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 began with 9 x 50's the first week and have progressed to about 1800 yards in about 50 minutes (typically 2x450's, 200 kick with fins, 5x100's free, pull or paddles, and 4x 50's). I had a swim buddy but he finally decided that he just hated getting in the pool so he quit on me. So I found a small group of Masters swimmers at my club who swim early morning at 5:15 AM and I joined them this week because I find it very difficult to stay motivated swimming solo.
When I showed up this morning no one was there, so I jumped in and started swimming. 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. I've felt this way in the pool before and I think it's how my buddy felt and why he quit. 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? I mean it's 5:00 AM and you're already there, why not just bust it out and finish your workout. Thanks for listening to my personal appeal for help.
I hear ya on that one, Celestial! :bitching: Hot water will kill my mojo even more than noodlers complaining I am "splashing" and getting their hair wet! Swimming in water too warm is just about the only thing that kills my mojo. Getting motivated to swim is almost never an issue; it's usually harder to tell myself it's time to stop already and get out! :D
We ALL have up :applaud:& down :badday:days & mornings! I ,at times ,just go thru the motions to get in the pool to find out 1/2 the way into practice ---I'm feeling better about myself!!!:)
I agree with the previous posters who say take off a few days to get back into things, but I caution against taking off too much time. I went on vacation in April and tried to stick to a routine and failed. What started as a three week break turned into four months out of the pool :-O Maybe try swimming at a differnt time of the day, when there are other swimmers, or invest in a waterproof Ipod to keep you going.
Bad mojo, I sympathize with you. That empty feeling of not wanting to swim can be a real bummer.
You mentioned you finished 1500. Congratulations. You're a champion in my book!
First of all, just getting to the pool is a win for the day, so congrats on that. How many other people in your town did that today? You mentioned you were alone, sooo, that means no one! You beat them all! I too have trouble staying motivated when swimming on my own, right now our pools are closed for maintenance and I have one more week of solo swimming at my sports club (yeah, another 85 degree pool but I have to make do) before masters practices resume the 17th (hopefully). It helps me to have a planned practice prior to arriving at the pool. Have you checked out the coaches workouts in this forum? They do a great job. You don't have to do the practice exactly as presented either, remember you are a Master now! You get to pick and choose. If nothing else try a set that is new to you that looks interesting and remember if you still aren't feeling it when you are in the pool you can quit then. 99% of the time once I "trick" myself into showing up on the pool deck I end up finishing my practice if I have something planned.
I don't know what's wrong with all of you. I am primed and eager for every single solitary workout of the countless workouts I do each week.
I am ready to kick butt and take names, and I perform to the best of my abilities at all times.
I am certainly NEVER lacking in motivation, regardless of how much sleep I've had, whether I am healthy or sick, my nutrition, or what is going on with my family or work.
If I could, I'd train 24-hours a day, all at the peak of my abilities. And I ALWAYS do a double. No matter what.
You people? L-A-Z-Y!
I don't know what's wrong with all of you. I am primed and eager for every single solitary workout of the countless workouts I do each week.
I am ready to kick butt and take names, and I perform to the best of my abilities at all times.
I am certainly NEVER lacking in motivation, regardless of how much sleep I've had, whether I am healthy or sick, my nutrition, or what is going on with my family or work.
If I could, I'd train 24-hours a day, all at the peak of my abilities. And I ALWAYS do a double. No matter what.
You people? L-A-Z-Y! :lmao:
I don't know what's wrong with all of you. I am primed and eager for every single solitary workout of the countless workouts I do each week.
I am ready to kick butt and take names, and I perform to the best of my abilities at all times.
I am certainly NEVER lacking in motivation, regardless of how much sleep I've had, whether I am healthy or sick, my nutrition, or what is going on with my family or work.
If I could, I'd train 24-hours a day, all at the peak of my abilities. And I ALWAYS do a double. No matter what.
You people? L-A-Z-Y!
This entire post should be my new signature line...it's great!
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.
I'm beginning to think that water temp is more of an issue than I originally thought. My pool's been running at 89-90° for the past 2.5 months. It's caused me to greatly reduce my swims in both intensity and duration. It's supposed to be kept at 85°, which is still a bit warm, but tolerable. This Monday I was able to swim with my daughter's team in a different pool, and it was 82°. I wanted to cry it was so nice. Long story short, hot water can zap mojo in a big way, at least for me. :bliss:
