My phone is an appendage of me
Knowledgable and sleek
All knowing and news of glee
Sometimes I hear the tone and freak!

My phone is always on for you
Waiting on a call for a ride, swim, or run
Also listening, even when blue
Listening most of all, for nothing but fun

My phone has battle wounds and a crack
It even goes in the pool from time to time
My swimmers and friends think I’m whack
But you know what? Even after the water there is a chime

Until the next time I damage it – #iwillseeya

Thanks Mike Kennedy for drying my phone today! Still works!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, a masters and age group swimming / triathlete coach, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com, http://SwimmerJoe.com, and @SwimmerJoe on twitter. Yo ucan email him anytime at jauer1@cfl.rr.com.

Cancer sucks! It sucks bad! Why in the Hell haven’t we figured out how to cure it? Right now I have an age group and college swimming friend, Lorraine Perkins, who is fighting for her life and she is way too young! Lorraine Perkins, a former Florida Gator backstroker, is loved by many and the social media world is giving her all the love, thoughts, and prayers they can right now. They are praying for for comfort, as well as letting her know that she is loved by many!

All I have to say is why?

Why does it go after all the good ones? We have all had family members or friends affected by the dreaded C. Just why?

Swimming is such a close community, that all I can say is please continue to stay up on all your checkups and doctors visits. Speaking of the swimming community, give love to Lorraine Perkins. She will love it and so will her family and friends. You can do it here.http://www.facebook.com/groups/234213000049663/ or tweet using the hashtag #LoveforLola.

Cancer sucks! Fix it!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, a masters and age group swimming / triathlete coach, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com, http://SwimmerJoe.com, and @SwimmerJoe on Twitter.

Note from editor: We’re extremely sad to report Lorraine Perkins passed at 7 pm on February 10. The world is better for having witnessed her life. We miss you, Lorraine!

I told a swimmer this last week - – “Greatness will come when the drive pushes you to do more and work harder than anyone else. Until then, you are in the same boat as everyone else. Why would you expect to be any better than the people around you doing the same thing.”

I see people and athletes doing the same thing, everyday, with no deviation. Why not be better than the next guy? Why not strive to be the best in whatever you do? If you just do even a little more than the “crowd” everyday of your life, whether in sports or business, imagine how far you would be ahead of the masses.  It works, it may take time, but it works. Don’t be an average person. The body and mind are more capable than you can imagine.

Start today and make yourself better!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, a masters and age group swimming / triathlete coach, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com, http://SwimmerJoe.com, and @SwimmerJoe on twitter. Yo ucan email him anytime at jauer1@cfl.rr.com.

Joe was always runnin’. Running here, runnin’ there, looking for that secret way, that elusive path to supreme greatness. Searching over and over, places he has been and others he hasn’t. Just searching.

He always felt so good; that anything was possible. He was always on cruise control, but continually dialed for maximum speed. But where was it? The dream, I mean? The inescapable dream he was running for?

As the sky grew dark, Joe was wide open on the long road, with pedal down going hard as he could. Searching for his dream-runnin’ down his dream. Pickin’ the extended journey on the lonely road, takin’ whatever was there.

Joe was a runnin’ man, surely was. A body of mercury fluid was in his near future, several nervous days in fact. There’s something good waitin’ down this road. Don’t know what he’ll find, but he thought it would never come to him. Workin’ on his own mystery and goin’ wherever it leads.

Time to find, time to find the elusive dream. Felt so good, that anything was possible!

Runnin’ down a dream.

*Now go run down your own dream.*

Inspired by the Tom Petty song, Runnin’ Down a Dream

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com andhttp://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

photo credit: StuffEyeSee via photopin cc

Now that you have qualified for the State Championships, you are either totally either psyched or scared to death.

And, truly, whichever one you are has very little to do with how experienced a swimmer you are.  Even favored, first-seeded swimmers can be swimming scared–

What if I don’t deliver? What if I miss my turn? What if I die?

That little voice of can chip away, and this type of scared thinking will keep you from doing your best. You’ll hold back just a little due to the fear of failure.

Fear of failure isn’t the only reason you might be swimming scared. Many swimmers have never been in a meet of this size – the state meet is huge with a large crowd cheering for you. Adrenaline can swoop in making your nerves shred your confidence.

What if my suit rips? What if I bonk in front of everyone? What if I get last place?

When a person gets scared they tend to do things in a hurry without just letting their training take over.  Then mistakes happen: starts will be slow, turns missed, swimming short, or even bad finishes.

Rest assured all swimmers have these types of worries, but the ones who can bury their fears and start swimming positively will prevail. Channel that adrenaline and turn those thoughts into—

What if I hit my start? What if I hit my turns just perfectly?  What if I go all out and touch the wall first?

Think of what 2000 Olympic gold medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband said, “I was so surprised. Then again, I was so relaxed in the water, it felt amazing!”

So maybe for you to swim fast at the state meet, you need to concentrate on what got you there in the first place. Believe you can swim and swim fast! Then remember to enjoy the moment, have fun and most importantly, RELAX. The more you relax, the easier the swim, the process, the meet will be. Visualize yourself with all the incredible possibilities that can achieve.

