Hi all,
Between a lengthy bout of bronchitis, job changes and adjusting to new schedules, I haven't swam with any consistency in about a year. I'd like to get back into competition shape -- which entails losing about 15 pounds and gaining back the muscle I lost -- in time for a meet next March or April. Anyone else ever gone through this? How do you work back a schedule of swimming 1-1.5 hours a day and lifting three days a week without doing too much too quickly and burning out or injuring yourself (or giving up because you feel like you're so far away from "good shape"?) Any ideas of what sort of yardage/intervals to start with?
I appreciate the help -- I'm so ready to stop being a couch potato, but I'm not sure where to start.
My running coach's frequent answer to my wanting to progress faster than a post-injury/illness body wanted to: "small steps." I have begun to recognize that as the way to go. As Donna says, it's better at times like that to readjust your goals than set something so ambitious that you get discouraged. Maybe you were swimming 3000-4000 yards at one point, but now 1200 to 1500 might feel ambitious. But doing those shorter swims at least will get you back into the pool and then you can gradually increase the time.
When I'd come back from running injuries, I'd be thinking "what's up? ten miles felt easy and now three miles feels hard!" but the distances would come back. I had a really bad cold/bronchitis for about a month in Feb., and coming back was pretty hard...in both swimming and running.
In swimming, I'd do 1000 yards and feel the way I had when I did 3000! But hey, I figured if that's what I had, that's what I had, and more would come. And it did.
Also, in running, I ran in a half marathon in March only b/c I'd signed up for it before I got sick, and I figured I'd just run/walk. It was SLOOOOOW. But I expected it to be, so didn't worry too much about the time. By May, I ran in a 10 mile race that although still slower than I wanted was at least all running, and I felt much stronger.
Bottom line, we do these things not only to keep ourselves in shape but presumably also because they're fun--no one will fire us for swimming or running not as fast as our goal times or not as far as we wanted. This is a gift we give ourselves, but we who do this tend to become perfectionist and want a lot from ourselves. This can help us stay motivated but also becomes a roadblock when we hold ourselves to standards that don't reflect the realities of our lives. Resetting the bar low... sometimes ridiculously low, what we absolutely KNOW we can do ... can help us just enjoy the experience and give ourselves time to re-grow into the more ambitious goals.
My running coach's frequent answer to my wanting to progress faster than a post-injury/illness body wanted to: "small steps." I have begun to recognize that as the way to go. As Donna says, it's better at times like that to readjust your goals than set something so ambitious that you get discouraged. Maybe you were swimming 3000-4000 yards at one point, but now 1200 to 1500 might feel ambitious. But doing those shorter swims at least will get you back into the pool and then you can gradually increase the time.
When I'd come back from running injuries, I'd be thinking "what's up? ten miles felt easy and now three miles feels hard!" but the distances would come back. I had a really bad cold/bronchitis for about a month in Feb., and coming back was pretty hard...in both swimming and running.
In swimming, I'd do 1000 yards and feel the way I had when I did 3000! But hey, I figured if that's what I had, that's what I had, and more would come. And it did.
Also, in running, I ran in a half marathon in March only b/c I'd signed up for it before I got sick, and I figured I'd just run/walk. It was SLOOOOOW. But I expected it to be, so didn't worry too much about the time. By May, I ran in a 10 mile race that although still slower than I wanted was at least all running, and I felt much stronger.
Bottom line, we do these things not only to keep ourselves in shape but presumably also because they're fun--no one will fire us for swimming or running not as fast as our goal times or not as far as we wanted. This is a gift we give ourselves, but we who do this tend to become perfectionist and want a lot from ourselves. This can help us stay motivated but also becomes a roadblock when we hold ourselves to standards that don't reflect the realities of our lives. Resetting the bar low... sometimes ridiculously low, what we absolutely KNOW we can do ... can help us just enjoy the experience and give ourselves time to re-grow into the more ambitious goals.
