THANKSGIVING WEEK

WEEK AHEAD

This week practice schedule is a little different.  Monday and Tuesday everything remains the same.  On Wednesday the JUNIOR GOLD group will be from 4-5 and the JUNIOR BLUE group will practice will from 4-5.  Thursday there  will be no practices due to the holiday.  Friday the JUNIOR BLUE group will practice from 10-11 and the SENIOR PREP and GOLD group will practice from 10-11:30.  Saturday practice is at the normal time.

With this shortened week it is important to keep up with your practice schedule the best you can, and try to remember your good nutrition and rest habits.  Championship meets are right around the corner!  If you are out of town and can't get to a pool go outside and get in a workout.  Try this one 5 minute walk (brisk), 1minute sprint run, 4minute walk, 2minute easy jog, 3 minute walk, 1 minute sprint, stop set of crunches, set of leg lifts, some stretching and than repeat the running part.  You need to do something do not become a couch potato for 5 days.  Try to get up at your normal time to keep your body clock on time, you can take little naps during the day.

SWIM AND ROCK MEET WRAP:

I will post my thoughts on the meet over the weekend as I am still going over my notes.  I will say that I know it was a long weekend and we had a lot of our teammates in all three groups who had some fantastic swims.  Two swimmers who really stepped up were Henry Harper from the BLUE group who swam a 200 breast on Friday and made finals that evening and turned in another best time.  The last swimmer for the MAKOS was Graham Evers on Sunday evening swimming his first 500 free.  Graham is From the BLUE group and his splits were great for his first time.

WEEKLY TOPIC:  "THANKSGIVING"

Wherever you may find yourself this Thursday, it is important that you pause and give thanks for everything you are blessed with. In each of your lives you will find small blessings, but too often you overlook them, choosing instead to spend your time paying attention to your needs and problems. There are "givers and takers" in the world, and today try to be one of the givers.  Thanksgiving is possible only for those who take time to remember.  No one can give thanks if they have a short memory.   At this time it good to slow down take a deep breath and notice all the things that you have that may go unnoticed the rest of the year.  Your parents who are there day in and day out supporting you and picking you up when you fall and the sacrifices that they make every day (you can't even imagine how many) to help you along the path of life.  Your brothers/sisters (if you have any)  who let you use there stuff, offer you laughs and fun time, and don't always hit you even if they want to.  Your true friends who are always there for you in time of need, your teachers and coaches who help you every day so that you may be successful in the future.

For myself  along with being thankful for family and friends I am thankful for the opportunity to work with a great group of kids who enjoy the sport of swimming, and even thou they may fail sometimes, they pick themselves up, and show up again with a smile on their faces.

Have a great Thanksgiving and I leave you with this poem;

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses;

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes;

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears;

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean;

Count your health instead of your wealth

Count on your family, friends along with your self.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17

WEEK AHEAD:  This week there will be no practice on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.  The pool will be closed for the Mason Team as they wrap up their fall season with a big three day meet.  Our groups will also be participating in a  3 day meet at the annual Swim &Rock Meet held at Oak Marr Pool in Fairfax.
Warm Up Schedule.  

FRIDAY 11 AND UP 6:30-7:50  MEET STARTS 8:00
                 FINALS 5:00-5:50  MEET STARTS  6:00

SATURDAY 13 AND UP 6:30-7:30   MEET STARTS 7:45
                      11&12 11:30-12:30  MEET STARTS 12:40
                      9&10 2:55-3:35  MEET STARTS 3:45
                      FINALS 6:00-6:50  MEET STARTS 7:00

SUNDAY  13 AND UP 6:30-7:30  MEET STARTS 7:45
                   11 AND 12  11:30- 12:30   MEET STARTS 12:40
                   9&10  2:55- 3:35  MEET STARTS 3:45

This is a trial and final meet.  What does that mean you ask?  The top 16 13 and over and the top 8 11 and 12 year olds will be brought back in the evening to swim.  YOU MUST SHOW UP!  IF YOU FAIL TO SHOW THEY WILL SCRATCH YOU FROM THE REST OF THE MEET!  If you plan on not coming back you need to talk to a coach and they can decide to scratch you, but it must be done before you leave.  THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY NOT THE COACHES!  Do not just fail to show, because that prevents another swimmer the chance to swim at finals.

