot placement and cadence. To work on cadence I normally sing to myself songs with a fast beat. I used to be a counter, then moved to inspirational songs.
DFL, I also generally count with the beat falling on my left side as it seems to make me feel more ambidextrious.
If I’m wearing ear muffs, (DecibelReductionRation of 30, where every 6 decibels is a perceived doubling in sound intensity) which I occasionally do to block out external noise, I can hear my heart beating very clearly. At that point I put my breathing in rhythm with my heart rate, and this tends to bring my heart rate down slightly. Once the breath and heart rate are in sync I get the cadence in step with the breath and heart rate as well. After those three are in harmony I began to play a little game with my eyes. When the breath is fully expelled my eyes are closed. As I inhale I slowly open my eyes until they are fully opened at the same time I have a full breath. As I exhale they slowly close, until at one brief point they are completely closed. I think many people would be surprised to see how uncomfortable they are, and how crooked they move while their eyes are closed. It’s actually pretty difficult to walk, run, or bike a straight line with eyes closed. It’s also very difficult to get all four of these in sync and KEEP them that way for an extended time, but when I do time seems to stop and it makes for an exhilirating experience. Another thing to note is that I try to not move my eyes at all. Instead I find it puts my mind in a powerful state, whether it’s alpha or a low level beta, if I gaze off far into the distance and let my focus be on my entire peripheral vision.
I can’t tell if yuo are making sport of me, or you are really that weird.
I imagine I have a control room in my brain (vision of mission control) The mission controller keeps polling the various departments for go/no go decisions. For example, if I am coming up to a hill that I may want to push up, the mission controller will take a poll: Quads, Go/ No go? Quads respond: Go for hill. Stomach? Go/ No go? Stomach responds: Go for hill. Lungs . . . You get the idea. If somebody calls a no go, we have a debate.
I swear this only happens during workouts.
I alternate that with counting. Running I will count up to a couple hundred. On the bike, I count cadence per minute. Swimming does not get much counting, but I keep looking at my stroke from my happy place.
