I have been doing a fair bit of swimming and running recently. The Ace summed it up nicely for me on Friday: "You're not swimming anymore, you're training."

I have been muttering here and elsewhere about the boredom of repetitive training, and while out for a run (15km) on Saturday I had a bit of an emotional moment. I know that my body is fit enough for 15 kilometres, but my mind wasnt really cooperating. I finished the distance in a longer then expected time (there was a bit of walking), but at least I completed what I set out to do. I was talking to Sinead after the run about my mind letting me down, and she pointed me toward Rene Descartes, who got the point 370 years ago.  **N.B. Sinead hates Descartes. I am reasonably inclined to agree as the school of rationalism seems to be entirely attended by dicks.**

Descartes summarized:
Cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore I exist etc. There is a world class amount of guff surrounding this (I have proved existence by saying something really clever. Look at me!)

But later on he also fathered the concept of Mind-Body dichotomy or Dualism.

From Wikipedia:

"Descartes suggested that the body works like a machine, that it has the material properties of extension and motion, and that it follows the laws of physics. The mind (or soul), on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and does not follow the laws of physics. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Most of the previous accounts of the relationship between mind and body had been uni-directional."

Now, apart from the pineal gland craziness and the fact that he thought only humans have minds, this is good stuff. Philosophers have been arguing about it ever since (of course), thats what they don't get paid for. Descartes, if he were to come back today, would probably be amazed by what he kicked off. He probably coughed out the idea of dualism before his afternoon schnapps one morning and 400 years later people are still arguing about it. I like the idea of dualism over monism. Monism states there is no fundamental division between body and mind. I think in regards to monism over dualism, philosophers are swimming, not training. I find it easier to train when I divorce my mind from my body. But herein I have laid a philosophical trap for myself. Oh! The whimsy! After a conversation with Sinead over a reasonably priced Sauvignon Blanc, I discovered that the divorce of mind and body while training is actually of a form of monism. I bet you are blown away! The theory goes that you are not actually separating mind and body, but in fact that they are instinctually together. The textbook book definition of monism. If you are in the zone, your mind cedes to your body and they work as one. It now appears I am a monist.

But that's not all (and a pint of beer for you if you have got this far, just comment to claim it), all of this is empirical and subject to Qualia. Qualia is a fancy word for the subjective experience of external received stimuli. Thus, mental states have the property of being experienced subjectively in different ways by different individuals. This is leading toward me sports psychology, and my psychology. If sports psychology espouses monism, which I think is likely (Though, I expect it depends on the therapist), then trying to apply a form of mind-body synchronicity over mind-body dualism would be more likely route for me to follow, or at least try to achieve.  Also, because of Qualia if I find my mental magic bullet, what works for me may not work for you.  I have got an underwater MP3 player in the mail this morning, I am going to put audiobooks on it to try and force a division between my mental and physical states.  I figure I can let my body do its thing, while diverting my mind elsewhere. Subconsciously my body will feeding my brain instructions leading me into a monist state. 

I hope I remember to breathe.