How not to get bored swimming lap after lap without stop?

Some days, it's feeling the water. Some days, it's the SwimP3 player.

Like a lot of the previous posters, I am never bored by lap swimming. I guess I don't see each lap as exactly the same - there's always something different. (And I never ever ever swim for more than 500meters at a pop, even in a workout of 5,000 meters.) Either I'm noting how close I am to being warmed up, or I'm focusing on my stroke, or I'm thinking about some little thing going on with my body position or my breathing. Every lap is different and has something going on to engage me. Though it seems counter-intuitive, focusing on the swimming more makes it less boring. There are days though when I just go into "space-out" mode and I just count my strokes or spell out words or recite poems in my head or listen to my breath. WHen I was a kid in school, I would conjugate my latin verbs - the rhythmic chanting was calming and distracting. I guess it's like anything else, how you feel about your laps is largely in your hands...if you think it's boring, it's boring. If you make it interesting, it's interesting..."there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so"

I've heard tile counting is a pretty good medicine. For me, I'm always thinking about my technique. There's so many things to think about that I haven't gotten to a single point in any of my swimming where I realize, "Hey, I'm swimming perfectly..." There's always so many things to improve or that require diligently conscious maintenance and execution. And if I don't want to think about technique, I do breath control. That always make things interesting- seeing how many lines I can pass before I just need to turn my head for some air.

I try not to think of important things. I go to a calm place & relax - work on stroke & have fun.:bliss:

I swim about a mile's worth of "just laps" during my lunch break sometimes and am never bored. Usually just getting out of the office is reason enough to rejoice, but if I feel like I need something to do, I usually practice a foreign language. Count strokes in German, then in Spanish, then in French, etc... It's actually a lot of fun and helps get me ready for my next trip!

I sneak in looks at the paceclock and figure out my splits. I focus on my technique and feel for the water. I try out little adjustments and see if they feel better, worse, or just different. I watch how other swimmers swim, compare speed and technique and see if I can match or exceed their pace. If I get bored I'll try different breathing patterns. But mostly I just construct my workouts so I am doing intervals with no more than 400m per repeat, not long nonstop stuff. I like to do IM in my sets and do some kick sets. Usually an hour or two goes by quite quickly. If I just try to distract myself, I don't have much of a sense of accomplishment. My technique definitely can use the work - drills are a fine idea, but you have to incorporate it into "real" swimming to be of any use.

And some days, it's boring. When I'm not focusing on my technique--which is always in need of improvement--I think about the swims I am getting ready for, things I've seen on previous swims, other places I've been swimming. For example, I just spent 10 days in South Korea, swimming in a 30-meter pool at our hotel, overlooking the city of Seoul. That memory will carry me for a bit. I also find it's the time I come up with some of my best work ideas. I own 2 retail stores and all of my window display ideas come when I'm swimming--the longer the distance the better.

Like others, I think about technique. I watch the clock to see how my pace is. I think about life and much of the time I am just feeling the water as I swim. It is a very peaceful feeling. I find it is very relaxing and refreshing. My mind is always at a much better place when I swim. May be this is a zen thing. Boring, mix up what you do. Swim different lengths. Instead of a 200, try a 225 or 175. Instead of a 500, do 550s and so on... For some swims, say a 500, swim the first 150 free, second 150 back, third 150 *** and last 50 fly. Last, if you can swim in the open water that will not be boring.:)

Yesterday I swam 3,100 yards for time. I was so busy trying to keep count that I don't recall thinking about anything else. It was boring, but felt great. I am usually focused on my intervals, so I don't get bored. Sometimes I focus on solving a problem at work. Other times it's technique, or singing a song in my head.

Wow, didn't know one can do so much while swimming laps! It's giving me great motivation to train for long distance so that when I become good at it (a far future), like many of you, I will perhaps be able to think of research problems while swimming. It sounds like for someone who can swim long distance at ease, swimming is just like walking: you can think about all sorts of things and problems. Would be nice if some Nobel prize winner got his ideas while swimming :D I'm sure open water swimming is not boring. In fact even swimming in a 1km pool will not be boring to me since I'll always be swimming forward to where I have not been. What is boring to me is to turn back and swim the same 25m over and over again... :shakeshead: I can also lose count...