My favorite character in the movie Finding Nemo is Dory, who is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she keeps a positive outlook on life.  Her positive outlook and single-minded focus really helps Marlin to keep moving forward and not lose hope on his quest to find Nemo.  See this clip:

Now Dory’s advice when Marlin gets dejected, is to “Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!”

For our purposes, I’d like for you to consider both the metaphorical and the literal meanings.

First, the metaphorical:  This is great advice, even from a fish:  Just keep moving forward! It does not matter if you are moving slowly, or find obstacles in your way, but if you want to progress toward your goals, and grow as a person, you must keep moving forward!

Now in the sport of triathlon, there is also the literal aspect to consider.  It goes without saying that during the swim, the best advice is to just keep swimming. But like I already said, it goes without saying. So let me suggest instead a more practical way to approach the problem of just keeping swimming for those of you who are relative newcomers to the sport and/or generally fear the open water (which is most people).  The breast stroke is a stroke that can allow swimmers to lower their heart rates, catch their breaths, and sight ahead to make sure they are on track.  Thus, I suggest swimming freestyle for a specified number of strokes (you can experiment to see how long you can go before switching strokes, but practice counting strokes so you can focus on a specified target) and then switch to breast stroke as needed to re-group.  This will allow you to take a break while continuing to move forward.

This is not very different from taking walk breaks on the run.  I also think it is a good idea for most athletes to take walk breaks through the aid stations, but if you are new to running, you may want to take more frequent breaks to keep your heart rate lower.  Again, this is a way to regroup while still moving forward.

When biking, just keep moving forward.  Eat and drink as you go, and do not stop unless you have a mechanical problem and have no choice but to stop.

In transitions, keep making as much forward progress as possible. You will necessarily have to pause at the rack to get your gear and go, but don’t stop to have a snack and don’t sit down to rest.  Just keep moving and get in and out of transition as quickly as possible.

So, take Dory’s advice — both literally and figuratively — and just keep swimming! just keep swimming! just keep swimming!

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