Few Personal Concerns

I should have been more clear about my cynicism. My remark was not about the death of a relative but the initial comment "I've worked my butt off just to get to this moment and my religion is in the way". Certainly if you are very religious then giving up a swim meet because of a percieved conflict would seemingly be insignificant and predictable given the date of the meet, if not as religious then there would be no conflict. Either way asking advice from a general audience about a possible personal conflict is what I feel is not logical. There is no malice intended, Sorry for passing of relative. Oh I see. Sorry for the hostility. The reason I decided to ask on the forums was because if I was curious weather or not this would impact my speed to much or if working out in a small pool was enough. I was never expecting advise on weather or not I should skip the fast. I just wanted practical advice with what I could do with my current circumstances. I feel as if my religion is hindering my swimming because I've spent a long time preparing for a meet like this, and I was really looking forward to posting some fast times. But at the same time my religion is very important to me.

Isn't the 50 a distance less likely to be effected from training gaps? Especially if you've already acquired the form, flexibility, and power.

Hi TooPro- You have my condolences on the loss of your loved one. May they RIP. As far as your conflict between racing and religion, have you considered talking to a spiritual advisor or leader from your church? I'm guessing you may not be the only person in your congregation who has dealt with issues similar to this. Perhaps an experienced leader from your church could enlighten you in some way that would "make sense" in your life and help you feel less conflicted. If your training and nutrition has been compromised it will affect your performance but maybe not as badly as you imagine it will. I'd give it a go and see what happens. Good Luck!

My former karate instructor and many of his students observed Ramadan. They trained almost daily for two hours, and couldn't even take a drink of water. But they trained later in the day, so that they could eat and drink right after their workout, understanding they couldn't put the same effort in. But a young body is pretty forgiving. There must be some athletes who observe. Perhaps you might do a google search to see if any of them have posted advice. It's hard for folks who don't have to fast to offer suggestions. Also, sorry for your loss. These things are always tough and take a toll.

I am sorry for your loss.My prayers go to you and your family.

TooPoo, I found this link: olympics.time.com/.../ Might help.

I'm so sorry. Might it help you perhaps to go to the meet anyway, even if just to volunteer? And if you swim, look at it less as "I have to achieve a particular time/place, but as celebrating your ability to swim, affirm life in the face of your pain. Sending kind thoughts...

Hi TooPro- You have my condolences on the loss of your loved one. May they RIP. As far as your conflict between racing and religion, have you considered talking to a spiritual advisor or leader from your church? I'm guessing you may not be the only person in your congregation who has dealt with issues similar to this. Perhaps an experienced leader from your church could enlighten you in some way that would "make sense" in your life and help you feel less conflicted. If your training and nutrition has been compromised it will affect your performance but maybe not as badly as you imagine it will. I'd give it a go and see what happens. Good Luck! I live in a really small town with no one available for me to consult. Thus all advice I have available is on the internet. My nutrition is not going to change at all. I consume the same macros and calories just in that shorter time span. Hopefully the couple weeks off won't effect it too much. I've given myself a week to train and not fast, that was basically the best I could come up with. I will make up all of the fasts as soon as possible, and just hope for the best. I thought about it a lot and this was the way that kind of relaxed both situations. While giving myself a week to train won't have me the fastest going into it, it'll certainly help. Isn't the 50 a distance less likely to be effected from training gaps? Especially if you've already acquired the form, flexibility, and power. I suppose so which is really good considering that's my best event. I am sorry for your loss.My prayers go to you and your family. Thank you, it means a lot. My former karate instructor and many of his students observed Ramadan. They trained almost daily for two hours, and couldn't even take a drink of water. But they trained later in the day, so that they could eat and drink right after their workout, understanding they couldn't put the same effort in. But a young body is pretty forgiving. There must be some athletes who observe. Perhaps you might do a google search to see if any of them have posted advice. It's hard for folks who don't have to fast to offer suggestions. Also, sorry for your loss. These things are always tough and take a toll. The problem with swimming is everyone has that moment where they swallow like a gallon of water, or water might accidently come into your mouth. And due to pool timings it's impossible to fast and swim. I'm so sorry. Might it help you perhaps to go to the meet anyway, even if just to volunteer? And if you swim, look at it less as "I have to achieve a particular time/place, but as celebrating your ability to swim, affirm life in the face of your pain. Sending kind thoughts... Thank you. My Grandma always supported my swimming and was always so interested to see how I was doing in it. She's the reason I'm gonna to continue swimming. I feel like she would be proud of me to see me succeed in swimming, and I'm gonna use her as my inspiration to swim now. Currently im on a bulk trying to put on weight and a lot of mass mainly odd looks/strength in the gym. Once I get pretty heavy I'm gonna cut down back to the weight I normally swim at but this time I'll have a lot more muscle mass and be much much much more lean and strong in the water and out. Considering I'm swimming like 40-45 pounds heavier then what I competed this whole year I don't expect ridiculously good times right now. Just slight gradual improvements. Once I'm done with the cutting phase those and back to my normal swimming weight in maybe 6 months time, I expect to be putting up some really good times. There's this team in my area who I compete with at the district level, who are ridiculously good and practice twice a day. I go to a team which is more about stating in shape it seems rather than swimming well :/ the guys who are fast and do two a days, I've always had the goal of beating them. And this will be the last year they ever do again.

40-45 pounds? Wow, now that sounds extreme. I've never heard of anyone in swimming doing something like that. At first I used to be pretty fat then I lost a lot and got pretty lean and swam a season and since then I decided to take advantage of the novice effect when it comes to wright training and put on a lot of mass very quickly I've put on 42 pounds as of this morning and I plan on young another 20 before I cut. This is mostly for astethic pleasure rather than swimming performance.also gained quite a hot of strength in the weight room.

Currently im on a bulk trying to put on weight and a lot of mass mainly odd looks/strength in the gym. Once I get pretty heavy I'm gonna cut down back to the weight I normally swim at but this time I'll have a lot more muscle mass and be much much much more lean and strong in the water and out. Considering I'm swimming like 40-45 pounds heavier then what I competed this whole year I don't expect ridiculously good times right now. Just slight gradual improvements. Once I'm done with the cutting phase those and back to my normal swimming weight in maybe 6 months time, I expect to be putting up some really good times. 40-45 pounds? Wow, now that sounds extreme. I've never heard of anyone in swimming doing something like that.