Updated: We are back to some basic Aerobic Training today. Let's balance out all the high-intensity swimming we've been doing with a strong, descending set of IMs!
More details are below the picture.
We started the day with a group discussion. The goal of the discussion was to offer the athletes a few key tips to staying healthy and getting the most out of their athletic, personal, and Family life.
I felt like the discussion, which was 45 minutes long, was important and effective.
We talked about THREE things we should do in the quest to stay healthy:
Health Tip #1: Get more sleep. We discussed things that sometimes get in the way of getting a good night's sleep (schoolwork we've waited too long to do, social media, etc).
Health Tip #2: Eat healthy. Limit processed, fried, and fast foods. Eat veggies and fruits everyday along with the basic four food groups.
Health Tip #3: Control Stress and limit stressors. Stress can come from any area of life, at any time. Swimming shouldn't be an "everyday" stressful thing. There may be some stress, at times, but when one thinks about swimming and considers their place in the sport, their first thought should be about excitement and accomplishment -- and possibly thoughts about the Team as a whole that are positive.
Tip #3 continued: I need athletes to understand that my words and my coaching are meant to help them 100%. There should be no question about my motives -- to create a team of fast, tough, hard-nosed athletes who do not back down from anyone or any challenge. I am working on my presentation as its received by the athletes, and I expect the athletes to work on their reactions and their thought process when getting coached as well. We are all in this together!
When athletes do not feel as if they are in a good place in the eyes of their coach, their parents, or their teachers at school, they become more and more stressed as the situation remains continually unresolved in their minds. With this said, part of our discussion about Tip #3 (Limit Stress) had to do with feeling comfortable with our coaches and our evolving (and hopefully continually improving) method of communication.
As far the practice went yesterday, although we got in the water later than usual, we managed to complete the main set for the most part (we made a slight change to the set on the left side). As we got closer to the start of practice, I heard more about people getting sick and feeling ill, so I was a bit on the fence about going through with the written workout. We have had a rough month of sicknesses and I think our immune systems are in defense mode right now….so in other words, I decided that going 5000 yards instead of 7000+ was ok for today. And we could use the talk about handling sleep, nutrition, and stress!
Between Thursday and Friday of this week, we are going to have two days in a row of lower volume training (we will do the usual Friday today, which is normally 5000-5800 yards). My hope is that our immune systems go to work and we can get healthy this weekend!
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