Swim the Suck Training

February 20, 2012 by Katie

Today starts the 4th week of my official training for Swim the Suck.  By "official training", I mean that my coach is writing a weekly plan for me.

It's been an adjustment. 

I felt a lot of pressure, especially during Week 1.  Everyone knows I'm doing this.  Thanks to the blog, I run into people I've never met who know I'm training for a 10-mile swim.  What if I screw it up?  That thought woke me up more than a few nights.  I wasn't expecting to feel that way.  I do this for fun!  Absolutely nothing is riding on my performance.  And yet, the Official Training Plan shined a light on a dark place in my soul.

The swim training itself is only a little harder than what I was doing on my own.  But the overall Training Plan is much harder, mentally and physically.

Physically, the hardest thing about my training is adding yoga 3x per week.  Yoga is HARD.  I use family-friendly language on this blog.  That leaves me at a loss for words.  How can I describe The Beginning Yoga Experience without profanity?  My legs are shaking at the end of class.  I look like a zombie afterward.  (I thought I looked bad after swimming.  Yoga fatigue is even less beautiful than goggle marks.)  And I'm spent for the rest of the day.  I don't ever remember being as tired from swimming as I am from yoga.

Aside from the fatigue, I love yoga.  I've loved it since the very first class.  No matter how hard it is, I can feel how good it is for me, mentally and physically.

The first 2 weeks of my training plan, I missed my pace targets almost every day, on almost every rep.  Reasonable pace targets.  That took me to a dark place.  I was tired, giving 100% effort, and feeling like a failure.  Plus, I wasn't enjoying my swims.  That's never happened.  I was afraid I had permanently sucked the joy out of swimming by putting too much pressure on myself. (No pun intended.)

I started dreading my long, continuous swims.  I was supposed to swim those at my "Swim the Suck" pace.  I felt lonely and miserable.  I was far from that pace even though I was working hard.

Week 3, I started feeling better.  Here's what happened:

1. My coach told me to do the long swims at a more relaxed pace.  This was huge.  With the pressure off, I started getting faster on those and enjoying them more.  I'm still not at my target pace, but I know I can get there. 
2. I talked to an Ironman buddy.  Ironman training is WAY scarier than training for a 10-mile swim.  She told me things like "It takes awhile to get used to being on a plan."  And, "Your pace is off because you're tired.  That happens all the time."  I know she knows what she's talking about, and I took a lot of comfort from the feedback.
3. My yoga practice is helping me with the mental aspect of training.  It teaches me to stay in the moment, focus on my breathing, let go of the results.  As hard as the yoga has been on me physically, it's made my training easier.
4. I got used to being on a plan.  There are certain things I have to do.  It's not always convenient.  I have less time to chitchat in the locker room or at the wall between sets.  When my friends are leaving masters practice, I'm starting a new set.  Sometimes that feels like a big sacrifice.  Sometimes not.  Regardless, I'm doing this because I want to.

How do your goals affect the way you feel about swimming?  How do you handle it when the pressure gets you down?