Issues with swim motivation
I used to be super excited to get into the pool when I first started in triathlon. Now days though, I have no motivation to get on deck. Open water swimming, no issues. Pool swimming... ugh. 
I found that in training for IMFL last year I actually stopped swimming all together the last few months before the race. My pace never has changed, so maybe part of my lack of motivation is a down right lack of fear. I know that I can do it with little training, so I go about my way.
I started back up in training for the MiamiMan half iron this coming November, however now I find myself not getting into the pool again. I need to stop this and make swimming a part of my training! The irony of this is that I LOVE swimming, just not laps in a pool.
I am a member of Lifetime Fitness, so I have unlimited access to the pool, however the issue is that the pool is often full. If I do actually make it to the pool and I find myself waiting, I just leave.
How can I create excitement over swimming again? I notice that when I swim with people I do the workouts, if I swim solo I am more likely to bail. I was thinking of going the masters route just to reignite the excitement again... but I don't know.
Comments
If you want to stay active push on to duathlons as it will keep your bike and run fitness until you figure this out.
What I have done is try to choose the WKO I like the most, which is usually shorter/faster sets. Like 200's. I never do WU/CD so I'm in, do about 1,800yds max and I'm out. Next year may be a little diff. but not much as max distance will be HIM.
I just need to suck it up and get in the pool!
Ah we are so much a like! I like your idea... Maybe I will implement this to get my feet wet (pun intended) then see how that goes. The hardest part is actually just getting into the water! I mish there was a lake near me, I would spend all day in it!
I do have a SwiMP3 player someplace... I need to break that bad boy out (in other words find it) again!
The sad part is - I work in the parking lot of the Lifetime Fitness... so really the pool is open 24/7 and is just feet away from my desk. How sad is that???
I also have a waterproof iPod on my wish list.
I actually don't see this as a problem at all, provided you are perfectly comfortable in the water, and don't see the swim as something you definitely need to improve on. I'd totally be all like 'yay! more time to sleep in!'
I love this! I do not have a middle name, so I can just add a "B is for BOOM! because I am full of fire and BOOM!" in there lol.
That was me this morning, Ryan! I woke up at 5am to go swim and said forgetabouddit. My swimming get up and go has got up and went!
But I made a step in the right direction at lunch. I "pulled a Kim" and did the MS1 from my workout
. It got me in the water and once I got going I felt pretty good and was happy to keep going. Full disclosure: I sat at my desk for 30 minutes before I convinced myself to actually go.
Next swim I am going to do the Jenniferlyn B Kryvicky trick!
Now to go look up those y's......
While people respond to swim training in different ways, the three best pieces of advice I have for breaking through a plateau are:
(1) Swim hard. Just like we do a lot of Z4 work on the bike and run, you should do hard/very hard efforts in the pool regularly. 30-45 minutes of easy/moderate swimming just won't cut it after a while.
(2) Change up your workouts. If doing 4x500 isn't doing it for you, swim sprint 50's, or the ?x150 (100 really hard, 50 easy) in the OS swim hack. Or break up the emphasis of a 500 (like first 100 hard, next 300 at steady pace, last 100 all-out). Just do something different.
(3) Keep track of times. I record my splits for all main sets. Before doing a workout, I either look up or remember the last time I did a similar main set and set target times, and so end up racing myself.
@Rich - unfortunately my masters team is on tri season, and the others are too far away to drive to. I will keep looking around, I was sort of thinking this too.
@Michael - Exactly! Once I feel no benfit, I tend to just cruise. I do sort of just cruise along at one pace. That is probably why I am so consistent in my swim pacing in races too. I have two sim paces: swim and sink. Time to do the work in the pool and not just on the bike and run!
I will add one suggestion. When you are on the pool deck observing those swimming, you can pretty much tell which ones have swim experience. Ask if you join their lane (some swimmers might know how to circle swim) and what workout they are doing. Most swimmers will be happy to have you join them. Maybe by trying to stay on some faster feet can spark a little bit of competitive fire that will ignite the passion. Kinda like making your own masters program.
I have not had to resort to my waterproof iPod shuffle yet. Been watching IM motivational video on youtube which also helps. May the force be with you young Waterwalker.
I start IM training next week and will be swimming sans wetsuit at Worlds, so I can NOT skimp on the swims anymore. We will plan with Sister and make a swim date for at least once a week ok? Our swims will be close enough in yards to make this work girlfriend!!!
So I got into teh pool and did the MS workout Monday. So proud of myself! I employed a few of the tricks above - I did the MS only as my lunchtime swims are limited in time so I had to cut it a little short, but at least I did the hard work. I also used my name - since the workout was 400's, I was able to use J.E.N.N.
When I got to the "E" I used this lap to focus on high Elbows. "E is for RIGHT high Elbow... E is for LEFT high Elbow..."
I feel the mojo coming back slowly but surely! In September my masters swim team restarts up Saturday morning swims. They are a hike for me but they are close to the area that I ride long at anyhow, so I can throw in some masters swims before my rides.