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
Time drops like I just had this weekend. 1:13.41 seconds off the 1500 SCM, 38.17 seconds off the 400 IM, 22.19 seconds off the 400 Fr, and alot of other time drops too.:bouncing:
I swear, I could do without the permanent stink of chlorine in my skin though......
any ideas on how to get rid of that?
Well, I use UltraSwim Shampoo as a body wash and it gets most of the smell out.
Swan
Well, swimming all my life, its one of the few exercise activities I actually enjoy doing.....even if I am clomping back and forth between pool ends. The visible weight loss and increased ability to do physical activities out of the pool that would make a regular person need to rest is definitely another point in swimmings corner. Oh yeah....and the smell of that sweet sweet chlorine :D.
Similar case here; decided to turn necessity into something I could look forward to and enjoy the achievements of.
For chlorine, I use good-quality shower gels or bath oils, sometimes enjoying the eau de chlorine first as a reminder of the time in the pool.
VB[/quote
that first wiff of chlorine in the morning is all i need sometimes to haul my butt to the pool....
Because I have to
I have been off for one week with a bad cold and swimmers ear. I am cranky and getting the muffin top back already :thhbbb:. Swimming makes me happy and slimmer .
IT is all good.
I get to go swimming tomorrow I am soooooooooooo excited.
I'm new to swimming. I started when I got hurt and couldn't run. My swimming progressed to Triathlons, but I only swam enough to survive the swim. After my tour in Afghanistan, I realized how absolutely fortunate we are the live in a free society that allows such public activities. So I decided to learn to swim and see where it takes me.
I had no problems being motivated when I had a live coach and a team to training with. Now, I swim alone (Gym pool but empty except for me) and would love to have someone even just to swim next to. I keep hoping that someone will join in but usually no.
So for now I believe I will swim in my first ever meet in mid December and that has me too scared not to go swim. That will let me take some time off for the holidays and then get ready for the new season. I currently only swim 3 strokes, but have started working on the basics of Fly and hope to learn it soon.
Swimming is so technical that there is always something to learn/work on.
How do I stay motivated to swim hours a day, every day, year after year?
some non-competitive motivations for me:
pretty women wearing form-fitting clothing
losing weight/staying in shape/being healthy
being able to eat almost whatever i want
seeing friends
i do like to compete too, so meets like Zones or Nationals, OW swims and Tri's motivate me too.
