I Am All About FUN

This might be a rambling post about a bunch of seemingly different topics due to the fact that a big portion of my training has been done indoors. I have had a lot of time to think and daydream while "hurting" myself on the trainer, in the pool or running on the treadmill. In fact, I really look forward to my training sessions because I get to have some good daydreams---it is amazing the things I have accomplished inside my head this week. However, I actually think dreams can help shape reality so I am all about "over-achieving" while rocking an interval workout on the treadmill.

First topic---FUN. We all have different definitions of fun. When I first moved to Chicago my fun (or what I perceived as fun) involved late nights, club-hopping and wearing very high heels even during the winter months. Now, not so much. I actually put on a pair of my old "going out" shoes before my husband's work Christmas party and wondered how in the world I used to wear them out dancing?!?! I am surprised I did not break my ankle. Needless to say, I was really tempted to wear a pair of birkenstocks to the party but I found a pair of boots with very low heels that were semi-approriate (barely). My definition of fun has certainly taken a drastic turn from my early Chicago days. I go to bed now when I used to get ready to go out and wake up before I would come home. I am the complete opposite of what I used to be! I enjoy starting the day with a tough workout, relaxing afterwards and following it up with another one or two workouts later on in the day. The feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming when I log my workouts for the day. We recently had one of the swimmers come into the office and say that training was not "fun" for her right now. However, her definition of fun seems to be a little different than mine. She thinks the social aspect of swimming is fun. Laughing with her teammates, cracking jokes, acting silly. I agree, that is fun. That type of fun needs to be balanced with my type of fun. So, as a coach, I am trying to make it fun for her by cracking jokes and giving her tips about swimming in a not so serious way to disguise my real motive---to make working hard fun for her. I hope it is working.

Second topic---Coachability. I have found that it is hard to coach an athlete that does not allow themselves to be coached. I think that in order to improve you have to believe in what you are doing and be willing to give up control. Now, that does not mean that you should not ask questions about the training or what the purpose of certain things are in your daily workouts but once the reasons are explained you should just DO IT as asked by your coach. I have athletes with the "grass is always greener" type attitudes. It is becoming paralysis by analysis. I think that having a coach can be liberating because you do not have to think as much about the who/what/why questions. To do that you must BELIEVE in the program that has been developed for you. Every year I sit down with my coach to go over the previous year and talk about training and racing for the upcoming year. After that, he comes up with a plan. Of course, we talk via skype or email a lot but once he knows my goals I let him do the work in planning a course of action. I trust him and then I get to just do the work. I give him input on a daily basis about how the training is going and he tailors the plan for what he thinks I need.

Third Topic---Jersey Shore. When we were at the Fort Lauderdale Airport on January 9 to fly home from our training trip a few people on the team ran into Snooki. Apparently, she is a very small person. I bring up the Jersey Shore because I was watching it while riding the bike the other day and I got a bit disgusted with what was going on. I acknowledge this is about the trashiest show on TV right now, but I felt like it hit a new low last week. One of the cast members, Ronnie, sucker punched a guy knocking him out cold. Awful. What really irritates me is that the cast are the hottest thing right now. They are getting paid boatloads of money for appearances and I feel like they are getting rewarded for terrible behavior. I am not afraid to say it--"the situation" is not a good guy. I would not want to hang out with him. I do not find him to have any redeeming qualities what so ever. He might grow up and change but his bad behavior is opening a lot of doors for him presently so there is probably no incentive to become more mature. He is always on the hunt for women and I think his job just got a lot easier since being on the show. I do enjoy trashy TV while riding the trainer but I think Jersey Shore is off the list now---I do not want to feel like I am condoning that type of behavior.

Last thing: My horoscope said that Pluto is reminding me that I will never achieve what I want if I do not focus on my goals so I am going to make sure to focus and find a purpose in each training session. Sounds like fun to me. I am probably a couple standard deviations away from normal as far as fun is concerned but what is normal anyway? My hunch is the Jersey Shore is not normal.

Here's to good daydreams in the training sessions to come :)