Guided Practice – How to Become Great at Just About Anything

• 0 • Motivation

Greg has me hooked on the Freakonomics podcast and an episode I listened to recently really resonated.

Guys – you’ve got to listen to this one.

How to Become Great at Just About Anything

The episode examines how people become great at something; do you need to have talent, or can greatness be learned?

The answer, as you might expect, is a little of both. Your innate talent might define the ceiling for you, but how much of your potential you express can be greatly influenced by what you do. And for most of us, our potential is much higher than we need in order to enjoy an activity or make it worth participating in.

Guided Practice

The real take-away from the episode was the importance of guided practice. It’s not just about the “10,000 hour rule”, a phrase coined after a study examined the amount of practice time logged by a group of elite musicians at a German academy. It’s not just how much you practice (though that certainly helps) but the quality of that practice.

The best way to become great at something is to have someone who is great at it, and a good teacher, guide your practice so you become better.

This really resonated with me because I’ve found it so true of learning to swim, and even to run. In the beginning stages of running, you can get better at running by… well, running. But there’s a reason that elite runners all have coaches. Running hills and intervals, knowing when to rest, etc. can all increase your performance better than if you simply logged additional hours.

Why You Have to Listen to This Podcast

There’s a story in the podcast about a researcher who wanted to explore how people become experts, so she followed a childhood dream and tried to learn to sing. It’s a fantastic storyline, and incredibly inspirational.

The podcast reminded me that I can become good at something.

I’m going to become a good swimmer. (I would say great, but while I think becoming great is possible, I am not sure I want to invest the practice time to become great because I’ve got classrooms to volunteer in, muffins to bake and a bike to ride.)

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I’ve made additional progress in my swimming thanks to some guided practice from a great swim coach. I’m stacking my hips, elongating my stroke, turning my head better to breathe… here’s a photo of me practicing just the arms using a pull buoy. Look at that line! Night and day from where I was a year ago. (Which was… um, a non-swimmer.)

You Can Become Great at Something

If there’s something you wish you could do better, you can! It’s not without sacrifice or investment, but what a beautiful concept to hold in our hearts, that we can become proficient at anything with the right instructor and right amount of practice.

So if you’re commuting, washing dishes, folding laundry etc. and want something to listen to I highly recommend this episode of Freakonomics Radio. The little I’ve shared here doesn’t do the full episode justice. It left me feeling excited, hopeful, and purposeful.

Take it from someone who has taken cooking classes, writing classes and swim lessons as an adult; we can become better at just about anything. I realize time is precious and hiring a coach isn’t always an option, but understanding that guided practice can help us become better at anything opens up so many doors.

Guided practice may mean watching a youtube video before practicing a new skill, or following a training plan instead of running at whim. There are many ways to take this lesson to heart, and the most important part is knowing that aren’t born great… we make ourselves great.

Apparently I’m a Spectator Sport at the Pool

• 0 • Motivation, Swim, Triathlon

After my swim lesson today, a gentleman getting into the pool stopped me to say that he “thinks I’m really making progress!” He said he’s even told a couple adults he knows about my swim instructor because she’s so good with kids and grown ups.

I had a nice conversation with him (he used to do biathlons, swimming and running, and wishes me the best of luck on my tri this summer) and then headed to the locker room. In the locker room one of the regulars at the water aerobics class said “Oh, and how are your swim lessons going?!”

And that’s when I realized.

My swim lessons are a spectator sport.

It makes sense… I meet with her for 45 minutes, the same time each week. The aerobics class lets out during that time, and they all trudge past the lane where I’m flailing across the pool. Any regulars who come Wednesday mornings have probably seen me at least a couple times over the course of the last few months; I’ve been taking lessons since February!

So there I am, focused on my instructor and the water for 45 minutes each week, oblivious to the fact that there are other regulars casually observing my progress. (Or, some weeks, lack thereof.)

It really makes me laugh.

 

Part of me feels like I should be embarrassed that people are watching, but mostly I find it funny to think about what I must look like learning to swim as an adult.

I can’t really be embarrassed, because I’m proud of myself. I get in the water with a smile every week and do my best. I come back and practice multiple times in between lessons. And I’m making progress.

Having two people speak to me with encouragement this morning makes me feel like I’ve got a little community rooting for me. And it’s not so hard to believe, because I love watching beginners make progress. I root for people all the time. I get so excited about beginning runners.

Do you ever drive by a runner struggling up a hill and silently cheer for them?

Remember that.

Remember that when you’re visibly struggling somewhere, there are probably strangers silently cheering for you. You know I would be.

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How to Push Just a Little Further

• 0 • 13.1 Training, Motivation, My Running, Running, Swim

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The hardest part when I did Couch to 5k in 2012 was getting through the first 20 minute stretch of running without stopping. I had to attempt it multiple times, and finally made it through when Greg ran next to me with the jogging stroller. The thought of quitting in front of him and both my children was enough to finally overcome the hurdle.

The funny part about my previous attempts was that I remember not giving up at minute 17 or 18 which would indicate that I couldn’t quite make it yet. Nope. I was giving up at minute 10 or 12, despite having done 15 minutes of running successfully. I was quitting at minute 10 or 12 because although I could have kept going in that moment I was convinced I couldn’t finish the whole distance. The thought of having to continue for that long made me panic, and I stopped. My mind was quitting, not my body.

The same thing has been happening to me with swimming.

I’m having trouble making progress; I can barely finish my 50 yard repeats. My swim instructor thinks based on the number of repeats I can do in a session and how my form looks towards the end (not tired) that I could make it much further if I could get through it mentally.

It’s amazing how similar it is to running, where the feeling of being unable to catch my breath was the hardest part in the beginning.

