Psychology of Masters Swimming - Your Input Please

For me, the toughest part is convincing myself that the work is worth the reward when the reward is more than a few weeks away. At least once a week I find myself looking for excuses to skip the next morning's practice. The second toughest part is putting in the full effort when I'm swimming on my own. This has become less of a problem since I've discovered the diversity of workouts available here on the forums, and the social aspect of blogging and reading other peoples' blogs. Having my in-practice times in writing on the Internets gives me something to chase for the next workout. And sometimes I feel guilt, or disappointment, or something along those lines, about that day my freshman year of college when I decided that I just didn't want to get up early to go to practice anymore. I use that as motivation now.

Haven't been on here in a while, but, swimming used to be my escape from everything else. It was my sanity. Got to the point where I was doing between 7-10k a day. Then a couple of years ago I was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome. This put a quick end to anything more than a couple thousand yards a day. After SCY Nats in Atlanta, I haven't done much swimming at all. Started playing and competing in Racquetball again, but that's not going real well either. It's about time to make an appointment with a Rheumatologist to see what options are available. One thing can be said for this...it has slowed me down to enjoy things in life again...:2cents:

For me, the toughest part is convincing myself that the work is worth the reward when the reward is more than a few weeks away. At least once a week I find myself looking for excuses to skip the next morning's practice. The second toughest part is putting in the full effort when I'm swimming on my own. This has become less of a problem since I've discovered the diversity of workouts available here on the forums, and the social aspect of blogging and reading other peoples' blogs. Having my in-practice times in writing on the Internets gives me something to chase for the next workout. And sometimes I feel guilt, or disappointment, or something along those lines, about that day my freshman year of college when I decided that I just didn't want to get up early to go to practice anymore. I use that as motivation now. Great start - thanks!

I don't know exactly if this helps, but here it is: I started swimming competitively when I was 5-6 years old. I loved the water but didn't enjoy the competition. I didn't like having all the focus on me and was anxious that in swimming you only have one chance, whereas in soccer or lacrosse (my other passions) you can always make a comeback. Swimming was just something I had to do because my parents made me. I didn't love it. None of my friends swam so socially it wasn't that fun because I never got very close with any other people on my team. This feeling continued through High School. I was a decent swimmer, not great, probably average or a hair above, but by no means phenomenal. In 2007 (at the age of 17) I was in a really bad car accident leaving me with permanent back damage and pain. Soccer and Lacrosse became out of the question as the resulting pain from running and getting hit was too intense. Swimming became the only sport I could really do tolerably. I began to excel, and finished high school being one of the top swimmers in my division. Last year I took a break from swimming due to pain. I became very out of shape, lost probably about 20lbs, and just wasn't happy. I realized that the pain being out of shape and inactive was about the same as being in shape and swimming. I started swimming again, and now I'm doing 3000-4000 yards per day. It's not easy since I'm in college, taking 6 classes and 2 labs, onto of an internship. Scheduling can be hard, but I make it work- even if I end my workout at 10:30 at night. As depressing as my back situation sounds, I has had it's benefits. It tore away the reasons covering my enjoyment of swimming. The anxiety and the social concerns, etc. It made me realize that I actually like the sport for what it was and that the things I didn't like were ancillary. I live a very busy life, and swimming is my way to let out all that tension. I can swim and think about nothing, and it's a great feeling. Motivation can be tough, but I know this really is one of the only physical activities I can still do without being in excruciating pain. Soccer, Skiing, Swimming, Tennis- even Golf just are not feasible. I think another source of motivation for me is my regret that I didn't enjoy and appreciate swimming when I was younger. I feel like I would be a better swimmer and somehow a better person had I realized my enjoyment of the sport at an earlier age. I'm currently not competing. I think I have this fear that I will never be as good as I was in high school. I think it's a little irrational, considering I'm only 21 and could have been swimming for a college team. I certainly still have plenty of potential left. There is also the time factor though. I'm not sure my schedule is flexible enough to fit in meets. I guess the major things I have to manage are: Time, motivation, regret, and chronic pain