POSITIVE CHECK IN:  All events that are 200 and above must be checked in.  This is not the coaches job.  This is your responsibility, find the table and take care of it before warm up.

SATURDAY MEET RESULTS:  Great job to all of you who swam either the 200 fly and/or400 IM  yesteday.  Swimming these events for the first time were; Alex Aung (200 fly and 400 IM), Katie Krouse (200 fly and 400 IM), Andrew yang (200 fly),  Peter Jones, T.J. Petty, Anthony Grimm, Gillian Goodiel, Elanor Monnig and Kenta Deegan who swam the 400 IM for the first time.

Some thoughts that I had when watching the meet were; OUR walls are getting much better,  but  we do need to be more aggressive in and off the walls.  Let's not take these walls for granted, it is a GREAT way to pick up speed in our races.   Some of your fastest swimming should be done around the walls, but we need to first make that effort at practice so we can carry it into our races. If you take no momentum into the wall, you will not take much off of it, which will hurt you in a short course pool.  USE THE ATTACK MODE.  Attack the wall (every time in practice) and make this an attitude as much as a technique.  Keep your eyes on the cross as you near the wall; gauge for a hard full stroke into the wall without a breath. Fast in, Fast out.

WEEKLY TOPIC:  "BEING A GOOD TEAMMATE" 

This past week I had three swimmers from our group come to me with issues that they were having with other swimmers in our group.  These distractions not only affect that swimmer but in the long run it will affect the entire group.  The following article was written by  Mike Gustafon for USA Swimming.
In swimming, just because you're a good swimmer doesn't mean you're a good teammate.  Being a good teammate is about much more than just cheering during races.  Just like practices, being a good teammate takes hard work, practice and a daily commitment.
Swimming is an unusual sport in that it is technically "individual"- meaning no one can physically help you swim down the pool faster.  But when a team/group comes together throughout a season, motivates each other, pushes each other, and picks each other up when others fall down, each swimmer on that team or in that group will actually get better.  Being a good teammate means, while you can't  physically push someone down the pool to be faster, your presence almost can.

Here are 9 ways to be a better teammate:

1. Stand up when you cheer.

Cheering is kind of worthless if the swimmer about to race doesn't see you opposite the blocks or standing poolside.  When you step up to race, 99% of swimmers look to see if teammates are there.  It's a quick fleeting glance, but it matters.  Don't sit in the bleachers and passively whisper a teammate good luck.  Stand, walk to the pool, and let them see you.  They'll feed off your energy.

2.  Create a culture of encouragement.

So simple.  Just one sentence, "Keep it up!" is so effective when you're hanging on the gutters barely able to breathe.  It doesn't have to be directed at anyone specific.  One teammate, than two, than three, over time the entire team/group will begin encouraging each other.

3.  Pick someone up when they're falling down.

This part is tricky, and you have to be careful, but if someone is skipping practice or repeats, or being disruptive or negative don't be afraid to say something.  Take them aside and be direct, honest and positive.  You're a team, and part of being a team is not letting others fall behind.  Everyone needs to be picked up, and as a teammate, that responsibility is yours.

4.  Criticize in private, compliment in public.

If you ever need to approach a teammate about something negative, do so privately.  But compliments should be public.  Look swimmers and coaches aren't blind. We see things in practice.  When someone is truly bringing it that day or being positive, let em know.  And let everyone else know, too.  If you don't compliment your team/group, who will?

5.  Know when to back away.

Everyone's had a bad race.  Being a good teammate means knowing when to allow a teammate some private time, if that teammate had a bad race.  Let them have space to gather  their thoughts.  Saying "Great Race " after a bad swim may actually make them feel worse, angry, upset or defensive.  Instead  say something like OK let's get them in the next event or just give them a shoulder.

6.  Embrace when teammates swim fast.

We've all been there.  A teammate drops a lot of time even though they may not work that hard in practice.  The hardest part of being a good teammate is realizing your teammates might beat you.  That's OK-- that's part of the sport.  You have to control those feelings and focus on yourself.  Nothing tears a team/group apart more than envy or jealousy.  Worry about your own races and congratulate your teammates when they swim fast.  After all the faster they are, the more competitive your practices will be and the better YOU'LL become.

