5 Ways to Make it Through the Pain

    Yesterday I competed in the United States Masters Swimming Long Distance 5K Postal Championships.  This national event takes place in pools all across the country.  Each swimmer has a lap counter/split recorder that clocks each 100m time (it’s a LCM race) and the overall elapsed time to be submitted to USMS for national awards and recognition.  I found out about the event last weekend at my swim meet and decided it would be a great way to prepare myself and determine pacing for my Ironman swim in less than 2 weeks.

Pretty tired after the 5k swim

    The 5K distance consists of 100 Laps in a long course swimming pool for a total distance of 5000 meters.   And yes, I know that is a LOT of pool laps.  But, the Ironman swim portion is only 2.4mi so I knew that if I could successfully complete the 5K swim, I’d not only feel more comfortable about the Ironman swim, but I’d also have a better idea of race strategy. 

    In all, the swim took me one hour and nineteen minutes to complete.  For the most past, I was able to swim straight through it having to stop only occasionally to fix my cap or goggles or to confirm how far I had swam.  It was a challenging but informative experience.  The race was very monotonous.  But, from that monotony, I was able to reflect upon how to approach a race like this in the future and how I should approach my Ironman race mentally next week. 

1)      Know that the race can be done and has been done before.  Although long distance races are exceptionally challenging and may cause you to question your ability to finish, find comfort in the fact that others, like you, have completed this race before.  Although the task at hand may seem impossible, it’s obviously not.  Others, some probably in even worse shape than you, have crossed that finish line or have touched that final wall in the past.  And, if they can do it, you can too.  Granted, my Ironman, Ironman New York City is a brand new race so technically NOBODY has completed it before.  But, there are comparable, if not more difficult courses/races out there.  The race creators did not design this race to be impossible.  They did not mock you when you registered for being a sucker.  No, they instead created it with every intention of having every participant finish…including you.

2)      Remember that you’re not the only one suffering.  When the doubt starts to creep in, look around you and see that you’re surrounded by people going through the exact same physical torture as you.  Fuel your own willpower by drawing off the willpower of your fellow competitors.  Do you see that old person besides you? Do you not think that they are hurting inside? Do you not think they aren’t struggling mentally?  They are.  In fact, even the fast young competitor that breezes by you looking composed is also hurting both mentally and physically inside.  They key is, they just don’t show it.  So let those people inspire you and power you forward.  Find camaraderie through the pain that you all feel. Use it to drive yourself forward and know that others are looking at you to do the exact same thing.

3)      If the overall goal is too daunting, make smaller, more attainable goals within. Swimming 100 laps is a lot for a person to mentally handle.  Try counting your laps from 1 to 100 and there is no doubt that you’re going to lose track. Instead, break up the big picture into smaller pieces.  Yesterday, instead of counting to 100, I broke the race up into tiny pieces.  I counted to ten knowing that each time I hit the number 10, I had completed a 500.  But, instead of being scared knowing that I would still have to count to ten a daunting TEN times, I broke it up into smaller pieces once again.  I counted to ten three times knowing that I had swam a mile.  I counted to ten three more times and suddenly I was already up to two miles.  And, at that point I was already more than half-way done.  By the time I counted to ten three more times, I was practically finished.  My mind had barely had the chance to be overwhelmed by the big picture because I had kept my mind focused on just completing the smaller, very doable, mini-goals I had created for myself.  Every race you do can be broken up into pieces.   Set your mini goals to reaching the next buoy in the water or breaking up a run into 5k pieces or even just having yourself set on reaching the next aide station.  Set these mini goals knowing that they’re easy and totally attainable, and have a mini celebration inside each time that you finish one.  Before you know it, you’ll be only one mini goal away from reaching the end of the whole race.

4)      Force yourself to Smile.  No matter how miserable you are, no matter how much your body hurts, forcing yourself to smile will pull your focus off of the pain and will re-remind your mind of just how much you love what you’re doing.  Smile at the photographers. Smile underwater.  Smile on your bike every once in a while for absolutely no reason even though you probably look like a weirdo.  When you feel yourself getting tired or frustrated, just smiling will immediately relieve the tension and get you re-focused on your goal. 

5)      Let yourself be in pain.  Ultimately, know that if the race doesn’t hurt, then you’re not doing a very good job.  The race is supposed to be a challenge no matter how good of shape you are in.  Do you wish that you had trained 10x harder? Well, if you had, that doesn’t mean that the race should hurt any less.  That just means that you would have had to push yourself a little bit more to get to the same level of pain.  This is a race and it is not supposed to be easy for anybody.  Push yourself hard and know that it’s supposed to hurt.  That’s the whole point of doing the race in the first place.