Have you ever noticed that the older you get, the more perfect everything has to be for a good swim? Not a "great" swim, just a good swim. The water is too hot, the water is too cold, I got a crick in my back last night while sleeping, my suit is riding up, my favorite people to push me aren't here today, and on and on!! For a truly great swim, I think I have begun to believe in Biorhythms. Ever heard of them? www.facade.com/.../
I'll do okay if my physical is on the bottom, but if my emotions are on the bottom, forget it -- I'm talking meets, workout, whatever! Anyways, just wondering, how perfect do all the conditions have to be for you to have a good/great swim? :bliss:
If you're always waiting for the perfect conditions to happen to have a good swim, you might as well not even attempt it, IMO. Just get out there and race. Swimming is an individualized sport anyway, and 50% mentally driven. Just push away the negative thoughts and go for it!
I've made similar observations throughout my career. Like in my meet today with the kids. It started pouring down rain, and all I could hear was "oohhh it's so cold"... "I want to go home" and :blah: stuff similar. I just thought this is going to be easy because all my competition is already giving up before the race was even started. :)
Just focus and what needs to be done, and ignore the stuff you can't control.
I know exactly what you mean Celestial! If I think about it enough I can talk myself out of a swim almost any night of the week.
Lately I've decided to just stop thinking about it till I'm in the water. No judgement, no analysis, absolutely no thoughts connected with swimming till I jump in the water.
Sometimes I don't enjoy the warm-up phase of my workout but after 1,500 or so I start getting in the mood and appreciate the fact that I'm there!
The older I get....
... the fewer "biocycles" I'll have left!!! :blush:
... so the less I worry about rythms, and the more I just swim the best I can each and every time!
My buddy Allen Shamblin wrote that song!
"The Older I Get" (the better I used to be) on his
Sunrise CD
10th track
He is a great writer, he cowrote "Life's a Dance" "I can't Make you Love me" & "House that built me" & a bunch more
The thing is - this was supposed to be funny! I don't generally have a problem with meets - don't have too many masters meets under my belt to talk about anyways - and each one was so fun!
It was more about workout - you know, you're totally psyched for workout, ah ha! I got away from the evil office! or whatever, you dash to the pool, and then dive in and after a few laps note that something is achy, or geez the water is hot today, or where is everybody??? For me, at my very pathetic level of in-shape-ness -- certain intervals require "perfect" conditions. I can keep 20 x 100's on the 1:20 (yards) pretty much without effort - but to do them on the 1:15, seems like conditions have to be perfect! Get it? Like Orca said, "the older I get, the better I was!!" :bliss:
You sound like you're still very fit and fast Celestial!!
I do believe we need more recovery days as we get older. The stress of life can definitely get in the way of workouts too. The swimming helps a ton with stress but the paradox is that getting oneself to the pool can get stressful!! Lol!
For me, at my very pathetic level of in-shape-ness -- certain intervals require "perfect" conditions. I can keep 20 x 100's on the 1:20 (yards) pretty much without effort
For some such a set would feel like a major accomplishment and we would prefer not to think of ourselves as having a worse-than "very pathetic level of in-shape-ness". It seems to me that you either have some significant talent or much better in-shapeness than your admit to. (I suspect a measure of each.)
