I just got back from the SPMS meet and I am in a funk. I have talked to several of my contemporaries who share my dysphoria at getting slower. From age 50-62 I slowed down very little. Ages 63 and 64 were one injury or illness after another, but at least there was a cause and I felt I would do better. Age 65 I aged up and for most of the year was healthy. That was a great year,but my times were all significantly slower than at 62. Since then it is very unusual to have one swim that is faster than I did the previous year.At 67(almost 68) I am notably slower than at 65. I have seen the graphs of how times slow with age, intellectually, if I am staying at the same rate of decline as my peers I should accept it, but I don't like it. I know most forumites are much younger and what I am saying may seem like something natural that I should just acknowledge and go on, that is what I thought until I was 63. I know that our having age groups every 5 years is a partial solution to the problem, but there is more difference between a 65 year old and a 68 year old than between a 40 year old and a 50 year old, in my experience. How do the other older swimmers out there cope and have a good attitude? The common saying in Masters Swimming is that "you are only competing against yourself",but my slightly younger self is kicking my butt and I am tired of it.
I question how much of my decline is due to mental rather than physical factors. Over the last several years I have moved out of the fastest lane in workout and I am content with swimming slower intervals. I know there was a point at which I could have continued at the faster intervals and I probably could now, but I don't have the desire that would make the pain worthwhile.
Does anybody else feel like a major part of a decline in performance is mental rather than physical?
Yes, I do.
I train on my own and sometimes it is difficult to motivate myself. It is for this very reason I always have a tempo trainer in my swim cap and a stopwatch on my wrist. I use the tempo trainer to keep my intervals strict and the stopwatch to measure my progress. In addition, I always give myself a goal for each practice: a specific time for say a 50M, a 100M or a 200M. Sometimes it might even be a goal for 25M of dolphin kick, but I always have a goal.
Despite this, I have noticed my times getting slower over the last year. Mind you, I always have a good excuse. It's usually: I didn't get enough sleep the night before, feeling sick, arms too tired after the morning strength workout, got leg cramps, etc. More recently, it's been pressure at work and water too cold. I'm sure everyone recognizes some, if not all, of these.
Every now and then, I get some external motivation. This motivation comes in the form of a high school student who likes to train with me when he has the time. My transformation is remarkable Suddenly, I am making intervals a full two seconds faster than the previous day and interval times I had all but given up hope on of ever achieving again. I am throwing down multiple repeats of these intervals as if I were a 20 year old. It is at times like these, I realise I have been slacking off and allowing myself to settle for second best. I realise that it is 90% mental and not age or any of the other excuses I have been feeding myself.
Recently, I took a look at the USMS Top Ten list and saw that some people in my age group(45-49) are still doing 53.XX for the 100M Free. That's a time I only dream about. But that is a huge inspiration for me. I see no reason why I can't do a time like that if they can. I am the same age, physically in good shape... I tell myself it is in the mind. I can do it if I really want to do it.
I question how much of my decline is due to mental rather than physical factors. Over the last several years I have moved out of the fastest lane in workout and I am content with swimming slower intervals. I know there was a point at which I could have continued at the faster intervals and I probably could now, but I don't have the desire that would make the pain worthwhile.
Does anybody else feel like a major part of a decline in performance is mental rather than physical?
Yes, I do.
I train on my own and sometimes it is difficult to motivate myself. It is for this very reason I always have a tempo trainer in my swim cap and a stopwatch on my wrist. I use the tempo trainer to keep my intervals strict and the stopwatch to measure my progress. In addition, I always give myself a goal for each practice: a specific time for say a 50M, a 100M or a 200M. Sometimes it might even be a goal for 25M of dolphin kick, but I always have a goal.
Despite this, I have noticed my times getting slower over the last year. Mind you, I always have a good excuse. It's usually: I didn't get enough sleep the night before, feeling sick, arms too tired after the morning strength workout, got leg cramps, etc. More recently, it's been pressure at work and water too cold. I'm sure everyone recognizes some, if not all, of these.
Every now and then, I get some external motivation. This motivation comes in the form of a high school student who likes to train with me when he has the time. My transformation is remarkable Suddenly, I am making intervals a full two seconds faster than the previous day and interval times I had all but given up hope on of ever achieving again. I am throwing down multiple repeats of these intervals as if I were a 20 year old. It is at times like these, I realise I have been slacking off and allowing myself to settle for second best. I realise that it is 90% mental and not age or any of the other excuses I have been feeding myself.
Recently, I took a look at the USMS Top Ten list and saw that some people in my age group(45-49) are still doing 53.XX for the 100M Free. That's a time I only dream about. But that is a huge inspiration for me. I see no reason why I can't do a time like that if they can. I am the same age, physically in good shape... I tell myself it is in the mind. I can do it if I really want to do it.
