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 have been doing Masters for many years and the reasons or why I have stayed engaged have changed over the years. Originally it was just to stay in good physical condition. Eventually racing, gave way to having fun and working out with friends. After moving for a job and finding a very little Masters team where I moved to, I started coaching to help build up the team so I could swim on a larger team. This actually kept me from burning out and engaged during my ups and downs (injuries, surgeries, kids activity time hogs, etc.) By seeing improvement in people I was coaching it seemed to take some of the pressure off of me to perform as well in competitions. I still race and enjoy it. The other thing that has kept me swimming is all the changes they keep making to all of the strokes. It is fun to try to stay up with the new techniques since I swim breaststroke. Hope this helps!
I have been doing Masters for many years and the reasons or why I have stayed engaged have changed over the years. Originally it was just to stay in good physical condition. Eventually racing, gave way to having fun and working out with friends. After moving for a job and finding a very little Masters team where I moved to, I started coaching to help build up the team so I could swim on a larger team. This actually kept me from burning out and engaged during my ups and downs (injuries, surgeries, kids activity time hogs, etc.) By seeing improvement in people I was coaching it seemed to take some of the pressure off of me to perform as well in competitions. I still race and enjoy it. The other thing that has kept me swimming is all the changes they keep making to all of the strokes. It is fun to try to stay up with the new techniques since I swim breaststroke. Hope this helps!
