How do you modify your workouts when life is sucking all your energy?
Typically, my training is the way I sustain myself and the energy balance is strongly positive. There are times, however, where there are inescapable events/conflicts/illnesses etc that confound our best laid plans. Times when as I get through a day the floor behind me seems finely polished from my glutes dragging across it. It seems to me fruitless in these stretches to try to maintain the intensity or quality of my training. And as I "mature", it seems recovery times are longer from either life's bodyblows or from a hard workout.
Often its a victory just to get to the pool and get wet. My response of course depends on where I am in a competition cycle. Fortunately, I'm in a flexible phase right now as I'm going to miss both long course nats and the open water season. Today, I decided to do some longer sets and completely ignored the pace clock. I focused on my stroke, and my turns, and intuitively gauged my effort level as my workout progressed. I'm happy to say that after a few 500's the expected endorphin surge was felt, and I was able to finish with some harder 300's- again without a pace clock.
What strategies are you using both in and out of the pool to endure the inevitable energy vortexes?
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.
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.
