The days are creeping to darkness quicker, the air is full of crispness, with the pool water feeling colder than it ever has. Waking up in the pitch darkness has a way of playing with ones mind let alone heading to evening practice in the gloominess of a long gone sunset. For the everyday swimmer it is a true test of their commitment to just get to practice.
The anticipation of the new swim year has dissipated, the mindset of achievement is replaced with the realization that the goals set are still far away, and the task to their doorstep remains daunting. The body aches constantly reminding us of the continual routine of asking it for more. Lessons become clock countdowns, the minutes ticking by ever so slowly from lap to lap. Focus wanes, and educational demands increase as finals approach. Our friends enjoying down time not afforded our schedule demoralizes the spirit and spirals amazing sets into garbage yardage.
That person who clips your heels, or splashes water down your throat as they kick is more antagonizing than ever. The lanes feel tighter and less spacious yet stretched beyond their normal length. The coach is a relentlessly demanding task master whose unyielding expectations border on preposterous.
Yes, the Dog Days of swimming have descended upon the average club swimmer.
The enlightened amongst us seizes an opening at a time when others have plunged into the psychological abyss. It is shrewdly a moment to step up the attentiveness to details and the dedication to performance by remaining focused and capitalizing where others recede. A leader instinctively pounces on those moments when they can gain an edge, un-discriminately callous to the afflictions affecting their peers.
The Dog Days of Training, the opportunity awaits the true Champion
