Training in an energy vortex

I agree with your strategy of "drag yourself to the pool and ignore the pace clock" If I can do some workout I almost allways feel better.Some times I don't have the focus to do a disciplined set. Working on stroke and DPS or drills can be more relaxing.Then again sometimes a challenging workout helps take my mind off the day and if I hit my goal times I feel as if at least something can go right.

You may not like this answer, because it is very hard to do if you always drive yourself like I do, but I take a week off from exercise. I will do stretching and light yoga, but don't swim, do weights or aerobics. Since I love to work-out, there never is a problem getting back to it, in fact, it feels sooooo good on the first day back because the muscles are rested and the energy level is high. So I take an extended rest every couple months or so. Sometimes I forget, and I find myself dragging, and when I think back I find I have missed my rest days, and have been going hard for 3-4 months.

I stopped taking off days 238 days ago, and have no regrets, but I do reluctantly accept that there are days when I'm not going to swim/bike/run well, and I can't always tell when they're going to happen. Sometimes it's obvious, like if I did monster workout(s) yesterday and I'm sore, but some other times I just don't know why I don't have the elusive "it." On those days it is a victory just to get in a swim, some sort of run, and/or an uneventful bike commute to and from work. However, there's a flip side. The workouts where I say "wow, I'm tired but the clock doesn't lie, I'm fast today!" Those workouts are pure gold. I train alone, so I can improvise when I'm rolling. The following isn't a common occurrence, but I have on occasion said to myself, "OK 200 fly for time, right now, on the top... GO!" I'm curious, does anyone else do that?

I suffer from life's energy vortex sometimes too. I do one of two things: 90% of the time I drag myself to the pool, running path or gym. 10% of the time I give myself a day off. I don't like taking days off, but my body usually appreciates it. If I have dragged myself to the pool in an energy vortex, I find that it splits 50/50. 50% of the time, I still get in a good workout. 50% of the time, I retrench and do a recovery workout with no sprinting and lots of drills and sculling. Sux when it happens though. But it goes away. You'll feel better soon. Plus, it's hard to focus sometimes when your next meet is 4 months away.

On the "down" days, i'll play little games with myself. For running, it might be "okay, I'll run for five minutes. If I still feel the same way, I'll bag it and I'll still have run for five minutes. Almost ALWAYS what happens is that I forget that five minutes have long since gone by before I take a look at my watch. For swimming, I say to myself, "I'll just do 100 yards to warm up... then if I feel okay, I'll keep going." Again, once I start, it's harder to stop. Some days, it might only be 1000 yards or even less (not lately b/c I'm training for a long race, but have had those days!). Other times, it could be all I need just to take a small step or two, then I figure now that I'm doing this, might as well keep going. One day, I had to get a paper delivered to a panel chair. But I was also training for a track event that was very important to me. And I was thinking, "no way do I have time to do today's workout... I have to fed-ex this paper by the end of the day!" (This was, mon dieu!, in the pre-email attachment days, if you can believe it!) Something kept telling me to do the workout anyway and the need felt so pressing that I decided not much was going to get accomplished if I ignored the "something"--but I decided I wouldn't worry about how fast it was or whether I hit any time goals. I just ran to the track, did it, ran home again, and... finished the paper on time to send it and meet the deadline! I think the energy from the workout fueled the rest of the day. My times that day weren't too fast but not terrible. Just that I felt better for having started the day pushing myself physically and could then focus my mind on the writing project.

I have a disorder that saps energy, it also causes connective tissues to become stiff and it destroys fast twitch muscle fibers as well. Combine that with 'age' and my life is much like you describe yours. When it is time to go swim laps I make a decision as to whether or not I actually have enough energy left for the swim and the rest of the day. Needless to say, I'm not interested in competiting and am never in a training for competition cycle. I look at swimming as an important part of keeping myself flexible and strong... so to hell with speed, I just enjoy the longest swim I can manage, focusing on technique and the sensual pleasure of the water.

I have on occasion said to myself, "OK 200 fly for time, right now, on the top... GO!" I'm not really a new age-type of person. When I visited Sedona, AZ, I thought the idea of "energy vortexes" - in this setting referring to spots where cosmic forces coalesce and can be absorbed by the spiritual- to be pretty flaky. There is certainly an ebb and flow to life in general and to my training. Your idea of a timed 200 fly is really intriguing. Just as there are days when I'm dragging my butt everywhere, there are those where I feel like I'm hitting a high point. Pulling off a 200 fly sounds like a great idea for those occaisions. I agree with the idea of periodization. What can be hard is when the period that I am trying to acheive on paper collides with reality.

Good topic, Tom. I am in a different situation because life doesn't get in my way because we are retired and thankfully my husband runs around and deals with all the Spanish crap they put us through here. So, I am one lucky gal. But I am also a long distance swimmer preparing for a very loooonnng swim as most people know. I normally swim between 4 and 5 miles every day with hydration breaks every half-mile. I'm with you, I notice that because I am older (59), my recovery takes much longer. As my mileage is going up, I start getting pretty trashed about day number 3, but at the end of 4 or 4-1/2 miles, I think about my goal and I always have this in me: Just One More. I listen only to my body and when I wake up one morning and am sore and can't pick up my feet, I take that day off. That one day off here and there revives me and allows me to keep the mileage going up. So far, so good. July's goal is consistent 6 mile swims. Just a FYI, I am hiring a kayak later this month and swimming from Half Moon Bay to Lighthouse Point, 2.7 miles each way but coming back totally Against current; should be an eye-opener. And I am also lucky in that since I have lived here, I've only been sick twice because I am not in enclosed spaces with people; I am always outside year around. This makes a huge difference. I did want to say that it sounds like Dorothy is using a form of periodization in her training which can work well for lots of people.

Hi Tom, When I have no energy, I try to pick one thing and do it really well through practice, no matter how much my times suck. My favorite thing is streamlines. Even if you are completely out of energy and your stroke feels like crap, you can still think about holding a nice tight streamline out of each wall. I'll also work on DPS, 2 or 3 dolphins off each wall, bilateral breathing patterns, etc etc. Not all in the same practice, but I'll pick one. The common thread through all these options is that they involve focus and discipline much more than energy or speed. So if I'm coming in 10 sec off my usual 100 pace for that effort level, but I've managed a rock-solid streamline and 3 dolphins off each wall, then I've got something happy to think about re: my swim. The things that I try to not worry about when in an energy vortex are my times, sprinting, even- or negative- splitting distance swims, etc... Good luck and hope your energy perks up soon!

There is certainly an ebb and flow to life in general and to my training. Your idea of a timed 200 fly is really intriguing. Just as there are days when I'm dragging my butt everywhere, there are those where I feel like I'm hitting a high point. Pulling off a 200 fly sounds like a great idea for those occaisions. Go Jaegermeister Go! Bonus round: some time when you're in the middle of swimming a 100 fly in practice, decide to make it a 200 instead. You'll be glad you did.