{"id":67244,"date":"2022-05-27T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/uncategorized\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/"},"modified":"2022-05-27T14:10:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T12:10:50","slug":"tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes.<\/h2>\n<p>We are a rare breed of people who set 4:30AM alarms, who sweat while most people are asleep, who push our bodies to keep going even when our arms and legs are screaming for us to stop. How? What gives us the self-discipline to wake up once again the next day and attack it with as much vigour and intensity as the last?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Easy &#8211; mentality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arenasport.com\/en_row\/collections\/diamonds\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-93945 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600.jpg\" alt=\"SARAH SJOSTROM and FLORENT MANAUDOU arena Diamonds Collection\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Being a swimmer, or any athlete really, requires mental preparedness more than anything<\/strong>.<span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"> We need to be our own cheerleader, our own coach, and our own biggest fan because the second we dive into that water the rest of the world goes quiet and we are alone with just our thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sometimes being mentally strong comes naturally.<\/strong> When things are going well, and we feel good in the water, it is easy to reflect this positivity. But what about when this isn\u2019t the case? How can we stay enthusiastic when the water is not agreeing with us so well? When we have bad swims, or after practices that we know should have gone better?<\/p>\n<h3>Possibly the most important factor to keeping a good outlook despite personal shortcomings at meets or during workouts is creating a positive training environment<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Surround yourself with teammates that you know will lift you up<\/strong>, encourage you, and who won\u2019t be shy to push you when you\u2019re feeling fatigued. As a group, using uplifting words as opposed to negative ones is a good way to remain supportive. For example, whenever someone on my team says anything along the lines of <strong>\u201cI\u2019m tired\u201d or \u201cThis is hurting\u201d<\/strong>, we use the catch phrase \u201cWe got this\u201d to push one another to succeed as a team instead.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arenasport.com\/en_row\/collections\/diamonds\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-93952 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/tough_people_blog_800.jpg\" alt=\"David Popovici arena\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/tough_people_blog_800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/tough_people_blog_800-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/tough_people_blog_800-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Another crucial part to staying upbeat about a sport that can sometimes have its ups-and-downs is by celebrating the small victories.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>I know so many swimmers who will go personal best times in a race<\/strong>, but will still be upset if they didn\u2019t reach a certain goal or time standard. A best time is still a best time regardless, and deserves to be acknowledged. Take the time to stop and appreciate the miraculous things your body is doing. Even if you are not quite where you want to be yet, enjoy the moment. Be grateful for that time you just out-touched the person next to you, even if it wasn\u2019t the race you were hoping for. Enjoy getting that bronze medal, even if it isn\u2019t the gold you had been yearning for. Appreciate every victory, however small.<\/p>\n<h3>Sometimes, however, races or workouts go so poorly that it is hard to pick out positive aspects to be happy with.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>That is completely alright, too.<\/strong> Talk to any world-class athlete out there, and I\u2019m sure even they will be able to tell you about competitions that went extremely badly. You need to remember, though, that one bad race does not define you. Learn to distinguish between races or sets. Just because your first event of a competition doesn\u2019t go well does not mean that the whole weekend is a bust. Do not allow yourself to be defeated by one bad outcome. Instead, take a few minutes to yourself to collect your thoughts. <strong>Take that anger and frustration and use it to fuel your energy for the next race.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>When it all comes down to it, you have to remember that tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>The sets that make you cry into your goggles.<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/dryland-training\/3-dryland-exercises-swimmers-should-avoid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dry-land workouts<\/a> that leave you so sore you can barely walk the next day. The pace times that leave you gasping for air. They are all turning you into a better athlete.<\/p>\n<p>You are so much tougher than you know. So start by believing in yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. We are a rare breed of people who set 4:30AM alarms, who sweat while most people are asleep, who push our bodies to &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1294,"featured_media":93945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10060],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The arena swimming blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca Gillis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@arenapeople\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@arenapeople\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca Gillis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rebecca Gillis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f3bb927f7109158c142463e68e000821\"},\"headline\":\"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"A Swimmer's life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\",\"name\":\"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Swimmer's life\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The arena swimming blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"arena\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png\",\"width\":380,\"height\":268,\"caption\":\"arena\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/arenawaterinstinct\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.it\/arenawaterinstinct\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/arenapeople\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/arenapeople\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f3bb927f7109158c142463e68e000821\",\"name\":\"Rebecca Gillis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c03c640a8821a59a4dbdbc9a50050c56?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c03c640a8821a59a4dbdbc9a50050c56?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca Gillis\"},\"description\":\"Hi! I\u2019ve been swimming competitively since I was eight years old, and enjoy documenting the ups and downs of life as an athlete. Most of my days are spent on the pool deck, since I also work as a coach for young children, and as a lifeguard. Other than that, I\u2019m a full time student and, like so many of my fellow swimmers, a food\/nap enthusiast.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/author\/rgillis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!","description":"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!","og_description":"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/","og_site_name":"The arena swimming blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/","article_published_time":"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ATHLETE-PHOTOSHOOT-DIAMONDS_blog_800_600.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rebecca Gillis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@arenapeople","twitter_site":"@arenapeople","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca Gillis","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/"},"author":{"name":"Rebecca Gillis","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f3bb927f7109158c142463e68e000821"},"headline":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!","datePublished":"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/"},"wordCount":652,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["A Swimmer's life"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/","name":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-05-27T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-27T12:10:50+00:00","description":"We are competitive swimmers. We are athletes. It requires mental preparedness more than anything...By Rebecca Gillis","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/tough-times-dont-last-but-tough-people-do\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Swimmer's life","item":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/swimmer-life\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tough times don\u2019t last, but tough people do!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/","name":"The arena swimming blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization","name":"arena","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png","width":380,"height":268,"caption":"arena"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/instagram.com\/arenawaterinstinct","https:\/\/www.pinterest.it\/arenawaterinstinct\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/arenapeople","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/arenapeople"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f3bb927f7109158c142463e68e000821","name":"Rebecca Gillis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c03c640a8821a59a4dbdbc9a50050c56?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c03c640a8821a59a4dbdbc9a50050c56?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rebecca Gillis"},"description":"Hi! I\u2019ve been swimming competitively since I was eight years old, and enjoy documenting the ups and downs of life as an athlete. Most of my days are spent on the pool deck, since I also work as a coach for young children, and as a lifeguard. Other than that, I\u2019m a full time student and, like so many of my fellow swimmers, a food\/nap enthusiast.","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/author\/rgillis\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67244"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67244"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93961,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67244\/revisions\/93961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}