And most of remember, don’t swim scared.

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

photo credit: egarc2 via photopin cc

Personal sacrifice (even the money spent to travel to NYC) cannot overshadow the devastation of the residents of New York and its surrounding areas. Police efforts cannot be redirected to clear race routes, etc. when they need to be clearing debris and assuring the safety of its citizens.

That said, I love this idea of putting those runners to work! Haha! U.S Navy officer Andrew Baldwin, M.D., a physician, humanitarian, Navy diver and media personality, is putting out a challenge to all marathoners and guests in NYC for the weekend to mobilize for a second day across New York and help clean up the devastation from Hurricane Sandy. Imagine how cool it would be to be a part of an amazing humanitarian effort to help those in real need! (Wish I were there!)

See the complete info here.

So, join in and do your part by tweeting this message:

Join the #NewMarathon to cleanup #sandy across NYC. Just think what difference 10,000 runners can make! http://bit.ly/RzQjDC

1A State Selections - Psych

2A State Selections - Psych

3A State Selections - Psych

Have you ever seen Usain Bolt get in the zone for his 100 Meter Dash at the Olympics?

What about the swimmer Seth Vanneerden when he got ready for his ridiculously speedy 100-meter breaststroke?  (Yeah, that was for you Old Timers!)

Or even Gary Hall Jr’s 50 Freestyle?

What about a unsuspecting high school athlete in the state final winning the state title.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of it. *It* is probably one of the strongest and most natural forms of power a competitor can have!  It is the elusive supernatural power.

Power? Yeah… and you can learn how to develop it and use it for performance.

I’m talking hype. Some people call it adrenaline. Either way, it equates to an extra injection of power.

Visualization:

For me, I can create my own hype or adrenaline for races by visualizing my race before I go to bed, seeing myself win, looking at splits, stretching, reading (in the case of a triathlon—the routes), locating the other people in my age group, etc.  There are many ways.

Superman Pose:

Usain Bolt mentioned above is all about the incredible lightning bolt pose for his adrenaline and hype, Seth Vanneerden would always scrape his hand on the blocks, yell, stare down the pool, and totally get pumped (very cool), Gary Hall Jr, box, dance, and punch with his boxing robe (always entertaining). In case you didn’t understand my Superman Pose reference, see this post about the actual science behind it.

Create your own hype and adrenaline!

When there is a need to fulfill an awesome dream, you’ll find the way, your way.  Make your story happen!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter

photo credit: thor_matt83 via photopin cc

Guys, just sign up for something.

Just do it now.

I think that is the root of everything physical, especially when you get older. I have a problem with it, too!

Man, if I had a quarter for every time I heard someone say, “I can’t sign up for a running race, cycling masters race, a triathlon or even a Masters swim meet; I’m out of shape!”

Out of shape?

What signing up for an event does is get you mentally committed to actually doing it!  What that will also do is get you motivated to doing something about it every day. So many times people start something and then get bored because there is nothing on the horizon helping them getting through the monotony.

Pssst! I have the same problem.

I have trouble heading to the pool to swim; however, when I sign up for something, it finally gets me on a schedule and gets me organized with my training and focused as well. Over the past 15 years, I have been up and down with my training, and I can relate it all to what is on my schedule. I bet most of you are the same way!

Don’t waste your life saying, “I can’t do it until I get into shape.”  That’s bad news!  As another example, a friend of mine, Corey Warren, said just this past year, “I’m going to do a Ironman 70.3 and then I am going to do a full Ironman.” Just in case you didn’t know, that’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. I said to him, “Uh, what?” So now, Corey has the half is done and is competing this weekend in Ironman Florida. Good luck Corey! I can’t wait to see how you do!

But, that is exactly what I am talking about. You can’t wait, guys!

Get in shape now. Don’t wait to sign up for something and don’t be afraid either. As a last example, I have a Masters Swim Team that could destroy a good amount of the competition. But they keep telling me….”No, no, I am not ready!”  They are wasting their great ability, and missing the fun!

A race or competition or even a fundraiser will motivate you. If you wait until you’re “in shape” it may never come to your liking and therefore, NEVER will never happen.

Let me know your progress and do it now!

How do you do it? What is wrong with this picture?

I was at the Blue Dolfins Halloween meet today and I saw a few young swimmers doing something wrong… The backstroke breakout!

I normally tell young athletes to concentrate on the “angle of attack” off the wall and to have a gentle angle to decrease the amount of water drag. This could be huge!  How?

You coaches out there can teach the action to visual learners with the angle of your hand or a picture like the title picture (showing the swimmer what happened!), or you can get in the water! Haha! You can even explain it in parts. My favorite thing to do with the kids is to illustrate the pictures, or show another swimmer who does it great! Maybe a video on YouTube? Who knows, but I will tell you, this little step will help you tremendously…the Angle of Attack!

Here is a great way to do it...article from Active.com!

SwimmerJoe is Joe Auer, writer for http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com and http://SwimmerJoe.com, @SwimmerJoe on twitter