Having a bad practice

I know the feeling. Everyone does. Like almost everything in swimming, it's a head game. No one is going to "have it" every workout. The key is making something positive out of those days when things don't seem to be going right. You are already at the pool. if you can change your focus, there are still plenty of things you get done on an off day. You could just work on technique, or distance per stroke. Breathing on your alternate side. Sometimes even those feel like too much. You could concentrate on your form in and out of the walls. Still too much? Just improve your streamline off the wall. My point is that there are literally dozens of things you can improve upon on off days, even on days when you really, really want to get out. If you can do this, you win the mind game, improve something and know that you can push through next time things get tough. Thanks for the question. I needed to be reminded of this.

I agree with the things others have said and I would also add I think it's useful to tell yourself, "OK, I'm just going to stick with it for the remainder of this set and then I'll re-evaluate." I've found that more often than not you'll decide to just keep going when you reach the next decision point. If you still feel like you should get out then, then get out.

Have you spoken with your coach? How about your teammates? Have they experienced the same issues? There are many variables that might be contributing to the way you're feeling and you can consult with your team if you continue to have difficult practices. You might want to reassess the practices you have been doing - if they have been very similar in structure and intensity you may have reached a plateau in your progress. Do you work on technique? If not, then you will be very likely to experience many frustrations, because practices that consist entirely of fullstroke without any technique work will not be the key to your success without expending tremendous amounts of energy. Have you had a stroke analysis? There might be elements of your stroke that need to be improved for greater efficiency in the water. Bottom line is if you continue to experience these types of practices on a regular basis, there is something that needs to be changed. You might need to start asking a different question - not what you can do to get through those practices, but why you are having bad practices in the first place.

Depends on why you are feeling slow. If you have been working really hard for several days in a row and simply feel fatigued, or perhaps are getting sick, then I think a rest day or two is appropriate. If you have seemingly no reason for feeling slow, then I'd probably swim through it and hope for a better day tomorrow.

In addition to mmlr's comments above, another thing to consider is that if you're not feeling sickly, but just don't seem to have your mojo for a good workout...but you still want to get your yardage in...instead of swimming the interval workout...just swim the rest of the yards as long-slow-distance. Dan

You have to go with your gut. I'm ok with loosing a bit of speed if I've been working really hard for days or weeks. I have to judge more on how I feel out of the water. If I was really tired the afternoon or evening before a morning workout and I can't seem to get moving in the water, I might back down the intensity a bit or get out. Especially if people in my house have been sick. If I've been feeling ok out of the pool, I'll stick it out. I've only coached for one winter but I can already tell with near 100% certainty when one of my swimmers is going to be sick the next practice vs training too hard. Too bad that voodoo skill doesn't work as well on myself. Your coach might have some insight. A swimmer that's training too hard looks a bit rough in the water and can't seem to make their pace or intervals. It can creep up slowly after a bought of hard training or come on suddenly after they decided to say, do an 8 hour hike over the weekend (when that's not their norm). They've lost their finesse because the muscles are overworked. A swimmer that's coming down with something looks sluggish/tired in the water (and can't make their pace or intervals). It's different from looking rough. Rough seems to be trying but can't get anywhere. About to be sick seems to have get up and go that's got up and went. It looks tired and overly smooth like none of the muscles want to fire. Either can have a tired or cranky looking disposition. Either way, a bit of a break is usually better.

If I'm having a hard time in a practice I hate to quit and get out because I'm already present and wet; on the flip side I hate to exert myself for no good reason. Usually I take one of these 2 approaches: 1) I make it a stroke day. Normally I swim most of our practices freestyle. On an off day I'll go to the end of the line in our lane and swim the sets doing the other 3 strokes. If it's impossible for me to hold the interval, I shorten the distance of my swim, but stay in the interval. Always let your lane mates know if you're doing this so they don't freak out when you're coming from the other end of the pool. 2) Slow down and go last, relax and work on perfect swimming form.

Rest is your friend...

Great advice everyone. It's definitely over-training and not an illness issue. I was talking to a couple of my teammates this morning and they agree that I just look tired. So I'm planning to take the weekend off and start fresh Monday.

The key thing is to learn where your own line is in terms of gaining fitness by stress and adaptation vs making yourself sick. It is important to build in time to recover and adapt, both for performance and for health. The evidence suggests that one of the old ways of thinking, which was that you get tired and stay tired until you taper, is unhelpful and regular opportunities to recover are important. One recent study, though I don't recall where I saw it, suggested that 2 days on, one off, could be optimal. The point is that we shouldn't be scared to take time off and catch up. Another way of looking at it is that a bad practice is still a practice.