I am so burnt out on swimming! I think this may be for several reasons:
1. I started swim "training" before the other sports (In August, as opposed to November).
2. There is so little return on investment (So much work to go the tiniest bit faster). Seeing no
significant results makes it hard to stay motivated!
3. It is so boring!
About a month ago I was reading a website Karin had up called Trinewbies and it was full of all sorts of fascinating and useful swimming information. According to an article on Trinewbies there are various kinds of intervals that serve various purposes. For example, super fast intervals followed by a long recovery period, to bring your heart rate all the way down, allow you to reach maximum speed during each interval, eventually increasing your speed. On the other hand, "threshold intervals" are done at a more moderate pace but with very short recovery breaks, thus allowing you to swim faster than your "all day" pace, but maintain it longer. I have been combining these two--swimming too hard and not recovering adequately--therefore reaping the benefits of neither! So I started doing threshold intervals where I didn't focus on speed but solely on form and power, and found I maintained the same speed but recovered much faster. And I started doing max speed intervals with a very long recovery, and found that I can go faster during each interval than I ever could before.
Another winner was the "thumb-to-thigh" drill, where you focus on bringing your thumb to your thigh with each stroke. This is an effort to make sure you follow through on each stroke, getting maximum power and distance as you push through the water, instead of inadvertently cutting your stroke short and losing power. I felt the benefit of this immediately, as I had clearly not been following through with my strokes!
These new exercises reignited my enthusiasm for swimming, and I looked forward to my workouts for a while. But last week 2 of my workouts were sub par. One I cut short, deciding I was just exhausted and needed a rest day, and I was right, because I bounced back refreshed and productive in the next workout. But during Sunday's swim workout I was just bored. And I just didn't feel like I was holding good form, even when I focused. It seemed like I was no longer progressing, and was struggling just to keep the same pace that I usually keep. I did some drills to reacquaint myself with what proper form feels like, but I was just over it. I still enjoy the 50 yard interval workouts, because it keeps it interesting, but anything more just bores me. Today I have a 4000 yard workout; 10 x 400 yard intervals. Then I will know if my new strategies have led to improvement over a distance longer than 100 yards!
It is very tempting to just swim enough to maintain, because it is my least favorite right now, and the time gain in the Ironman is almost irrelevant, and my training time would be much better served with more biking. But the truth is, cutting back on my swimming, even if it technically makes sense, feels like giving up.
So, while I am burnt out on swimming, I am loving biking! Yesterday I finally completed my first 100 mile ride! It took me 7 hours and 22 minutes, including all stops (1 potty stop, 3 fuel stops, 2 sunblock re-application stops, uncounted stoplights). That doesn't really leave me much margin for error to make the bike cut off, but it makes it very do-able, barring catastrophe.
The highlights of my 100 mile ride were: 1. NO FLAT TIRES!!! 2. Butt a little sore, but the "soft tissues" nether regions were just fine! I LOVE my saddle! 3. I loved the ride! Tailwind on the uphill, headwind on the downhill, which is pretty perfect in my book. I actually enjoyed it, and though I was definitely ready to get off the bike after 100 miles, I was not crying and swearing and cursing biking for any part of it!!!! 4. I spent about 70% of the ride in the aero bars; by the end I was so comfortable I was even riding in the aero bars on a street where I am normally scared to ride at all! 5. I did a pretty good job with my nutrition, as I had plenty of energy throughout the ride and on my 3 mile transition run afterwards. However, I did have some serious cramping in the last 7 miles, which I think may have been gas related, due to the highly effervescent Coca Cola I drank at mile 73. Also I am going to try to incorporate more "real" foods and salty foods into my bike nutrition for long rides, as after 7 hours even candy and cookies do not sound appealing!
Remember in the movie Bambi, when newborn Bambi tries to walk for the first time? That's how I felt for the first few minutes of my transition run! As I started running, the idea of continuing to run for 26.2 miles after a 112 mile ride boggled my mind. But after a few minutes I started to hit my stride, and 2 miles in i felt like I could have kept running indefinitely! I am loving running more than ever right now.
