Day 75: Mental Toughness

Our minds are powerful tools. It can help us get through anything just about anything. This is one of the reasons I find endurance training/racing so fascinating. We literally push our bodies to the point where even our minds start to deteriorate and tell us not to go any further. But with a little bit of will power you find yourself willing your mind to take it even further. This is what I consider to be mental toughness, the ability of using your mind to get through things even though you have some mental (and physical) reservations.

One thing that has stuck with me during all this training is when someone was trying to alleviate stress from people worrying about race day weather. He said "you can't control the weather or the course itself, all you can control is your mind." Its such a basic concept but we take it for granted and I think its applicable not only to racing but also our daily lives.

6:00AM

Team Swim

Today's swim was challenging mentally. The main set consisted of 150s at a Zone 4/5 effort.

Swimming distances between 150 and 300 are kind of tough for me because I'm afraid if I go too hard I'll wear myself out. They're almost like running the 400 or 800 in track. Just like those run races you have to be mentally disciplined in setting the right pace for yourself and also holding it as you get through the last 50. Challenging stuff!

Nutrition

Consumed 2827 Calories - my eating pattern is still erratic. I think I can get my diet under better control if I eat at the same time every day.