Comments on: Happiness, Buddhism and a Graceful Freestyle

By: Terry Laughlin

Terry Laughlin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:46:29 +0000

It really is quite a departure from the “No Pain No Gain” “Feel the Burn” and “Pain is just weakness leaving the body” philosophies. But I’ve also spoken numerous times with world record-setting swimmers, asking them “How did it feel to swim faster than anyone in history.” None described feeling pain. All described their swims in language that would be very familiar to anyone who has read about Flow States. It made me realize that seeking Flow States in training would probably be better for “average” athletes as well. And certainly something that would increase our motivation to do the thing that brings us pleasure.

By: Alyson

Alyson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:55:19 +0000

I really appreciate this post. I have read about Chi running, too, and am approaching all my exercise in new ways: running, cycling, swimming. Tuning in to my body, stilling and focussing my mind, seeking beauty and grace. SO DIFFERENT from sweaty painful effort and far more appealing and pleasurable to me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

By: Terry Laughlin

Terry Laughlin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:47:09 +0000

Heidi
Wisdom comes with experience. Over the almost 40 years I’ve coached there were countless times when I had an athlete at such a keen edge of fitness and preparedness for an important meet, such as the national championship. And they came down with an illness. The first few times that happened, I was nearly distraught with the expectation that the illness, the interruption in training, the path to recovery would undermine months of preparation. Then the illness would pass, the big meet would come and . . . they would swim great. After that happened a few times I realized that months of good preparation would easily see you through a week or so of illness and interrupted training. That made it easier to take those things in stride when I began swimming Masters around age 40.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:59:34 +0000

Thanks. Again, very helpful. I’ve been concentrating lately on looking for the positive in everything (not the way I usually roll) and I’m finding myself much happier (imagine that!). For example, I have a 5K race on August 14th and have recently come down with a horrible infection; fever, cough, sore throat… Obviously it has derailed my training. I have been frantic. However, I realized that since there is very little I can do about the illness, I might as well just calm down and focus on other things right now. My anniversary and son’s first day of kindergarten are both before the race and I’m now more focused on those events than I was before. See, every cloud and all that stuff .