7.  Don't be afraid to get competitive in practice.

There are two types of teammates:  Those who push others to slow down, and those who push others to go faster.  Be the latter.

8.Don't ever say, "This sucks."

No it doesn't.  It may be hard, or cold, or tough, but it doesn't mean it sucks.  You knew this sport was hard.  Sports are about pushing yourself.  When you mutter "This sucks" you're actually bringing others down too.  When you're having a great day or practice, the last thing you want to hear are negative comments from a teammate.  So don't do it to them just because you're having a bad day.

9.  Realize you don't have to be fast to be a good teammate.

In 20 years, people won't remember times or places.  They will remember  the cheering, the talks, the support, and the companionship that you had.  It takes work, but the lessons you learn being a good teammate will serve you far better in life than swimming a 200 fly really fast.

I leave  you this that I was taught a long time ago before being allowed to put on a uniform;
'Never ever disrespect your opponent, or your teammate, or your organization, or your coach, and never ever your uniform."

HAVE A GOOD WEEK AND LETS SWIM AND ROCK THIS WEEKEND         MIKE

NOVEMBER 10

WEEK AHEAD:    This week starts the high school swim season and we would like to wish three of our  swimmers from the group GOOD LUCK as they prepare for their first try outs at their school.  Katie Krouse at Oakton, Gabby Kuehhas at Centreville, and Katie Karlinchak at Lake  Braddock.  

 All practices this week will be held as normal.  Please sign up for the 200 fly and 400 IM for Saturday. 
 

WEEKLY TOPIC:  MENTAL TOUGHNESS

I have talked with all of you for the last couple of weeks about your mental toughness, and some of you have asked what do I mean by the last laps will take care of itself, all you have to do is have to do is have a little heart.
Mental toughness is defined as"doing whatever is necessary to get the job done, which includes handling a tough workout, withstanding pain, and touching out an opponent at the end of a race.  Letting go of what your body feels and focusing on YOUR race, and finishing YOUR race and not letting anyone beat you.
This toughness begins the moment you step onto the deck for practice, by not allowing any distractions affect the purpose of you being there.  YOU need to learn to block out what is not important for your success.  There are some key characteristics that will help you as you develop this mental toughness and they are,

• SELF BELIEF:  Before a swimmer even reaches the blocks before their race, they sometimes have filled their minds with a lot of negative thoughts which may or may not affect their chances of success.  It could start as early as getting out of bed and saying to oneself "gee I'm tired, or I don,t want to swim today."  You have already position yourself in  a negative environment and your chances of success have taken a big hit no matter what you say later on.  You need to have an unshakable belief in yourself and your ability to achieve your goal.  Don't create problems!
• MOTIVATION:  You meet to have the desire and the internal motivation to succeed, YOU REALLY HAVE GOT TO WANT IT.  Saying it alone is not enough.  When you have a setback you have to have the motivation and the ability bounce back--with an increased determination to succeed.
• FOCUS:  Some swimmers think that they only need to show up at practice or a meet and the " good times" will roll.  This is so far from the truth, but it happens all the time.  YOU need to be fully focused on your task at hand in the face of any distractions. You haven't control over another swimmers race so why let it distract you?
• COMPOSURE/ HANDLING PRESSURE:  Things will go wrong and you need to have the ability to regain control following these distractions or events.   The pressure of competition is always going to be there at some level.  It will vary from athlete to athlete, so you need to find a way to embrace it.  "STEP INTO THE MOMENT"  and "DARE TO SWIM GREAT."

Developing a mental toughness starts with ones ATTITUDE, the confidence that you are prepared for any thing.  You need to be honest with yourself when developing this attitude. Have you really done everything possible that will allow you to race without that fear of failure.  Will this attitude allow you to leave it all in the pool with heart, determination and full focus.

The next thing that you need to do is to PROGRAM your mind with positive words and expectations.    When you swim expect he best from yourself with phrases such as; I will, I can, I am going to.  Train your mind to focus on what you want to happen rather than things your afraid might go wrong.  Visualize yourself having a GREAT start with a great break out stroke..   Imagine explosive turns and some fast under water kicking off the walls.  Visualize accelerating into the finish and looking over to the swimmer next to you as they finish.  PRICELESS RIGHT.?

