I had a long swim workout this evening.  It started with 5 x 200 yards intervals, followed by a set of 20 x 100 yards.  These intervals was done at a Zone 2 effort, so that gave me plenty of time to visualize my upcoming swim at Chattanooga.

I use visualization in my training quite a lot.  I use it in order to mentally prepare myself for races. Here are all the things I visualized this evening, while in the pool.

• At the start of my session, I imagined I was starting the race.  I swam the first 50 yards quite hard.  I did this to simulate the shock of jumping into the water at the race start and immediately swimming.
• By going hard right from the get go, my breathing became an issue almost immediately.  This happens all the time in my races; I get breathless after about 200 yards.  In the pool tonight, I ‘saw’ myself getting into this state in the Tennessee River.  I also rehearsed how I would deal with it.  I kept swimming, reduced my effort and focused on my form.  My experience is that focusing on my breathing, just makes it worse.  Forcing myself to focus elsewhere, allows my breathing to come under control naturally.
• During the intervals, I imagined being touched by other swimmers and realizing that it happens, and it’s no big deal.  I imagined a slightly faster swimmer going past me, and saw myself reacting by getting on their feet to draft them.
• Towards the end of my swim, I pictured the swim exit in my mind.  My vision was me swimming hard to the exit steps, and smiling as I got out of the water.

I have no idea how the swim at Chattanooga will go in two week’s time.  I do know however, that I have visualized some likely scenarios and how I will deal with them.