So, to recap: Running=LOVE, Biking=LOVE, Swimming=NO LOVE
1. I started swim "training" before the other sports (In August, as opposed to November).
2. There is so little return on investment (So much work to go the tiniest bit faster). Seeing no
significant results makes it hard to stay motivated!
3. It is so boring!
About a month ago I was reading a website Karin had up called Trinewbies and it was full of all sorts of fascinating and useful swimming information. According to an article on Trinewbies there are various kinds of intervals that serve various purposes. For example, super fast intervals followed by a long recovery period, to bring your heart rate all the way down, allow you to reach maximum speed during each interval, eventually increasing your speed. On the other hand, "threshold intervals" are done at a more moderate pace but with very short recovery breaks, thus allowing you to swim faster than your "all day" pace, but maintain it longer. I have been combining these two--swimming too hard and not recovering adequately--therefore reaping the benefits of neither! So I started doing threshold intervals where I didn't focus on speed but solely on form and power, and found I maintained the same speed but recovered much faster. And I started doing max speed intervals with a very long recovery, and found that I can go faster during each interval than I ever could before.
Another winner was the "thumb-to-thigh" drill, where you focus on bringing your thumb to your thigh with each stroke. This is an effort to make sure you follow through on each stroke, getting maximum power and distance as you push through the water, instead of inadvertently cutting your stroke short and losing power. I felt the benefit of this immediately, as I had clearly not been following through with my strokes!
These new exercises reignited my enthusiasm for swimming, and I looked forward to my workouts for a while. But last week 2 of my workouts were sub par. One I cut short, deciding I was just exhausted and needed a rest day, and I was right, because I bounced back refreshed and productive in the next workout. But during Sunday's swim workout I was just bored. And I just didn't feel like I was holding good form, even when I focused. It seemed like I was no longer progressing, and was struggling just to keep the same pace that I usually keep. I did some drills to reacquaint myself with what proper form feels like, but I was just over it. I still enjoy the 50 yard interval workouts, because it keeps it interesting, but anything more just bores me. Today I have a 4000 yard workout; 10 x 400 yard intervals. Then I will know if my new strategies have led to improvement over a distance longer than 100 yards!
It is very tempting to just swim enough to maintain, because it is my least favorite right now, and the time gain in the Ironman is almost irrelevant, and my training time would be much better served with more biking. But the truth is, cutting back on my swimming, even if it technically makes sense, feels like giving up.
So, while I am burnt out on swimming, I am loving biking! Yesterday I finally completed my first 100 mile ride! It took me 7 hours and 22 minutes, including all stops (1 potty stop, 3 fuel stops, 2 sunblock re-application stops, uncounted stoplights). That doesn't really leave me much margin for error to make the bike cut off, but it makes it very do-able, barring catastrophe.
The highlights of my 100 mile ride were: 1. NO FLAT TIRES!!! 2. Butt a little sore, but the "soft tissues" nether regions were just fine! I LOVE my saddle! 3. I loved the ride! Tailwind on the uphill, headwind on the downhill, which is pretty perfect in my book. I actually enjoyed it, and though I was definitely ready to get off the bike after 100 miles, I was not crying and swearing and cursing biking for any part of it!!!! 4. I spent about 70% of the ride in the aero bars; by the end I was so comfortable I was even riding in the aero bars on a street where I am normally scared to ride at all! 5. I did a pretty good job with my nutrition, as I had plenty of energy throughout the ride and on my 3 mile transition run afterwards. However, I did have some serious cramping in the last 7 miles, which I think may have been gas related, due to the highly effervescent Coca Cola I drank at mile 73. Also I am going to try to incorporate more "real" foods and salty foods into my bike nutrition for long rides, as after 7 hours even candy and cookies do not sound appealing!
Remember in the movie Bambi, when newborn Bambi tries to walk for the first time? That's how I felt for the first few minutes of my transition run! As I started running, the idea of continuing to run for 26.2 miles after a 112 mile ride boggled my mind. But after a few minutes I started to hit my stride, and 2 miles in i felt like I could have kept running indefinitely! I am loving running more than ever right now.
So, to recap: Running=LOVE, Biking=LOVE, Swimming=NO LOVE
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