After we have gotten the right attitude and programmed your mind to expect great thing YOU need to routinize your behavior.   Develop a systematic pre- performance routine that on for practice and competitions.  Whether it is practice or a meet as soon as you walk on deck-- you commit yourself to giving everything you have to the task at hand.  At practice it starts with listening to the coaches instructions for the set, and than performing the sets correctly.  This includes watching the clock and leaving on the set interval ( not early and not late), performing the sets and the drills correctly.  At a meet program yourself that once you dive between the lane lines, " game on" ,commit   yourself to being a mentally tough and great competitor and sportsman throughout the entire race.  Keep bringing it!

Now we need to develop POISE and COMPOSURE, because as I said before things don't always go as planned.   You need to learn to let go of bad races quickly if things do not go your way.    Learn to adjust and develop focal points to get focus back to the task at hand.  Be persistent don't allow frustrations and distractions to get in the way of YOUR goals.

The next step in this process is to TAKE CONTROL OF NEGATIVE TALK,  you need to re frame from " stinking thinking."  We all encounter situations that cause us to get frustrated, rushed intimidated, lose focus.  Be aware of situations like this and turn the negative into mentally tough self talk. Look at a bad race as a stepping stone for future achievement.  Swim to win as opposed to fear of making a mistake.  " He missed 900 shots, 26 game winning shots, lost 300 games.  Michael Jordan ( NBA 6 time world champion) said I failed over and over, that is why I succeed."  Focus on process of competing well, winning will take care of itself.

Be a difference maker STEP UP AND HAVE A PEAK PERFORMANCE WHEN IT MATTERS MOST.

STAY  FOCUSED ON TASK AT HAND      MIKE AND SHANNON

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7. 2013

SUBJECT: TEACHING INTENSITY

The other night the Senior prep group (Junior Gold will learn next week started working on getting our pulse rate after a couple of our sets, in order to see how hard we are working at a specific time.  Perceived exertion is how hard you feel your body is working. "It is based on the physical sensations a person experiences during physical activity, including heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating, and muscle fatigue.  Although this is a subjective measure, a person's exertion rating may provide a fairly good estimate of the actual heart rate during physical activity."(Borg 1998)

During some of your swim sets you will be able to self monitor how your body feels, and how hard you are working.  When you become aware and understand how your body is working. you will better be able to adjust the intensity of your workout by speeding up or slowing down your movements.

Although not an exact science a person's perceived exertion times 10 is also a good indication of your heart rate.  Remember to find your pulse rate and count the beats for 10 seconds.  When doing this it is very important that YOU are HONEST with YOURSELF when counting, do not inflate your number to impress others.  Do not concern yourself with any one factor such as shortness of breath, or leg pain, focus only on your total feeling of exertion.

PERCEIVED EXERTION  AND PAIN SCALE

EXERTION             RPE        MAXIMUM          PERCENT 

                                               HEART RATE         EFFORT
NO EXERTION      6                   91                          20%

EXTREMELY         7                 101                          30%

LIGHT                     8                 111                          40%

VERY LIGHT         9                 122                          50%

                                10                132                          55%

LIGHT                    11                142                           60%

                                12                153                           65%

SOMEWHAT         13                163                           70%

HARD                    14                 173                           75%

HARD                    15                184                            80%

                               16                194                             85%

VERY HARD        17                204                             90%

                               18                215                             95%

EXTREMELY       19                225                             100%

HARD                  

                MAXIMUM       20               235              EXHAUSTION        

Warm up usually will start around 6 and end between 11 and 13.  Your sprint training should elevate your rate  between  17 and 20 depending on your distances.  Hope this helps you, and you may want to print it and post it.

More on these topics later.    MIKE

200 FLY. 400 IM MEET

On Saturday November 16 we will be offering the 200 fly and the 400 IM for time at practice.  I encourage and expect all Saturday swimmers to sign up for this meet.   We need to look at this as a challenge to be conquered and not feared.  Any Junior Gold swimmers interested please let me know.

We have talked about looking at things as a challenge and not as obstacles that you try to avoid.  

TUESDAY  NOVEMBER 5, 2013

We hope that those of you who are out of school are enjoying your time off, and that all your teacher/parent conferences have gone well.   As you may have notice is getting dark earlier and with it comes the colder weathering .  Please make sure that you are dressed warm when leaving practice, we do not want to get sick and have to miss time from school and practice.  Also it is always important to be washing your hands, but it is critical during the winter months.  It is also critical that we keep drinking water during this time even though you may not be thirsty, as this will help your body fight off germs.  Also DO NOT SHARE BOTTLES!!  You all have worked hard up to now let's take care of ourselves so we do not suffer any set back

MAKO/OCCS  DUAL MEET WRAP UP:

This past weekend we traveled out to Warrenton for the first time to get in some racing.  Overall we think the meet was a success with many Mako swimmers achieving personnel best.  Thanks to all the parents who made that trip out especially early in the morning.  A special thanks to all of our parents who volunteered to work as officials during the meet.  Trophy winners from our groups for the Pentathlon and Quadathlon on Saturday were  Isabella Manzione, Alex Aung, Kevin Carchia (JUNIOR GOLD), Alexa Cuomo, Julia Young, Lauren Young (SENIOR PREP), Caroline Murphy, Sofia Krstolic (JUNIOR BLUE).  Congratulations to all of you!!  (If I missed anyone, SORRY and please let me know as i am sure you will HA!).
HIGHLIGHTS THAT WE CAN RECALL: One of the best lines of the meet was were Ella Dahlberg who is 11 from our Junior Gold who put me in my place.  Upon helping with her cap and saying something she informed me that putting on a cap is "Swimming 101"  I missed that in college Ella! 
We had several swimmers from our group step up and swim events for the first time, Merdith  Millard (100 back and 100 fly), Yolani Ponce (100 breast,100 fly), Theresa Boyd, Mattie Rose Cuomo (100 Breast).  Julia Young and Kenta Deegan (200 Breast),  Elizabeth Williams (100 fly) Anthony Grimm (200 fly) Angelina Bolivar (100 free) Andrew Hale (200IM), Jacob Robinette, Catherine Krouse (500 Free).
Some areas that we need to go back to practice and work on are:

•  faster reactions on start. explode off the blocks.
•  work your speed under water off walls.
•  faster and tighter turns.
•  explode off those walls.

  These things do not just happen during a race, you need to repeat it over and over in practice so that your body commits it to memory.  Another area is that after warm up and your races it is important to cover up and keep your body warm.  Even though you are warm your muscles become very tight and will not respond to whaou are going to ask of them.  Cover them up.  Pack your bags with an extra shirt and sweat shirt.

WEEK AHEAD:  All practices this week will be held at normal times.  Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and maybe Monday  you will have a guest coach and I expect things to go as if I am there.  Please be respectful during the workouts.

WEEKS TOPIC: "RACING"

What makes an athlete competitive?  As coaches we talk about our athletes or teams as being competitive, but is there a proven method?  I wish there was because we would bottle it and sprinkle it on the heads of our swimmers as they put on their caps.  I do know that in order to be competitive there needs to be a mental and emotional toughness, which is defined as "the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of the competitive circumstances."  Mentally tough athletes know that they have put in the hard work and DO NOT ALLOW DISTRACTIONS THAT MAY KEEP THEM FROM WINNING to enter their minds.  They look at the situation in front of them as a challenge that is to be conquered and not feared, regardless!   They will talk tough, they will feel confident, they will be energized and looking for a fight and they will take this into the race with them.

Does this sound like you?  Or are you the athlete that allows all the distractions at a meet to affect you?  You know the one that I am talking about, I'm tired! I don't want to be here! I'm going out tonight!  I have to swim against so and so !  What  If I don't do this time?  Which athlete are you?  Do you look at your races as challenges or do you allow the fear factor to creep in?

You know most top athletes have said it is  not the winning, but "hating to lose" that fuels their competitive drive, that their ambition to be successful is based on not wanting to fail more than enjoying the fruits of success.

How can you improve your competitive ability?  The one word is ATTITUDE and the best place to start working on that is at practice.  Are you spending your time socializing and thinking about a millon different things, or are you committed to this practice, this set, this repeat, this turn.  Just like a meet if you let distractions creep in at practice than you are fooling yourself if you think that you will be ready for a meet or race.  Practice is your class room, your study time, USE IT WISELY.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK     MIKE AND SHANNON