Running and Powerwalking!

Running and Powerwalking!
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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

How I got over my fear of the water

We often hear that time goes by fast when having fun. Well I have to agree. It's been 2 weeks since my last blog. During those two weeks my training has been going well AND I'm having a blast!
I am staying focused on the training program Tom Holland, Ironman Athlete and Coach for MMRF, has provided, but with a few additions. I am training for the Ottawa half marathon on Sunday, May 29th, so I have to include more running, both short and long distance.

I have also included 1-2 yoga classes per week for core strengthening and flexibility and 2-3 times a week of visualization. Why visualization?  Because it works! I have experienced first hand it's amazing benefits and I will always include visualization as part of my training. Here's why.

I am very fortunate that swimming is my strongest leg of a triathlon. I was born a fish and I absolutely love swimming as often as I can. But for some reason, as race day approached in last year's Lake Placid Ironman, I started to experience anxiety attacks in the water. I found it challenging to get past two lengths in the pool and forget about swimming in a lake! I would start to hyperventilate as soon as I started.

I had no idea what caused these attacks and it started to impact my training tremendously. I was only 4 weeks away from race day and I was PANICKING! So I decided to think outside the box and called someone I met professionally through business contacts and whose services I had used in the past. I called Donald Currie, Hypnotherapist and NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) Therapist based in Toronto, ON.     http://www.donaldcurrie.com/

Donald was someone I enjoyed working with and I liked the fact that he knew me personally and professionally. So I didn't feel embarrassed sharing with him that I had suddenly developed a fear of swimming! I booked 4 sessions with him by Skype, since I no longer live in Toronto, and we worked together over a course of 3 weeks to try to eliminate my fear before race day.

Coincidentally, while Donald and I were working together, the Pan Am Games were occurring in Toronto. One evening, I watched one of the free style races and I was blown away by the athletes technique, form, speed and the way they breathed! Thanks to the high tech cameras used to film the events,  I was able to see how the swimmers were breathing under water. I shared this with Donald during one of our sessions and immediately he asked me to describe in great detail what I saw and how it made me feel. From my description, he incorporated visualization techniques that included visualizing myself as one of those swimmers. He also sent me several audio tapes to listen to every day that would help bring these visualizations to life. Slowly, I began to incorporate these images into my swim training and finally I started to think, swim and breathe like one of those athletes!

The night before race day, I went to bed early and listened to one of his audio tapes (my favorite one) not once but twice!  I literally visualized the whole event from the time I got out of bed to crossing the finish line! The extreme details I was able to incorporate into my visualizations was remarkable. I could actually feel myself swimming in water, pushing through the hills on my bike, running up the steepest part of the course and then crossing the finish line injury free with a huge smile on my face.

The next morning, I woke up refreshed and ready to rock and roll! I was excited to get to the start line and SWIM!!!!! The result? At first, I did experience a little anxiety, which is perfectly normal for any event, but before I knew it, I was heading out of the water to the bike segment!

I still have no idea what caused my anxiety or fear of the water. But I am happy that it happened because it provided me with the opportunity to explore visualization and incorporate it into my training, then and now.



Stay active and anything is possible!
Donna





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