:badday:
So, I've been swimming on/off for 15 years now. I started in college, swam for the school and have been with Masters ever since. I spent a few years away from the pool, but was in the ocean every day surfing. Moved away from the ocean and have been in the pool religiously for the past 4 years, never missing a day unless the pool was closed for maintenance, it was a holiday, or I had a Doctor's appt.
I follow a coach's workout everyday. I am in the water for about 90 minutes daily and am always changing up strokes, drills, etc. You would think that there's no way I could get bored in the water, but, it's happening.
2012 has been a tough year for me. I was admitted into the hospital in ICU with severe pneumonia, severe sepsis, multiple organ failure and I even had a stroke. This was in April. I was in a coma for 21 days. I died on the ER table and had to be resuscitated. I pulled through and was eventually admitted to an inpatient care facility to learn to walk, talk, feed myself, etc. I harassesed the therapists daily to let me get in the water!!! I could NOT wait to get back in the pool!!!
Well, June comes and I'm in the water. Start back slow with easy workouts. 1200-1600 meters max. I eventually work up to my usual 2500-3000/day. Then, I notice in Sept., I am literally dreading going in for my workout. I put my fins on and coast through the whole thing just to get done and get out. WAY not normal for me.
Now, I have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. I swim cause it is supposedly the easiest on the joints, but lately, I'm having problems with swimming and my RA. I flare and can't move in the water, which then frustrates me, and then makes not want to swim. I used to do two workouts a day...I would swim and then do Power 90 (the baby version of P90X). But, doing that is what put me in the hospital. The doctors said I wore my body down so much that it could not fight off any infection. I have to take chemo meds to control my RA, which pretty much kills my immune system.
Basically, I'm not sure what to do. I LOVE swimming. I love the water. I love the glide. I love the feeling of freeness that swimming provides. But, I just don't love it anymore....I hope that makes sense.
Have any of you felt this way? How did you get past it? Is it just a funk? Should I take some time away from the pool? Thank you in advance!!!
Former Member
Thanks again guys! My workouts are printed from the web and I pretty much swim solo. I have a couple of friends I talk to at the pool, but we all do our own thing.
I used to do the aqua classes, and yes, hilarity did ensue. When my friend and I get going during the classes, we are unstoppable. And believe it or not, management was getting complaints about us because we "splashed too much and were getting their hair wet". Oh yeah, classic.
I love the pink gear and holiday-inspired gear!! I do the same thing. I have swim caps for the different holidays, and eventually will get some holiday suits when I drop some weight.
Overall, I think I'm going to take at least one day off from swimming per week. I need to listen to my body and when my joints hurt, take it easy!! I'm going to try and not look at the clock so much for a little while, but it is difficult as I'm just really competitive!!!
I don't really have anecdotal swimming advice but since it hasn't been mentioned yet. At times you may be able to do stuff like drills, seeing how far I can glide from a push; sculling forward, or in reverse; making up my own drills, floating and balancing acts. Train like a cat, not like a dog (whenever I train like a dog I spend the remaining day wearing ice bags).
Please listen to yourself, distinguish between whether your experiencing negative sensory cues or just blues related motivation levels, then act appropriately.
Yesterday I attended a masters workout and was talking to the mother of a teenager I used to swim with on my USA Swimming team. I was asking about him since he hasn't been swimming with the team this fall. Turns out he decided to take some time off from club swimming and is rowing instead. I knew he'd had a difficult year in the pool. He felt bad in the water, was swimming slow and just generally feeling miserable yet it was still a difficult decision to quit swimming--even if just for a few months. Swimming was what he had done for so long it was part of how he defined himself. She said that he's now having a great time rowing and is looking forward to swimming with his high school swim team in the winter. I have a feeling he'll swim well AND enjoy himself doing it.
Sometimes we all just need to switch things up a little. You get into a routine and it can be very difficult to break from it even though it should be obvious that that routine is making you miserable. This is true whether it's a relationship, your job or a sport. Life is too previous to go through being unhappy for the majority of the time!
2012 has been a tough year for me.
In Sept., I am literally dreading going in for my workout.
I'm not sure what to do. I LOVE swimming. I love the water. I love the glide. I love the feeling of freeness that swimming provides. But, I just don't love it anymore....I hope that makes sense.
Have any of you felt this way?
