Well, it's official: I hate swimming. I was actually looking forward to my swim workout yesterday, which was supposed to be 10 x 400 yard intervals. Well, by the 4th interval I was so bored. It is just so tedious. But the main thing is: I am not any faster. My 100 yard intervals at max speed are faster. My 50 yard intervals are not faster but I can do more of them with less rest in between. But my 400 yard intervals are not any faster. Which means that my 4200 yards will not be faster.
While this realization (or rather, let's be honest, confirmation) is, of course, frustrating, it is actually more of a relief. Now I can officially put swimming on the back burner. I can swim just enough to maintain the fitness to finish 2.4 miles (at the pace I have been swimming for about a year now) and no more. The only hope I have of any improvement now would be multiple private lessons from an experienced coach. I cannot imagine that an analysis and one lesson would do me any good, since I believe I am already doing everything according to the many instructional videos I have watched. Thus, a coach telling me what to do would simply lead to me thinking I am doing what they say, when in fact, I am not. Clearly I need ongoing, correctional training. I mean, someone in the water with me, moving my arms and legs for me would be ideal. Had I known a year ago that I would make absolutely no progress without coaching, I would have picked up a few extra shifts at work back when I had the time, and spent the money for some foundational swim technique training. But now it's a little late in the game to start from scratch, and even if I wasn't bored senseless with swimming by now, I don't have the money for that. I just barely paid off my half of my bike! I have spent most of my "emergency fund" on triathlon! At this point, it is a blessing that I have no natural athletic ability, because I can't afford to do more triathlons!
Deep down I feel like not giving my all to improving my swim is giving up, but at this point I have to weigh my priorities. I don't want to spend any more time and certainly no more money on the smallest part of Ironman. As I believe I have scientifically proven beyond doubt in the last year, more hours of laps with what is obviously improper form will lead to zero improvement! So unless I am willing to drastically overhaul my swimming program (which, I think I have made clear, I am not) anything beyond the bare minimum in the pool now is just wasted time.
While this realization (or rather, let's be honest, confirmation) is, of course, frustrating, it is actually more of a relief. Now I can officially put swimming on the back burner. I can swim just enough to maintain the fitness to finish 2.4 miles (at the pace I have been swimming for about a year now) and no more. The only hope I have of any improvement now would be multiple private lessons from an experienced coach. I cannot imagine that an analysis and one lesson would do me any good, since I believe I am already doing everything according to the many instructional videos I have watched. Thus, a coach telling me what to do would simply lead to me thinking I am doing what they say, when in fact, I am not. Clearly I need ongoing, correctional training. I mean, someone in the water with me, moving my arms and legs for me would be ideal. Had I known a year ago that I would make absolutely no progress without coaching, I would have picked up a few extra shifts at work back when I had the time, and spent the money for some foundational swim technique training. But now it's a little late in the game to start from scratch, and even if I wasn't bored senseless with swimming by now, I don't have the money for that. I just barely paid off my half of my bike! I have spent most of my "emergency fund" on triathlon! At this point, it is a blessing that I have no natural athletic ability, because I can't afford to do more triathlons!
Deep down I feel like not giving my all to improving my swim is giving up, but at this point I have to weigh my priorities. I don't want to spend any more time and certainly no more money on the smallest part of Ironman. As I believe I have scientifically proven beyond doubt in the last year, more hours of laps with what is obviously improper form will lead to zero improvement! So unless I am willing to drastically overhaul my swimming program (which, I think I have made clear, I am not) anything beyond the bare minimum in the pool now is just wasted time.
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