Somewhere in the past two weeks, I've hit either a workout wall or some kind of mental burnout in swimming.
After finally completing 2000 yards (I am a natural sprinter, so I STRUGGLED), I quickly went downhill, first hardly breaking 1200 yards, then 600 yards, and last week, I had to get out at 150 yards. I'm not sure if it's because I started cross training in kickboxing or whether my workouts now fall in between me teaching two to three swimming classes in a row, or what, but I just feel burnt out and unmotivated (and now that the high school swim team has started practicing at the same time I begin laps, I feel even less motivated! :( )
Any suggestions on keeping my spirits up and getting past this burn out wall?
Parents
Former Member
I find that my enthusiasm ebbs and flows. As a youth, it became a 20 hours a week 'occupation', but I think it's important to remember that swimming is a hobby.
Here are some thoughts of mine.
First, although I want to swim fast, I always keep in mind that swimming is something I fit into my life rather than something I fit my life around. That means that if I have a heavy week at work, family commitments, or if I have something more interested on I will let the swimming go a little.
However, having not trained consistently for about 15 years or more, I make it important to work out every week - even if that's just once, and even if it's not in the pool.
I find that my enthusiasm to compete is very limited. As a father of 2, with a demanding job, why would I spend the whole weekend sitting on a poolside? So, it's important to me to be selective about the meets that I do. I normally do 3-5 masters meets a year.
I don't set too many goals. I know for many that would be counterintuitive, but when I compete I normally only have at best a 'ballpark' view of what's good and just enjoy the experience of trying to swim well. Funnily enough I've had less of a good year motivationally, and although that's in part due to illness (I suffer from ulcerative colitis, another thing I have to work around) I think it's also because I've started thinking about breaking records next year (when I'm 40). In the middle of this year I lost my enthusiasm completely. Goals can be helpful, but if I go back to my first point, as masters swimmers we're not always in control of our time, and therefore have to be careful about goals.
Variety is also important. I swim, run, gym and do yoga. I don't do all of them all of the time, but if I can't or don't want to do one, I can do the other. The variety also stops any one thing becoming too familiar, or boring.
Bottom line - what's important is staying fit and healthy. What helps is working out regularly. Swimming fast is less important (if we're sensible) at masters level, but if you're reasonably fit you'll swim at least reasonably fast. Don't sweat over the details, and if swimming isn't working for you at a point in time, do something else...
I find that my enthusiasm ebbs and flows. As a youth, it became a 20 hours a week 'occupation', but I think it's important to remember that swimming is a hobby.
Here are some thoughts of mine.
First, although I want to swim fast, I always keep in mind that swimming is something I fit into my life rather than something I fit my life around. That means that if I have a heavy week at work, family commitments, or if I have something more interested on I will let the swimming go a little.
However, having not trained consistently for about 15 years or more, I make it important to work out every week - even if that's just once, and even if it's not in the pool.
I find that my enthusiasm to compete is very limited. As a father of 2, with a demanding job, why would I spend the whole weekend sitting on a poolside? So, it's important to me to be selective about the meets that I do. I normally do 3-5 masters meets a year.
I don't set too many goals. I know for many that would be counterintuitive, but when I compete I normally only have at best a 'ballpark' view of what's good and just enjoy the experience of trying to swim well. Funnily enough I've had less of a good year motivationally, and although that's in part due to illness (I suffer from ulcerative colitis, another thing I have to work around) I think it's also because I've started thinking about breaking records next year (when I'm 40). In the middle of this year I lost my enthusiasm completely. Goals can be helpful, but if I go back to my first point, as masters swimmers we're not always in control of our time, and therefore have to be careful about goals.
Variety is also important. I swim, run, gym and do yoga. I don't do all of them all of the time, but if I can't or don't want to do one, I can do the other. The variety also stops any one thing becoming too familiar, or boring.
Bottom line - what's important is staying fit and healthy. What helps is working out regularly. Swimming fast is less important (if we're sensible) at masters level, but if you're reasonably fit you'll swim at least reasonably fast. Don't sweat over the details, and if swimming isn't working for you at a point in time, do something else...