How did you get past it?
Is it just a funk?
Should I take some time away from the pool? Thank you in advance!!!
You've faced some serious challenges, I'm not sure what the best course is for you.
Consider changing your self talk, the things you say and how you say it.
Write a script and read it
when you wake
before you swim and
just before you go to bed
Consider pretending as if you are an extremely passionate positive person who is having a mad crazy love affair with swimming.
Get a goal, pick something, you need a reason that excites you, something that makes you wake up early and train hard.
If none of those work, maybe take a break.
You've gotten lots of helpful advice already, and it sounds like you are already on the right track. But I just wanted to add my support! And a few extra words. Sometimes I love swimming more passionately than other times. Sometimes I push myself whether I'm "feeling the love" or not. That's what we do. We're swimmers! I know that if I just get in and get working, I'll probably be loving it before 200 yards have gone by. And if not, then I'll love it the next time, right? Because it's always more fun when you're in good shape. That's how it is for us swimmers.
But sometimes "just get in and get working" is NOT the answer. We've learned to ignore the little voice that tells us to just be lazy, to skip a workout, to sluff off. We're so good at "just doing it". But sometimes we need to listen to that lazy voice, sometimes the answer is TAKE A BREAK. Or TAKE IT EASY today. Remember, the body builds its strength when we're resting!
Skipping a day and taking a nap during your usual practice-time is a really delicious feeling!
I've finally learned that if I take a few days away from the pool, including a day or two of no exercise whatsoever, I come back just raring to go. I hope this will work for you as well.
Sometimes my workouts are more driven by fear of losing ground than by love of swimming. That's when I stop looking forward to them and they become something to get over with. When I start feeling that way too often, I change my workouts to things that don't require me to see how fast I'm going. Like a long straight swim where I alternate easy-hard swimming, or sets with intervals of "10 seconds rest" instead of on a set time. Then I don't feel that pressure of "Did I go faster than I did the last time I did this set?".
Anyways, you have been through so much. You are a survivor, a real tough customer! It's time to cut yourself a little slack.
One comment about the RA which might currently be under treatment with medication. This particular family of pharmaceuticals is known to cause a variety of side effects including depression, lack of motivation and weight gain.
Having been diagnosed with fibromyalgia (as a result of several bouts of Lyme disease from those cute little deer ticks), I was prescribed something to help alleviate the constant pain and general feeling of blah. This stuff was like poison for me. Without going into too much detail I wish they never made drugs like this. I had lack of motivation, despondency, and feelings of just wanting to throw in the towel on everything. The pills went in the trash before the three month prescription elapsed.
A long story short I went somewhat holistic and became determined to overcome the problems without any help from the big pharma companies (which in my opinion are in kahootz with doctors as far as some sort of incentive program). Well, a couple of years have passed and things are markedly better. Everyone is different but sometimes the best remedies are often the most simple.
I agree with quicksilver that you might have a component of depression mixed up with this. And that would be understandable given your year.
Like others said, don't beat yourself up, just do what you can do, listen to your body when it can't do more, and get your strength back. I imagine you'll be surprised at how much happier you are to get back into the water if you take a small break to gather your strength and then let yourself just enjoy the feel of the water without looking at the pace clock to much.
There is a time and a place for everything. Now is the time to heal.
(((hugs)))
I agree with quicksilver that you might have a component of depression mixed up with this. And that would be understandable given your year.
Like others said, don't beat yourself up, just do what you can do, listen to your body when it can't do more, and get your strength back. I imagine you'll be surprised at how much happier you are to get back into the water if you take a small break to gather your strength and then let yourself just enjoy the feel of the water without looking at the pace clock to much.
There is a time and a place for everything. Now is the time to heal.
(((hugs)))
I agree with what everyone has said here.
I've only recently gotten back in the water. My last year of swimming was miserable on many levels and it left me with a really bad taste in my mouth. It took a long time to overcome that, and in my case it really does seem to help with my health issues.
One factor that really helped rekindle my love for the sport was reading Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton. It's a memoir of sorts (really more a collection of vignettes related to swimming along with artwork). She swam at two Canadian Olympic Trials in the 1980s.
It's probably not the thing if you like to have very straightforward narratives, but I found it incredibly beautiful. She was really able to put into words some of the memories and feelings I had about swimming.
