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?
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...
If I feel burn out coming on I:
take it easy
have a life away from the pool (it's just swimming)
think about why I'm feeling that way
get extra sleep
Seems like great advice, the journey is long, swimiming isn't easy, and there is plenty of room to stop, start, and try other things along the way.
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...
If I feel burn out coming on I:
take it easy
have a life away from the pool (it's just swimming)
think about why I'm feeling that way
get extra sleep
Seems like great advice, the journey is long, swimiming isn't easy, and there is plenty of room to stop, start, and try other things along the way.
