I've been swimming masters now for well over a decade and I've hit a bit of a lull. Last year I set my Go The Distance goal at 550 miles and missed it, so this year I revised it downward to 500 miles and as of today I'm 66 miles behind the pace I need to be at to hit that goal. I just don't have the desire to get to the pool as often, or stay in as long, as I usually do.
With that introduction my question really is: how do YOU train long term? Do you try to stay consistent or do you vary from year to year? Historically I've been very consistent, but I wonder if intentionally varying things is a better long term strategy.
Many of you have suggested training variations, but what I'm really looking for is whether varying the amount of time and/or concentration spent on swimming has worked well for you. Essentially "taking a break" from swimming and doing something else for a while. If you've done that has it made you come back more motivated or did it just make it even harder to get back in the pool?
Interesting wookiee brought up USRPT. I thought of mentioning that initially, but feared it would steer the entire discussion that way. To me it would seem like USRPT would really start to get boring. It's pretty much the ultimate doing-the-same-thing-every-day kind of workout, but I haven't tried it so perhaps I'm wrong.
Many of you have suggested training variations, but what I'm really looking for is whether varying the amount of time and/or concentration spent on swimming has worked well for you. Essentially "taking a break" from swimming and doing something else for a while. If you've done that has it made you come back more motivated or did it just make it even harder to get back in the pool?
Interesting wookiee brought up USRPT. I thought of mentioning that initially, but feared it would steer the entire discussion that way. To me it would seem like USRPT would really start to get boring. It's pretty much the ultimate doing-the-same-thing-every-day kind of workout, but I haven't tried it so perhaps I'm wrong.
