Saturday, June 09, 2007

The economy... of movement.

Odd, a Saturday blog update. I haven't had the urge to update lately, but tonight I just felt like writing - so here I am. Now the question is what to write about? Lately, my blog has pretty much degenerated to mileage totals etc.. blah blah blah. The main reason is due to lack of time. As regulars know, I try to take training as serious as I can at any given moment, so alot of stuff gets put on the back burner. Can't update, must get to bed. When I focus on training, I train. I use up all my SAPs (spousal approval points) and focus on the task at hand. That means no TV, little internet and I'm usually too tired to read more than a page of my book before off goes the lights. What's even wierder is that I love doing it.

Part of me wonders just how narcissictic a blog is. I guess there is component of that which is bothersome. There is time a factor, I mean I just spent 15 minutes writing a paragraph and half! Even though I don't have many readers, I still feel compelled to update. So why do it? I guess it's sort of like opening a door, take a peak inside and if you like what you see, hang out with me, if not, move along, there's nothing to see here.

So, I was the pool the other day and someome says "how do you make it look so easy?" A simple question that demands a long answer. The easy answer is "practice", which is absolutely true, but it's much more than that. It's about econonmy of movement, being relaxed, thinking about technique, being fluid, looking 'effortless' and of course practice. I'm always thinking of that whenever I swim, bike or run. I'll try to emulate a pro that makes it look 'easy', I'll visualize what he/she does and start to incorporate it into my own technique. When I run, I always try to be fluid, strong, have quick feet, rythmic breathing, good posture, relaxed shoulders, loose fingers etc.. Eventually it becomes habit. Soon everything will 'gel' and you may get that feeling once. Remember it. You'll get it again. Soon enough it will be habit and now you're in the 'zone'. Embrace the zone because that's when the shit really starts to get interesting.

Well it's past my bedtime, so I must be off. Cheers!

2 comments:

Cliff said...

Darren,

It's hard to be easy. It takes a lot of focus to be easy. It takes a lot of discipline to be easy.

Lack of time..tell me about it.

Crackhead said...

Of COURSE blogging is narcissistic! And it's therapeutic. I get a kick out of rereading my own posts months after the fact. It's like a diary. Sometimes it's just going to be training; sometimes not.

Regardless, it's all good. Keep blogging, but more importantly, keep training!