I have a question for all my fellow friends on the board. I am 21 years old and I have been swimming since I was 14. I took a year off age 19-20. So I recently started swimming again. Since that time I have dropped a lot of time in my events and I have been in the best shape of my life. I really want to see how much faster I can become. I swim back and distance free with the occasional *** race.
This past fall and spring I swam with my masters team around 6,000 scy or 5000 LCM a day (2hr practice) as well as lifting 3x a week. I was often sore but it was good and I was improving. This summer however, I have been training with a US team. They are a faster than my masters team and I have enjoyed the challenge. Because of this practices are a bit more intense but we only swim 4,000 to 4,500 LCM (practices are an hour and a half instead of two). I have been lifting 2-3 times a week. However this is my limit. I have never pushed so hard in my life. Last week I was unable to make any of the times by quite a bit that I usually do (this was Thursday and Friday). I was too sore and it wasn't possible. I was dead. I am very driven and tend to push my self regardless of how I feel however, I have never felt this worn out and physically restricted.
So my question is this. Is this normal to be that worn out? I feel like I went down in yardage but I am more tired and exhausted. That alone has made me frustrated. I eat pretty healthy but I know I could do better. Do you think that is it? Am I pushing too hard? Is it all mental and I just need to push through it? Is this normal to be this sore?
Any thoughts are welcome. If there is other information I can give let me know.
I feel like I went down in yardage but I am more tired and exhausted. That alone has made me frustrated. I eat pretty healthy but I know I could do better. Do you think that is it? Am I pushing too hard? Is it all mental and I just need to push through it? Is this normal to be this sore?
Yardage is a poor standalone metric for training stress, IMO. As your thread title implies, it is also about intensity. I doubt it is mental.
Don't underestimate the impact of increased intensity. It is not at all surprising to me that you can decrease yardage but increase intensity and feel more tired. This is real -- physical, not psychological -- and a good training plan allows for recovery too.
Besides eating healthy make sure you are sleeping well.
I feel like I went down in yardage but I am more tired and exhausted. That alone has made me frustrated. I eat pretty healthy but I know I could do better. Do you think that is it? Am I pushing too hard? Is it all mental and I just need to push through it? Is this normal to be this sore?
Yardage is a poor standalone metric for training stress, IMO. As your thread title implies, it is also about intensity. I doubt it is mental.
Don't underestimate the impact of increased intensity. It is not at all surprising to me that you can decrease yardage but increase intensity and feel more tired. This is real -- physical, not psychological -- and a good training plan allows for recovery too.
Besides eating healthy make sure you are sleeping well.
