Count down to Nationals: 10 Days

We leave for Nationals in 10 days! 

I've decided to celebrate the 10 day countdown by posting something to help me get pumped up for ECCs each day. It'll vary between topics like taper strategies, getting psyched, goal setting, tech suits, etc. I also plan on having my teammate and absolute favorite freshman Josh help me with the countdown. He may be one of the only humans I've met who loves swimming as much as I do. 

Day 10: Pump up Playlist

I am a huge mental swimmer. Forgetting headphones at a meet is a death wish for me. Music helps me focus and psych up for sprint races. 

I typically make a new playlist for all my big meets i.e. the MUSC home invitational and ECC Nationals. I prefer loud music with a fast pace. I go through phases with artists, and right now I'm on a Kanye West/Jay Z/Childish Gambino kick. 

Ultimately my meet playlists are a huge jumble of music. I've got anything between 90s rap, Latin pop and top 40 jams. At the end of the day, I'll listen to whatever gets me psyched the most. 

So here's a rough draft of my ECC Nationals Playlist for 2015. The songs are in no particular order because I'll listen to them on Spotify which makes me shuffle them anyways. I'm also a huge swimming geek and name each of my meet playlists after a goal time I want for the meet/season. It's an extra reminder to keep me focused on my goals. 

******warning there are probably bad words/strong language in almost all of these songs. Listen at your own risk. If you can't handle a few four letter words, you probably shouldn't click on any of the songs**********

ECCs Playlist 2015: 24.8

I'm sure I'll add more in the next few days. You can follow along with my musical journey on Spotify as I add more and more pump up jams.

Have a suggestion for my pump-up playlist? Tweet me @katiegrunik and I'll add it to my playlist! 

Pre-meet rituals

This week is the first travel meet of the spring season for Mizzou Swim Club. Fourteen of us are traveling to Kansas State University. As we trek down I-70, I spoke to my teammates Leann, Paul and Jack about what gets them ready to compete in a meet.

Paul and myself agreed that music is a must-have before a swim meet. Topping Paul's get-psyched mix are selections from the techno and rap persuasion. My favorite pump-up song so far this season is "Till I Collapse" by Eminem. It's a classic.

Jack, on the other hand, chooses to prepare for the meet from the inside-out. He tries to eat as little as possible on the day of the meet. While this may work for Jack, not every person's body works the same way. I prefer to eat consistently throughout a meet. Food and I are very good friends.

We closed the conversation talking about our excitement for the weekend. Leann is excited just to be back in the pool with the team. We all agreed because this team is like our family, and there's nothing we would rather do than spend every waking moment together. For more about the team culture of swimming, check out my post from last week.

I'll post results and pictures from the weekend as we head to the pool tomorrow. For now, the road to Manhattan, Kansas, is long and flat, and we're getting hungry!