IT is hard not to compare yourselves to others!!!!
Former Member
Hey all
As some of you may have read I started swimming with a masters program on the 7th of Sept after 22 years ( give or take a year LOL) I am 41 mom of 2, work full time , had thyroid cancer ( but now it is gone:cheerleader:) I am also 25 to 30 pounds overweight since my surgery.
Getting back into the pool was tough but now I love it ( the first day was the worst I was nervous). The problem is I think I should be swimming like I did when I was younger and I am comparing myself to the others in the pool. The coach says that I am doing great and do not appear as tired, but MAN I am behind a good portion of the people. I can actually get lapped in kicking with a board. I am so bad at it. My last practice I just told myself this is for me and swam for myself. I am figuring that no one is looking over at me and saying anything. It is all in my mind not theirs.
I guess I wonder how long until you see great improvement?I know that my cardio is getting better but still needs a ton of work. At my age will it take a full season to really improve? I am swimming 4 mornings a week.
It is interesting to note that even in our 40's we still compare ourselves to others. All in all this back to swimming is wonderful but tougher than I thought it would be LOL LOL
Katie
I am, to put it gently, "velocity challenged" lol, and at one point, I was stressing over that so much I no longer enjoyed my masters' practices. During the past summer, although I didn't get much faster, I did a lot of very loooong workouts on my own preparing for a 5-mile open water swim. Doing these workouts with no one supervising them, I began to feel more confident of my ability, even if not my speed. I realized that no matter what my speed, this is something I love to do, and don't have to worry if others are faster. One swim coach I worked with always headed his workout sheets, "Do the best that you can do. Don't worry about what others are doing." He would pay as much attention to the slower swimmers as the faster ones, be just as enthusiastic in giving us feedback and coaching, push us just as much. I think I made my best improvements when he was coaching me, but lately his plate is too full with other commitments to coach masters.
Even so, I try to remember to use what he gave to me as a swimmer, to remember his confidence in me and have some in myself.
I am, to put it gently, "velocity challenged" lol, and at one point, I was stressing over that so much I no longer enjoyed my masters' practices. During the past summer, although I didn't get much faster, I did a lot of very loooong workouts on my own preparing for a 5-mile open water swim. Doing these workouts with no one supervising them, I began to feel more confident of my ability, even if not my speed. I realized that no matter what my speed, this is something I love to do, and don't have to worry if others are faster. One swim coach I worked with always headed his workout sheets, "Do the best that you can do. Don't worry about what others are doing." He would pay as much attention to the slower swimmers as the faster ones, be just as enthusiastic in giving us feedback and coaching, push us just as much. I think I made my best improvements when he was coaching me, but lately his plate is too full with other commitments to coach masters.
Even so, I try to remember to use what he gave to me as a swimmer, to remember his confidence in me and have some in myself.
