Fighting Bad MoJo in The Pool

I find it harder to swim when the water is warmer. This is the number one thing that keeps me out of the pool. They've been keeping my local pool at 86 all year. (I blame noodlers.) Just thinking about it makes me want to cancel my membership. At this point, the only thing keeping me there is the proximity - it's a 16-mile round trip instead of 60 miles.

Bad MoJo comes, usually, in my case, from other swimmers. Just get in the pool and swim. As mentioned above, create a Go the Distance FLOG, set a goal and work towards it. I swim after work at 5pm. On my days off I am in the pool when it opens at 5:30 am. Then I go back for a second round of swimming at 12noon, or 4pm. Make friends with other regular swimmers who are Masters swimmers, and who are not Masters swimmers. These other swimmers can be your best swimming support group, and, in my case, I receive a lot of encouragement from them. I also get some pretty good feedback, and swimming tips. Giving up is not an option I would choose.

Otter, One other thing. I have been swimming on my own for the past year or two. My yardage has definitely fallen. This fall I plan to connect with the masters swimming group at the YMCA where I swim (not USMS affiliated, mostly triathletes). They have a three-a-week option and a once-a-week option. Hopefully the latter will help. You might want to check to see if there's something similar where you swim. Even if you can't make all their practices, you might find it helps.

At least in my expereience as an adult, most of my MoJo is related to my psychological/emotional and even physical state, and that changes and is influenced by life and circumstances well outside the realm of swimming. Sometimes I'm up and sometimes not, but as someone else posted, i'm almost always up after swimming or other training activities. The key for me has been to make it habitual and make the habit as important as other high priority acitivites. Like they tell you on airplanes, 'put your own oxygen mask on first, and then put your kids on,' you need to survive if you are going to be able to help support dependents, and swimming and exercise will help sustain you and therefore them. I am of necessity almost always swimming solo, and don't have the benefit of team support and regular practice schedules, but i also have the flexibility to move things around to fit my schedule and to set my own workouts. In my case, i have to swim in the morning before work (evenings are often occupied and im often tired and unmotivated after work), which means i have to get to bed early enough to get rest and recover and i have to eat/drink to support training. For me this required a shift in lifestyle, but once i made that shift habitual and began to realize the benefits (healthier, happier, more energy, etc.), the training became easier to sustain.

Thanks for posting. It made me think.... unlike some of the folks here, I haven't figured out exactly what motivates me, but I have identified two hurdles: 1) getting up before the sun to jump in the pool 2) really hitting the workout hard and focusing on the point of the set rather than just getting through it For me, the first is just a decision, and as others have mentioned, remembering how good I'll feel for the rest of the day. The second one I'm still working on.

I have lofty goals and terrible self motivation - The perfect combo for failure and a return to TV and chips... The thing that actually gets me in the water is the people that I swim with. We have a great group of swimmers with a competitive/supportive relationship. Our coach seems to know how to capitalize on the competitive aspects by putting people in lanes where they have a "chase" situation. I have only been back in the water for a few months and the coach has keyed in on my need to challenge a more advanced swimmer. The result is that my self motivation gets me in the water and my teammates push me to my limits. p.s. The battle over water temp with the noodle-heads is annoying. I pity the pool-tender who has to deal with the constant bickering. But I am not below whining to him when the pool starts to resemble a hot tub with lane lines.

Otterski Great post, I do not post a lot but read the forum every day. Lots of lurkers like myself on this forum who are like you; thanks for being honest. I am a fat overweight 58 old ex athlete who started swiming a year ago. Went from doing 300 meters (stop and go) to doing 2000 meters every morning and 2400 if I feel good. Have lost 24 pounds without cutting back on my food and wine :) Do the flog, set a realistic goal, many days I dont want to get up at 5am and go to the pool but the flog gets my ass out of bed. Once I hit the water, I am good. Flog is free and a great motivator thanks for an inspirational post

you wrote: "I'm an overweight 52 year old man who has made a somewhat miraculous return to swimming. I've been swimming 4 to 6 times a week for about 12 weeks now." My workouts have progressed to about 1800 yards in about 50 minutes" your swim buddy quit, you found a small group of early morning Masters you find it very difficult to stay motivated swimming solo. you showed up one morning and no one was there, you swam alone and said: "I had ZERO MOJO, didn't want to be there, the voice in my head was screaming quit, quit already. I felt tired and lazy and barely managed to finish a sloppy 1500 yards." Does anyone have suggestions as to how to fight this feeling some days and how to stay motivated and determined everyday you go to swim? my advice to you is similar to what I wrote in this thread. It boils down to your mental process, your goals, your reasons, your plans, your self image and your self talk. What are your swimming goals? Why do you swim? What will you gain if you keep swimming and what will you LOSE if you QUIT? What plans have you made to reach your goals? How determined are you to reach your goals? All you have is this moment right now. Do what you need to do Your self image is who you think you are. Your self talk is what and how you say thinks to yourself. If you're doing negative self talk, switch the script, write down the self talk of the you you want to be. it could be something like this: "I've been overweight for ___ years & currently am over weight now. I'm fed up, I am transforming myself. I swim, walk, lift weights, and eat right. I am totally determined to reach my goal. Nothing can get in the way of me becoming the ME I am meant to be. I prefer to train with others, but if I show up and no one's there, I am going to do what I need to do. I'm that determined." So if you're thinking negative thoughts in your head, in your imagination turn down the volume, push the source of the sound further away and make it fuzzy Replace it with something that makes you feel emotionally charged and determined, something that makes you focus and take action. make that closer and clearer and louder

Here's a person's story of how the MoJo can spread to and from other members of your family and friends important to you. Doesn't matter if you are swimming or whatever, but if you don't want to be raising couch potatos: www.usatriathlon.org/.../family-fringe-benefits-061912.aspx

Here's a person's story of how the MoJo can spread to and from other members of your family and friends important to you. Doesn't matter if you are swimming or whatever, but if you don't want to be raising couch potatos: www.usatriathlon.org/.../family-fringe-benefits-061912.aspx Sojerz thanks so much for sharing that! In a non-athletic venue, it reminds me of when I went back for my doctorate (as an ARNP) - there was one woman at work who was indignant about my "Bragging" about going back to school - but interestingly enough, now four more of my old co-workers have also gone back to get their advanced nursing degrees too. One of my boys told me that he loved seeing me study, because it made him feel like he had more in common with me (he's a tennis player). My mojo goes right out the door when the water is too hot, and frequently when I have to swim solo. I used to joke that if there wasn't anyone to swim with, I would just do an 800 and go home. Only it wasn't a joke! I've gotten better & more disciplined now - and that GTD genie certainly helps, like Bobinator says! You'll need to pick up the pace to achieve your goal this year! (brother) Another thing that helps me when I have to swim solo is to use toys. I allow myself to put on fins, and play with my snorkel. Sometimes I see how many times I can lap the slow poke a few lanes down (or try and avoid getting lapped by the ex-Olympian swimmer a few lanes down!). When it's too hot though - I really am lucky to just do an 800 before I get out and call it quits. We all have these days & fortunately, after a while, we get our mojo back. :)