Out of curiosity, what goes through your mind during long swims? I had to laugh yesterday while doing a 3 hour that at the end of it, I was more boredthan physically tired. I have to find another, longer venue to do these. 25 yards at a time is mind-numbing. But looking back, I have no idea what I was thinking about for that long, other than occasional 100 time checks during longer sets and watching form.
I pray a lot during my OW swims. When going for 2,3,4+ hours with only a break every 30 minutes to feed, there is a lot of time for reflection. :angel:
I occasional feel badfor my kayaker (baking in the sun, having to prepare my feeds and document swim-related stats, etc), but then I snap back to reality and keep plugging along. Some people count backwards to keep the mind sharp and gauge mental status, but I just go through the 27 books of the New Testament (some day I'll memorize the 39 OT books).
I have to admit that I don't really think too much about the swim itself, although I will occasionally focus on technique if I have a strain pop up. I really like the time in the water, "unplugged" and just moving. :bliss:
So anohter question for my distance peeps, how are you balancing the distance with speed in workouts? During some of these monotonous laps, I've realized recently that I've gotten into a pattern of a steady speed/rate that I can go all day on. That's great for the long haul, but speed work days, I find myself doing the same speed intervals as distance days. I realized I'm not pushing it like I hsould to improve, y'know? It's almost as if my mind has it set on a certain stroke rate and it's so hard to break out of that mindset. I'm conserving for the end of practice when I should be pushing it so that I get faster in the long run.
I pray too and when I get out of a swim I feel rejuvenated if not physically, mentally. Especially in the 10k I just did in Atlanta this past weekend. Lotsa counting too...meditation!
So anohter question for my distance peeps, how are you balancing the distance with speed in workouts?
I have the same challenges. When I am disciplined enough to work in the speed, I do notice results, but so many days as I go to write a workout I find myself failing to add in speed or threshold work muttering something about "maybe tomorrow". I'm considering writing out my workouts for the week ahead of time.
I think you're onto something, Aqueous, when you talk about how much we're so into multitasking and media we're used to these days. Wouldn't it be interesting to have google glass goggles? You could catch up on Game of Thrones while doing 200 laps? Hmm...
Yeah, I've had several lists going on in the head lately - shopping, work that needst o be done, etc. I hate when an ear worm gets in there and you can't lose a song (Karma Chameleon, anyone?)
Sometimes songs that I don't necessarily really like, but if I have heard them recently they just loudly pop in and stay. Sometimes praying (I did the Rosary during my first Alcatraz). Sometimes I compose a story I am going to tell about the adventure. During training swims I, for some reason, figure out what to have for dinner and finish composing a grocery list! But so much of the time, I am just bored out of my mind. I agree with the original post that I am often more bored than physically tired at the end. I wonder if the complete inability to do anything else (read, watch TV, talk...) in this sensory deprived environment is supposed to be the point. If the lack of external noise, allowing your thoughts to go where they need to, or no where...is supposed to be therapeutic. If any one has any other ideas, bring em on. I have a long swim coming up at the end of the month, and I am more worried about the boredom than (most) anything else!
