hi I swim on a college swim team and I swim distance I pratice 3 hrs 5 days a week all swimming but my times in races and pratice are getting dramitically slower I never make the intervals my coach gives the distance lane it seems I worked on my stroke tech. and flip turns and cont. do so I'm complety frustrated it seems everyone on my time is getting faster while I'm getting slower yet I'm working hard I have a full class load and 40 hrs of work a week yet I never miss prarice wether I get 2 or 5 hrs of sleep which is all I have time to get right now any advice is greatly appreciated
hi I swim on a college swim team and I swim distance I pratice 3 hrs 5 days a week all swimming but my times in races and pratice are getting dramitically slower I never make the intervals my coach gives the distance lane it seems I worked on my stroke tech. and flip turns and cont. do so I'm complety frustrated it seems everyone on my time is getting faster while I'm getting slower yet I'm working hard I have a full class load and 40 hrs of work a week yet I never miss prarice wether I get 2 or 5 hrs of sleep which is all I have time to get right now any advice is greatly appreciated
Having recently completed my college life, without the swimming and full time job, I would still be running on empty on 2-5 hours of sleep (I was always amazed at how my apartment-mates could go to sleep at 3 or 4am all the time).
But even before I saw the low sleep number, I had a feeling it wasn't adding up, since:
15hr: practice
40hr: job
15hr: attending classes
15-30hr: homework/studying
=======
85-110hr
That's before doing things such as eating or going from place to place or showering, etc. That probably tacks on another 15 hours or so, meaning that you have 100-125 hours scheduled in a 168 hour week. And since most of your restricted time is on the weekdays, there isn't much left for sleeping. Even with a more efficient time usage, you probably couldn't squeeze much more time out of your days if you tried.
Just from experience, for normal students, working a 40 hour job while full time (or even a 20 hour job with a heavy load!) can be a disaster waiting to happen, and you are far from a normal student. But reading between the lines a little, I also get the feeling that severing your ties with the 40 hour job is not going to be an easy matter, because it might be what's putting your through school financially.
If you're still before the drop without permission date at your university, and you're a course above full-time (for example, if full time is 12hrs/4 courses and you carry the expected 15hrs/5 courses), you might consider severing your hardest course or most time consuming, assuming your major can handle it. Even if you're past the drop date, your advisor (academic or otherwise!) might realize that it's in your best interest to help you out on that one (and if you don't like your advisor, find one you're comfortable talking with). I'd also recommend talking with your coach to see if he suggests any modifications to your workout routines (either shorten or eliminate a workout to give you more time and energy). These steps may not improve your conditioning per se, but it may prevent a major collapse that is certainly a possibility, or the grades in all of your courses going down the tubes. Surviving that is the #1 name of the game for the rest of the semester.
You may consider this summer either working so that you can save up money so you don't have to work so much (if you have the option) or taking a course or two in summer school to reduce next year's courseloads. These steps might not be enough for you, but it's somewhere to start.
Whatever you have to do to avoid a breakdown and keep your grades from disaster is imperative. With luck you probably only have 6-8 weeks left this semester, so the end is hopefully in sight.
Best of luck with the rest of your semester.
Patrick King
hi I swim on a college swim team and I swim distance I pratice 3 hrs 5 days a week all swimming but my times in races and pratice are getting dramitically slower I never make the intervals my coach gives the distance lane it seems I worked on my stroke tech. and flip turns and cont. do so I'm complety frustrated it seems everyone on my time is getting faster while I'm getting slower yet I'm working hard I have a full class load and 40 hrs of work a week yet I never miss prarice wether I get 2 or 5 hrs of sleep which is all I have time to get right now any advice is greatly appreciated
Having recently completed my college life, without the swimming and full time job, I would still be running on empty on 2-5 hours of sleep (I was always amazed at how my apartment-mates could go to sleep at 3 or 4am all the time).
But even before I saw the low sleep number, I had a feeling it wasn't adding up, since:
15hr: practice
40hr: job
15hr: attending classes
15-30hr: homework/studying
=======
85-110hr
That's before doing things such as eating or going from place to place or showering, etc. That probably tacks on another 15 hours or so, meaning that you have 100-125 hours scheduled in a 168 hour week. And since most of your restricted time is on the weekdays, there isn't much left for sleeping. Even with a more efficient time usage, you probably couldn't squeeze much more time out of your days if you tried.
Just from experience, for normal students, working a 40 hour job while full time (or even a 20 hour job with a heavy load!) can be a disaster waiting to happen, and you are far from a normal student. But reading between the lines a little, I also get the feeling that severing your ties with the 40 hour job is not going to be an easy matter, because it might be what's putting your through school financially.
If you're still before the drop without permission date at your university, and you're a course above full-time (for example, if full time is 12hrs/4 courses and you carry the expected 15hrs/5 courses), you might consider severing your hardest course or most time consuming, assuming your major can handle it. Even if you're past the drop date, your advisor (academic or otherwise!) might realize that it's in your best interest to help you out on that one (and if you don't like your advisor, find one you're comfortable talking with). I'd also recommend talking with your coach to see if he suggests any modifications to your workout routines (either shorten or eliminate a workout to give you more time and energy). These steps may not improve your conditioning per se, but it may prevent a major collapse that is certainly a possibility, or the grades in all of your courses going down the tubes. Surviving that is the #1 name of the game for the rest of the semester.
You may consider this summer either working so that you can save up money so you don't have to work so much (if you have the option) or taking a course or two in summer school to reduce next year's courseloads. These steps might not be enough for you, but it's somewhere to start.
Whatever you have to do to avoid a breakdown and keep your grades from disaster is imperative. With luck you probably only have 6-8 weeks left this semester, so the end is hopefully in sight.
Best of luck with the rest of your semester.
Patrick King
