Hi everyone...
Tonight is my very first masters swim practice and I'm really quite nervous.
While I've been a competitive swimmer since the age of 5, swam on a US team, competed in both long course and short course US Nationals, and then went and swam in college.....I'm a nervous wreck about tonight's practice. Although I have more than enough swimming experience, I'm terrified that I won't fit in with the master's team.
I've been "out of the water" for 6 years now and I'm very out of shape and I've gained a considerable amount of weight. I can't believe that I've allowed myself to get like this, but it obviously didn't happen over night. So I've been doing cardio and weights at the gym to get myself back in shape but it doesn't seem to be working very well. I realized how much I miss swimming and that I'd like to get back into the sport and thats how I got interested in masters swimming. I'm excited to swim for me...not for the coaches, not for my parents. I'm looking forward to ENJOYING swimming, rather than dreading practices and having kick boards thrown at me if I have to stop during a set. I'm excited to meet people and have fun.....but I'm still so nervous to step foot onto the pool deck.
I guess I'm mostly embarassed. I know its silly to be like this, but I'm afraid everyone will be in good shape and I'll get run over during the practices. I'm wondering if maybe I should put off swimming for a little while until I can lose some more weight.
Can anyone please shed some light on their first masters practice and what you might have been feeling?
I really appreciate any help or advice that you can give me. Thank you!
I think you'll find the swimming will come back to you pretty easily. Six years out of the water is nothing. Your weight might hinder you a little, but I think it will hamper you less than you think. Yes, it will take some time to get back into great shape, but keep working at it and you'll get there.
I started out by swimming three days per week, but decided I needed to go four to get into the kind of shape I wanted to be in. Two hour workouts are pretty long for masters, though, so I think three days a week would be a good starting point for you.
Good luck!
I think you'll find the swimming will come back to you pretty easily. Six years out of the water is nothing. Your weight might hinder you a little, but I think it will hamper you less than you think. Yes, it will take some time to get back into great shape, but keep working at it and you'll get there.
I started out by swimming three days per week, but decided I needed to go four to get into the kind of shape I wanted to be in. Two hour workouts are pretty long for masters, though, so I think three days a week would be a good starting point for you.
Good luck!
