I was at work yesterday and got asked an unusual question: How do I stay motivated to swim hours a day, every day, year after year?
I told the person that I would get back to them while I mulled over the answer. I thought back to this forum and suspect that most of the folks here compete and the competition motivates them. Me, I don’t compete, in fact, I only know how to swim one stroke, at one speed, never stopping. I guess that I just like to swim and be alone for a couple of hours every day with my own thoughts. While that works for me, I doubt it will prove useful for many others. So, how about the rest of you: What motivates you to keep swimming?
Swan
I must have been a frog actually(I'm a breaststroker)
My apologies, I just noticed your avatar! I meant no offence suggesting you might have been a fish!
I compete,and that is certainly a motivation to workout as hard as I do,but really I swim because I am a swimmer.It is just part of my being.I am therefore I swim.:banana::banana::banana:
Motivation to keep on swimming
1) Feel better physically and mentally.
2) Injury prevention.
3) Fountain of youth.
4) Would feel guilty if I didn't!
5) Keep learning skills and getting better.
6) Appreciate being in a contrasting environment for part of every day.
7) I like to swim.
8) Meet new ppl in pool.
9) Expand horizons of what is possible for me.
Swan, there was a thread recently on people (especially at work) who just don't get it and ask idle questions or pass judgment, idly, on those who pursue something a bit out of their own experience. Based on thread responses, it seem rarely possible to have a real discussion, so I would just smile politely, murmur something general and innocuous ("It isn't that hard"), and change the topic.
Regards,
VB
I compete,and that is certainly a motivation to workout as hard as I do,but really I swim because I am a swimmer.It is just part of my being.I am therefore I swim.
Perhaps you were a fish in a previous life?
I started swimming because some injuries from a car accident prevented me from doing activities that I really liked, such as running and cross-country skiiing. The motivation I had back then (9 years ago) was that it was the only form of exercise I could do that didn't make me feel as if an ice pick was being driven through my right knee, otherwise I didn't like it much, having always been a really bad swimmer.
Now I find dryland activities so hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. I like the weightless feeling of being in the water, and the desire to improve my technique or swim outdoors in new vacation destinations means there's always something to work on. No racing yet, but I won't rule it out in the future. I'd like to get a little more speed first,
