Are you swimming for pleasure when you are traning?
I swim for relaxation.
I swim for fitness.
I swim to keep my blood pressure down.
I swim to lower my blood sugar.
Do I need to split my gut like so many of you are doing???
I think swimming is as close as humans ever get to the sensation of flying. I do occasionally split my gut and go eye-balls out, though. It can be fun if I'm in the mood for it.
I would say skating is much more like flying! Whee! Crash! Whee! Crash! :laugh2:
George, you have reached Valhalla, whence there is no return. You need not ever split gut, bust eyeballs less'n you choose. And you did epic swims of the wrenching variety, no? (like, 30 hours?)
From Paul's blog and others' comments, I gather it does take the breaking of body parts to make qualifying times for major meets. I would expect there to be more competitors now than 30 years ago; hence, shaving off the fractional seconds becomes meaningful, even necessary. On the other hand, "It doesn't have to be fun to be fun." The nut of it.
Regards, VB
I get great pleasure from my swimming and I have never really busted a gut doing it. I refer to myself as a comfort swimmer. I will ocassionally do a set that makes me gasp for breath and might put a bit of burn in my legs, but for the most part, if I need rest I take as much as I feel I need before going again. In spite of this easygoing attitude, I have managed a few NQT's in the last few years so that makes it even more pleasureable.
I swim for pleasure,but one of the best pleasures for me is swimming breaststroke at race speeds.There is a sense of flow and exhilaration I don't get from slower swimming.Also the feeling of doing a goal time at a meet is fabulous.:bouncing:
Are you swimming for pleasure when you are traning?
Sure. (Why else do it? No one is holding a gun to my head.)
Do I need to split my gut like so many of you are doing???
Not unless you want to. (Are these trick questions?:dunno:)
Maybe you are getting at the fact that there seem to be two broad types of masters swimmers: those who swim for fitness and those who like to compete and track their times. For many years I swam mostly for fitness and competed only occasionally, not caring all that much about times. More recently I've tried it the other way, setting goals and taking more time to consider the nature of the training to get faster. Both ways are very enjoyable.
Do I need to split my gut like so many of you are doing???
Of course not!
I swim and run for pleasure. I won't cut out running because I love it. I also like to train and work out. The occasional gut splitting is fun and pleasurable too. Competing is great fun. I would never do it if I didn't like it.
But what's wrong with training hard too, George? I'd be miserable if I was stuck on the fat burning cycle all the time.
I swim mainly for pleasure as well. I get cranky if I can't get that feeling of weightless gliding at least every other day. I think swimming is as close as humans ever get to the sensation of flying.
I do occasionally split my gut and go eye-balls out, though. It can be fun if I'm in the mood for it.
Really? Pleasure never really entered my mind. :canada:
Masochist!
I definitely don't swim to keep my weight down. When I train intensely, I get bigger and buffer. If I don't train, I shrink. Sux.
Endorphins rock!
swimming got me through my divorce (which I did myself against his "team" of experts) - I needed the space, release of doing something for myself, making friends, the competition and challenge.
