Do you ever have crap workouts?

If I'm solo swimming, probably 80-90% of them are 400 swim, 200 kick, 400 pull. Shrug to each their own :)

Yeah itâ€s tough because sometimes itâ€s more nuanced than just “pack it in cause Iâ€m feeling crappy or having a bad set.” There are times when it IS better to just call it a day, or make a 180 degree turn from your planned workout. But other times itâ€s important to push through feeling crappy. Have to know for yourself which path to choose and when to choose it! (for the record, if I didnâ€t make it clear in my previous post, I too have crappy practices from time to time. They most often fall on Mondays, if I took Saturday and Sunday off, or on Thursdays, if I have been grinding M/T/W and my body is broken down!)

Calvin, I am guilty of doing the same workouts (sets that incorporate drills for all strokes). I like your alternate workout plans. I am the type that would feel guilty if I deviate from my routine (as though I haven't accomplished much). When actually, plodding thru with sloppy sets isn't accomplishing much either.

There are no bad workouts. It's just that some are better than others. Dan

Some days it's easier, some days it's harder but I can push through it, some days I need to lower my expectations. Today I went to the pool planing to do 50s at 100 pace. My body didn't think that was a good idea, so I did 100s focusing on DPS. Not what I planned, but I felt good about it.

Maybe that was sarcasm, and maybe I deserve it. To be clear, this happens perhaps 6x per year. I read Calvin's response, and I thank him for it. But I do believe that there are times when we schedule sessions that are best left abandoned. At least the 400m warmup is a warmup for the next session. No, I wasn't being sarcastic, just emoji'ing my version of what I would do after I climbed out of the pool! You're lucky, IMO, if you only have cruddy workouts 6x a year.

There are no bad workouts. It's just that some are better than others. Dan This is a great way to look at it! :angel: I've been swimming on my own for the past 3 years or so. It is quite easy for me to modify my sets if I'm not feeling it...almost too easy. But some days I just need to give myself a break. There are days when I'll show up at the pool with what I think is a perfect set--only to feel not so good during my warm-up. I'll usually start on the set. If it is say 200s, I'll do at least 2-3. If I'm not making my interval after that many, then it is time to modify (either the distance or the interval). Again, this is solo swimming, so I have wide latitude to change anything. When I swam with teams it wasn't so easy. I'd normally swim in the same lane, with many of the same people. Some days there were distance or sprint options. Occasionally I'd move to a different lane if I wasn't feeling it, but that would usually raise questions/concerns from the other lane ('you're too fast for us') and defeat the point of changing lanes. I had the opposite happen to me this past Monday. I woke up feeling a bit run-down and had low expectations for my swim (Sunday was a busy day with a lake swim, a hike, then a long time on the USMS convention Zoom meeting). I got to the pool, did a long warm-up and suddenly felt better than I expected. So I revised my set--I did 600/500/400/300/200, with the 5/3 as pull, and that last 200 somewhat fast. While I enjoyed swimming with teams while I did, I'm finding solo swimming to have its benefits too. Occasionally I'll still swim with a team (or I did before Coronavirus), and find that really provides benefits for fast swimming. My goals are more on long swims now (like miles, not yards or meters).

I am really feeling encouraged by these responses. Could I take this one step further and ask for an explanation of "not feeling it." For me, maybe it's heavy legs, sloppy or lazy rotation, etc. Do most of you elite swimmers just feel tired, or are there specific parts of the body or form that are not cooperating? Hard to explain. Every body and every workout is different. But certainly feeling slow/lethargic in the water is an indicator. Feeling like I am swimming through soup. Sore shoulders is another indicator, but only if it is causing issues with my form. Often times my shoulders are "sore," but it doesn't actually mean much!

I am really feeling encouraged by these responses. Could I take this one step further and ask for an explanation of "not feeling it." For me, maybe it's heavy legs, sloppy or lazy rotation, etc. Do most of you elite swimmers just feel tired, or are there specific parts of the body or form that are not cooperating?

I kind of thought crap workouts (and subsequent crap meets) were the defining essence of masters swimming...every year slower until you pass away:)....but as Hot Rod once said, “Life is pain - we've got to scrape the joy from it every chance we get.”