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?
After suffering post-abusive-youth-program burnout for 33 years, when I came back to swimming I realized that avoiding burnout was my #1 priority. The first and only important goal on my New Year's resolutions is,
#1. Keep it fun. Still be in swimming at the end of the year.
Know thyself. "Keeping it fun" is all about doing what I think is fun, not what anybody else thinks is fun. I think training for meets and going to meets is fun, so I do a lot of that. Many people are motivated by the "Go the Distance" program, and I respect that, but it's not for me. I refuse to be yardage-driven. So I don't do it.
Over the past couple of years, I've invented a bunch of sometimes-crazy, sometimes not-so-crazy projects for myself to sustain my interest. Yes, this is a sometimes-peculiar idea of "fun":
Swim a 1650 free in competition
Swim a 400 IM in competition
Swim a 200 fly in competition
Swim the 3000 yd. postal event
Check-off challenge: Swim all events at least once in competition
Swim at least one meet each SCY, LCM, and SCM each year
Go to nationals!
Swim 200 races in USMS meets before aging up
Swim an 800 IM in practice
Swim a 500 fly in competition (it was a senior olympics meet)
Swim a 1000 fly in practice
Swim a "Brute Squad" workout (400 IM, 200 fly, 1650 free)
Swim a "Double Brute Squad" workout (800 IM, 400 fly, 3300 free)
Swim an open water mile
And I'm just getting started! There are lots of fun things to look forward to: I just discovered open water swimming this year, and I like it! There's obviously a lot of fun to be had in open water swimming. The Pan American Masters Championships are in Sarasota next June, I'd like to go! The FINA World Masters Championships are in Montreal in 2014, I am so there!
My recipe for avoiding burnout is to actively, consciously, deliberately, purposefully, creatively make it fun. You get to decide for yourself what is fun and what isn't. Then do the fun stuff!
After suffering post-abusive-youth-program burnout for 33 years, when I came back to swimming I realized that avoiding burnout was my #1 priority. The first and only important goal on my New Year's resolutions is,
#1. Keep it fun. Still be in swimming at the end of the year.
Know thyself. "Keeping it fun" is all about doing what I think is fun, not what anybody else thinks is fun. I think training for meets and going to meets is fun, so I do a lot of that. Many people are motivated by the "Go the Distance" program, and I respect that, but it's not for me. I refuse to be yardage-driven. So I don't do it.
Over the past couple of years, I've invented a bunch of sometimes-crazy, sometimes not-so-crazy projects for myself to sustain my interest. Yes, this is a sometimes-peculiar idea of "fun":
Swim a 1650 free in competition
Swim a 400 IM in competition
Swim a 200 fly in competition
Swim the 3000 yd. postal event
Check-off challenge: Swim all events at least once in competition
Swim at least one meet each SCY, LCM, and SCM each year
Go to nationals!
Swim 200 races in USMS meets before aging up
Swim an 800 IM in practice
Swim a 500 fly in competition (it was a senior olympics meet)
Swim a 1000 fly in practice
Swim a "Brute Squad" workout (400 IM, 200 fly, 1650 free)
Swim a "Double Brute Squad" workout (800 IM, 400 fly, 3300 free)
Swim an open water mile
And I'm just getting started! There are lots of fun things to look forward to: I just discovered open water swimming this year, and I like it! There's obviously a lot of fun to be had in open water swimming. The Pan American Masters Championships are in Sarasota next June, I'd like to go! The FINA World Masters Championships are in Montreal in 2014, I am so there!
My recipe for avoiding burnout is to actively, consciously, deliberately, purposefully, creatively make it fun. You get to decide for yourself what is fun and what isn't. Then do the fun stuff!