So I’m revisiting strategies I used to use for running when I tried to increase the distance there. These strategies have gotten me from 60 seconds of running to over 2 hours of running, so clearly they work for me.

Time to take them for a swim.

Strategies for Pushing Through Your Desire to Stop

Take it One Moment at a Time. Don’t tell yourself you need to make it X distance before you can stop. Ask yourself if you can keep going NOW. Just this moment. Just one more stroke, one more, one more.

Recover Without Stopping. Slow it down rather than stopping. See how slowly you can go without stopping and watch how it helps your heart rate and breathing. For running this is especially true if you’ve just run up a hill; you may not even need to slow down, just be patient and realize you don’t need to stop, your breathing will calm down a minute or so after you clear the hill.

Count / Use a Mantra: When I’m doing 400 meter repeats on the track, I’m usually thinking “one two one two one two one two” over and over again to distract from anything else. In the pool, I’ve started to think one, two, three AND one, two, three AND. It helps me keep from thinking anything else, and also helps me breathe in sync with my stroke on the AND.

Be Social: Being with someone distracts you from what you’re doing and provides accountability. I try harder and take fewer breaks during my swim lessons because I don’t want to waste my time with an instructor. I swam a lot of continuous back-stroke in the pool with Greg on Mother’s Day because I didn’t want him to think I take a break every 25 yards.

Add Repeats: If you’re hitting a block with the length of a repeat, shorten it but do more repeats. Do what you’re comfortable with until it’s boring. Boring isn’t scary. Boring is boring. Boring helps fight the panic. Add to your total distance slowly, and realize that’ll help your individual segments of activity lengthen also.

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Time to get out there and go after it like my cat with a pillow.

 

 

Lesson from a Triathlete: Karen Rand

• 1 • Bike, Motivation, Triathlon

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This is the fabulous Karen Rand, completing her first triathlon last summer for Tri for a Cure.

I got to hear Karen speak at the Tri for a Cure bike clinic, where I learned about bike maintenance and got advice from both experienced and first time triathletes from the previous year.

Listening to the two women who’d completed Tri for a Cure as their first triathlon last year, I was amazed at the courage, resiliency and effort they possessed.

They had to have the confidence that they could do this, and then they actually had to learn and train to do it. They went from swimming in pools to practicing in lakes and then the ocean. They biked up and down a hill in Portland, ME with a training group over and over again, cheering on the way down for people who were climbing on the other side. They made friends, learned from experienced triathletes, raised money to fight cancer, and made it across the finish line.

Karen decided to become a triathlete… and then she did it.

What I love about Karen’s story

As a runner, Karen was most nervous about the biking portion of the tri. (Well, also about the swim, but everyone’s nervous about the swim…)

She tried clipping in and out, but she never got comfortable. Some people would have given up right there, but Karen just decided to ride the bike portion not clipped in.

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It’s sheer brilliance.

How many times do we let our expectations of what we think something “should” look like stop us from attempting it?

I’ve heard people say they would never run x distance because they’d be embarrassed to come in slower than a certain time, so they won’t do the event. If you don’t want to train for an event, that’s fine! But it’s sad when we let other people’s accomplishments or expectations keep us from embarking on a journey we would love and benefit from.

Don’t be sad. Be Karen. Unclip and ride your race your way.

Like any sport, if you look at the first finishers of a triathlon, it makes the sport look pretty unapproachable.

But it’s not, really.

You don’t need to be clipped into a $3,000 bike. You don’t need to do freestyle the entire way without stopping. You can backstroke for a bit. In many races, you can stop and rest on a kayak and then keep going. You don’t need to have compression socks and finish a half marathon in under 2 hours. Trust me.

Check your race regulations to see what time the course closes and what the requirements are for equipment, and I think you’ll find that many races are open to and welcoming of beginners.

If you want to use a race to motivate yourself but there’s just one thing stopping you, ask yourself if you can work around it.

What can the experience do for you?

There are times when I want to succumb to my embarrassment that Greg has to wait over 45 minutes for me to finish a half marathon and just not race. But I don’t. Because being a half marathoner has done so much for me that I’m willing to do it my way.

If you want to do something, do it. Let it improve your life. Don’t worry about other people’s relationship with the sport.

Make it your own.

Thanks, Karen, for the inspiration and for letting me share your story and photos on my blog!

You can donate to Karen’s Tri for a Cure fundraising page here because guess what?

She’s doing it again 🙂

 

A Couple Additions to My Running Bucket List

• 5 • Motivation, My Running

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I’m pretty involved in knocking out this first triathlon goal… but hey, that’s no reason to stop dreaming about what’s next!

One of the problems with using races to motivate ourselves is that we can feel a little lost after the event is completed. It’s nice to have a little list of “someday, maybe” items to look at once we’ve achieved that race goal. Bucket lists can help put that good foundation you’ve created training for the race to use, and keep you motivated and excited about running!

Here are a few things I’d like to do someday:

  • Be a half marathon pacer. I’d love to support a group of runners by maintaining a steady pace and providing encouragement along the way. I could see myself pacing a 2:30 or 2:45 group at some point. I’ve run 6 half marathons in under 2:30 pace, and it’d be so inspiring to help a group of runners achieve that same goal by running steady and offering encouragement.
  • Run the New Orleans Has House Harriers Red Dress Run. Everyone runs in red dresses. It’s 21+. I’ve never been to New Orleans. It’s, um, 2 miles, every August. Not much training required. Some summer I’m heading down there with Greg and we’re going to cut loose like it’s Mardis Gras for runners.
  • A trail race. Nature, and a chance to run with a whole bunch of people who are more concerned about where they’re going than how fast they’ll get there. Why haven’t I done one of these already?

What’s on your bucket list? Tell me, maybe I’ll join you 🙂