Giving Up on the clock

Giving up on the clock does not mean that you have to give up... and you do not have to give up on the clock entirely, maybe just look at it less. I reckon it depends on what you're used to, and what your perspective is. All my life I've mostly practiced on my own, and never really participated in structured workouts. All things considered, I've always been relatively fast... faster than most folks anyway. But speed has never really been my main goal, just a byproduct. Technique has always been my main focus. In 1995, at age 37, I basically had to re-learn to swim due to a very debilitating arthritic condition. I decided to simply do as much as I could in 45 minutes, and go from there. It wasn't much at first, and it took a lot of patience (etc.), but it was easy to see progress as I added yardage and strokes in that time period. Even on my worst days, I'd still spend 45min. in the pool. I started off swimming 5 to 6 days a week... now I try to swim every other day. Even after all this time I find that fatigue is my biggest problem (my health condition still persists, but more controlled), so a day of rest in-between swims now allows me to swim harder and get more distance on my swimming days. The only time I've looked at the clock was to see when my time was up, or to see if I was getting the same thing done in less (or more) time... to measure progress (or good and bad days). In 2000 I started hitting some meets, and did so for several years. There was a fairly active meet schedule in the region I lived in at the time, so it was fun to get official times. The people were a big plus too. :-D There really wasn't any way I could compete with "normal" healthy "competitive" swimmers in my age bracket (I was usually in heats with folks 10-20 years older than me), so it was all about maintaining or improving. Maintaining was fine at that point. Like I said... perspective is important... and I never want to go back to where I started. Not anytime soon anyway. When I started my relearning process in 1995 I could not lift my arms out of the water, nor could I lift my elbows above my shoulders, even floating in the water. So all I could do was ***-stroke, and it took probably 30 strokes, and several minutes to go the length of the pool (25yds). I had to rest for a minute or more at each end. In the very beginning I could do 300yds in 45min. Going 5-6 days a week I was able to add some distance and reduce my stroke count fairly quick, but it was months before I realized I could lift my arm out of the water in a back crawl fashion... though I still could not get my elbow past my shoulder. (I had a really crummy HMO that would not approve any substantial PT for me, but I had worked in a medical rehab facility before, so I knew something had to be done... it was just solely up to me to do it.) It was about 18 months before I could consistently do 25yds (1x/practice) of front crawl. Yes, it was a long haul, but there is no price for regaining mobility. It took a year or two, but I remember hitting a plateau of 1,200yds in 45min. that I was at for a very long time. In 2000 I decided to try fly. I'd never really learned to do it. In 2001 I did a fly event in a meet. That is another long story, and if you search the archives using my "nick" you will see a lot of posts about my take on butterfly. The short version is that it took 3-5 years or more to get substantially proficient (again, all self-taught, on my own), but in more recent years I've been getting some very nice compliments from some really fantastic swimmers that I have a lot of respect for. I cannot say that I'd recommend my method to everyone... you will do better faster with a good coach... but for me personally the process has been very rewarding. :-) My peak since 1995 was in 2008. I was swimming 2,400yds+ in about 90+min. I've always had to stop a lot and rest. At that time I was mostly doing 100-300 intervals... in whatever time it took me to do them. Right now my conditioning is a bit off, but the muscle mass and response is still there. I recently made a move where I should be able to focus more on my swimming again (I've been slacking since 2009, barely maintaining really). By this Fall, or the New Year at the latest, I intend to be back close to where I was in 2008. Time will tell. Right now I can fairly easily knock off about 1,400yds in 45min. I do something of all 4 competitive strokes in pretty much equal amounts every time I swim... I like the balance. Fly is still my favorite challenge. ;-) I've always been very goal oriented, so that is what has allowed me to do what I do. I believe it will still be a while before I need a wheelchair, but if I did not do what I do, I'd probably be in one now. I'm confident that my rheumatologist would agree. The most important thing to me is to set realistic goals, be flexible about them, and not beat myself up over them. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it right. :-D I've met some fantastic swimmers by visiting the pool as often as I do, and through USMS. My membership has been lapsed for a while now, but I'd like to get back in it and go to some meets again. (Maybe this Fall.... ;-) I love the people. Be Well... Have Fun! :-)