Haven't been on here in a while, but, swimming used to be my escape from everything else. It was my sanity. Got to the point where I was doing between 7-10k a day. Then a couple of years ago I was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome. This put a quick end to anything more than a couple thousand yards a day. After SCY Nats in Atlanta, I haven't done much swimming at all. Started playing and competing in Racquetball again, but that's not going real well either. It's about time to make an appointment with a Rheumatologist to see what options are available. One thing can be said for this...it has slowed me down to enjoy things in life again...:2cents: But in Tracy's case, I will get him back in the water for my December trip there! Right, Tracy? As for me, I started swimming at age 4, competing at 5, following in my sister's footsteps. I swam year round until 14 when we moved and the schedule was just too much. I continued HS and swimmer league until college where I stopped completely. I got back in to it when my sister went to Nationals in 2000. I thought "if she can do that, I can too". So my main motivation was my sister yet again. At the time I started back my thyroid was bad and I was gaining weight. No matter what I tried, I couldn't stop gaining. I got back in the water and felt at home. Within 8 months I had lost the 30 lbs I had gained and felt wonderful. Now my motivation is keeping that weight off. My sister no longer competes in swimming (she does Ironman instead which I will NOT follow her footsteps!) but she still practices with a team so we still have that connection. I swim with age groupers who are fast! I'm almost always the slowest one in practice. It's an ego-killer every day but when they give me kudos, it boosts me back up. As for what can kill my motivation, going to bed at 8pm. When I swim, I get up at 4am which means a very early night the night before. There are times when I want to stay up and relax, spend time with my husband, watch something on tv but then I think about the feeling I'll have the next day and I go to bed. I do find a balance of mommy guilt/ time is hard. The morning practices are easy to get to since my son isn't awake and I get home in time for my husband to go to work. But the weekend meets can easily have mommy guilt. My husband is a great supporter of me but guilt can still seep in. At some point my husband will change jobs and have to leave a lot earlier for work which means no more team swimming for me. When that day comes, it will be very difficult for me.

I swam in summer leagues until I was 12. I begged my parents to let me swim year round on a club but had no luck with that. I don't blame them. I wasn't deprived of activities growing up and a swim team would have been stretching it. 30 years later I'm basically living a childhood dream. Getting up early 6 days a week for a long hard practice is no problem for me. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to do it. My biggest worry is injuries. I'd be devastated if I had to stop swimming for any length of time. Swimming does take time away from family. I am able to swim and be home before everyone wakes up but I also have to go to bed fairly early at night. When I don't swim, it aggrivates the arthritis in my back and I end up in bed for a day or two every month or so in severe pain. I think my family prefers me not complaining about my back all the time. Overall, swimming is a huge net positive for me. There are aches and pains to manage, anxieties over injury and time issues. But the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

I was swimming 4 years starting from 8. When I was 12 I was fed up by 7 to 10 kilometers workouts every day (though 10km were splited in 2 workouts a day). Seems that time it was common coaching methodology but I couldn't understand why do I need all these long sets if the event I swam that time was 100 brest. Though we had such a long workouts didn't have good endurance to swim 200 and 50 was not in the list during that time. So finally after my result was standing still for 1 year and I couldn't drop even 0.1 of a second I decided to quit. I didn't even approach swimming pools for 25 years and didn't have any desire to return. But now after 5 years working in the office at computer I started to pickup some weight. 2 years ago my weight was already 220lbs but the worst thing I found was high blood pressure so when I visited a doc she said that the only way for me is to start doing some sports and swimming is the best option she told. It actually took me about 1 year to make myself to get to the pool after that. Now I'm swimming already 2 years and the best thing is that I enjoy it again. At the beginning I was swimming for fitness only - I never thought about becomming competitive again but after a year and something I realized that I became fit enough and fitness only doesn't satisfy me anymore and I wanted to compete - that's how I found masters club in my city. My weight now is 182lbs and the main thing is that since the time I started swimming my blood pressure is absolutely normal. Hope it will remain the same in future.

But in Tracy's case, I will get him back in the water for my December trip there! Right, Tracy? Was going to get in this Friday and see what I can do...I do float well now!!! LOL

I'd really like to hear your own views on what you have to manage as a masters swimmer. This doesn't have to relate to racing specifically. TIME TIME TIME...! I read that a lot in this thread. It's been an issue for me as well. I started "Fitness/lap swimming" 30 years ago in my 20s. Have never competed except against my own time. Training for a triathlon back then, my wife had 3 toddlers in diapers, I was away training early morning, working 8 hours, then training in the evening. How selfish was that?? I quit the triathlon training. Now I'm retired. They say that when you stop working, your physical fitness needs to become your main job. But still..., I'm in the pool for an hour, but house -> locker room (5 min away) -> gym warm-up -> and back home is more like 2 hours out of my day! When am I supposed to work on my taxes AND practice guitar which I have belatedly decided to learn, AND AND AND...??!! (I'm a guy and struggle with multitasking) :)

Unlike the majority of folks here, I have no background in age group, HS, or college swimming at all. Moreover, I had no experience in any team sports whatsoever when I was younger. For a number of reasons, I was never afforded the opportunity. One thing I personally love about masters is that it gives me the chance to do something as an adult that I always felt I missed out on when I was younger: compete in athletic events as part of a team. However, I wasn't even aware of the existence of masters swimming until I was in my late 30s. Although I have made great strides since I began, I do have to manage a sense of, I don't quite know what it is - frustration, disappointment, maybe - that at age 41, not only am I unlikely to fully realize whatever potential I might have had with an earlier start, but that the window in which I can accomplish certain goals in terms of performance is not particularly large. But that certainly is not to say that I don't get a tremendous amount of enjoyment and satisfaction from swimming. I just wish I had discovered it years earlier!