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.
I think we all go through periods where our priorities change. I've recently had a rather long period of time with so-so effort - what helped me more than anything, was going to a meet and seeing how slow I had gotten! I had been going to workouts diligently, but for some reason, I just couldn't muster up the emotional energy to care about whether or not I made such and such interval, or whether I swam a certain amount of distance. I had some Saturdays I would go to the pool and get in about 1500, and then I'd just leave, disgusted with myself, but totally unmotivated to keep going just for the sake of getting in yardage.
I'm very fortunate to have found a few people fairly close to my speed that train quite regularly that I enjoy seeing most mornings. We don't talk smack, we lift each other up, encourage each other to go home and get rest or whatever -- and we text each other all the time. It has made a world of difference. When I swam with another group that had mostly either really fast men, or seriously slower than me swimmers, I had a hard time not getting discouraged. Now I have people who are just as interested in doing the things I like to do, as I am, and we are all close to the same speed. So, I guess I'm saying, maybe you need to change your workout group? That being said, there have been many a morning when I woke up at 4:50am, feeling super tired and unmotivated, when I told myself "just get up and go to the pool! It's what you DO!"
I think we all go through periods where our priorities change. I've recently had a rather long period of time with so-so effort - what helped me more than anything, was going to a meet and seeing how slow I had gotten! I had been going to workouts diligently, but for some reason, I just couldn't muster up the emotional energy to care about whether or not I made such and such interval, or whether I swam a certain amount of distance. I had some Saturdays I would go to the pool and get in about 1500, and then I'd just leave, disgusted with myself, but totally unmotivated to keep going just for the sake of getting in yardage.
I'm very fortunate to have found a few people fairly close to my speed that train quite regularly that I enjoy seeing most mornings. We don't talk smack, we lift each other up, encourage each other to go home and get rest or whatever -- and we text each other all the time. It has made a world of difference. When I swam with another group that had mostly either really fast men, or seriously slower than me swimmers, I had a hard time not getting discouraged. Now I have people who are just as interested in doing the things I like to do, as I am, and we are all close to the same speed. So, I guess I'm saying, maybe you need to change your workout group? That being said, there have been many a morning when I woke up at 4:50am, feeling super tired and unmotivated, when I told myself "just get up and go to the pool! It's what you DO!"