Giving up on the clock does not mean that you have to give up... and you do not have to give up on the clock entirely, maybe just look at it less. I reckon it depends on what you're used to, and what your perspective is. All my life I've mostly practiced on my own, and never really participated in structured workouts. All things considered, I've always been relatively fast... faster than most folks anyway. But speed has never really been my main goal, just a byproduct. Technique has always been my main focus. In 1995, at age 37, I basically had to re-learn to swim due to a very debilitating arthritic condition. I decided to simply do as much as I could in 45 minutes, and go from there. It wasn't much at first, and it took a lot of patience (etc.), but it was easy to see progress as I added yardage and strokes in that time period. Even on my worst days, I'd still spend 45min. in the pool. I started off swimming 5 to 6 days a week... now I try to swim every other day. Even after all this time I find that fatigue is my biggest problem (my health condition still persists, but more controlled), so a day of rest in-between swims now allows me to swim harder and get more distance on my swimming days. The only time I've looked at the clock was to see when my time was up, or to see if I was getting the same thing done in less (or more) time... to measure progress (or good and bad days). In 2000 I started hitting some meets, and did so for several years. There was a fairly active meet schedule in the region I lived in at the time, so it was fun to get official times. The people were a big plus too. :-D There really wasn't any way I could compete with "normal" healthy "competitive" swimmers in my age bracket (I was usually in heats with folks 10-20 years older than me), so it was all about maintaining or improving. Maintaining was fine at that point. Like I said... perspective is important... and I never want to go back to where I started. Not anytime soon anyway. When I started my relearning process in 1995 I could not lift my arms out of the water, nor could I lift my elbows above my shoulders, even floating in the water. So all I could do was ***-stroke, and it took probably 30 strokes, and several minutes to go the length of the pool (25yds). I had to rest for a minute or more at each end. In the very beginning I could do 300yds in 45min. Going 5-6 days a week I was able to add some distance and reduce my stroke count fairly quick, but it was months before I realized I could lift my arm out of the water in a back crawl fashion... though I still could not get my elbow past my shoulder. (I had a really crummy HMO that would not approve any substantial PT for me, but I had worked in a medical rehab facility before, so I knew something had to be done... it was just solely up to me to do it.) It was about 18 months before I could consistently do 25yds (1x/practice) of front crawl. Yes, it was a long haul, but there is no price for regaining mobility. It took a year or two, but I remember hitting a plateau of 1,200yds in 45min. that I was at for a very long time. In 2000 I decided to try fly. I'd never really learned to do it. In 2001 I did a fly event in a meet. That is another long story, and if you search the archives using my "nick" you will see a lot of posts about my take on butterfly. The short version is that it took 3-5 years or more to get substantially proficient (again, all self-taught, on my own), but in more recent years I've been getting some very nice compliments from some really fantastic swimmers that I have a lot of respect for. I cannot say that I'd recommend my method to everyone... you will do better faster with a good coach... but for me personally the process has been very rewarding. :-) My peak since 1995 was in 2008. I was swimming 2,400yds+ in about 90+min. I've always had to stop a lot and rest. At that time I was mostly doing 100-300 intervals... in whatever time it took me to do them. Right now my conditioning is a bit off, but the muscle mass and response is still there. I recently made a move where I should be able to focus more on my swimming again (I've been slacking since 2009, barely maintaining really). By this Fall, or the New Year at the latest, I intend to be back close to where I was in 2008. Time will tell. Right now I can fairly easily knock off about 1,400yds in 45min. I do something of all 4 competitive strokes in pretty much equal amounts every time I swim... I like the balance. Fly is still my favorite challenge. ;-) I've always been very goal oriented, so that is what has allowed me to do what I do. I believe it will still be a while before I need a wheelchair, but if I did not do what I do, I'd probably be in one now. I'm confident that my rheumatologist would agree. The most important thing to me is to set realistic goals, be flexible about them, and not beat myself up over them. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it right. :-D I've met some fantastic swimmers by visiting the pool as often as I do, and through USMS. My membership has been lapsed for a while now, but I'd like to get back in it and go to some meets again. (Maybe this Fall.... ;-) I love the people. Be Well... Have Fun! :-)