Still Not Loving Swimming

I'm halfway thinking about doing a sprint tri (my first) in September. I'm taking swim lessons. I'm three weeks in and still not liking it. My coach prescribes weekly workouts which I do faithfully. This week it is swimming 50 yards without stopping then getting a 40-60 second break. I can do 25 but need a 5-10 second break. I feel like I should be improving at a faster clip.

Granted, I have improved from my first week. And occasionally it actually feels good - my rhythm is good, I feel like my stroke is correct & strong but then I start *thinking* and it all blows up. I wish I could leave my brain in the car.

I'd love to hear about other people's experience in swimming. Please tell me it gets easier!

How long is it taking you to swim the 50 yards? Are you sprinting it out, because that's a really long break? And why do you think you need a break at 25? Is it heart rate, muscles or water discomfort that makes you need the break at 25?

Veronica

It takes me about 1 minute, 20 seconds to swim 50 yards with a 5-10 second break. I'm not sprinting - in fact I'm working on staying a bit slower & working on form.

I take a break because of heart rate - I'm out of breath. It's crazy because I sprint on my bike and on my runs with no problem. Of course, I'm not holding my breath intermittently either.

"This is hard dude! Like - I need that Sea Hunt guy!"

Do you slowly breathe out while swimming? I don't hold my breath, I take a breath, then slowly exhale it out underwater for my 5 strokes (or 2 or 3 or whatever you do). When I turn my head for a breath, I'm not exhaling and inhaling in that short little time- it's only inhaling. Fully exhaling before you inhale on the breathing stroke is much easier and won't exhaust you like exhaling and inhaling at once.

I'm someone who has to turn my brain off while swimming. Sorry this is long.
Just as a background here: I swam competitively for years as a kid and in high schoool, then didn't swim for 16 years. When I finally came back to it, I felt good in the pool, but thought I should get some lessons. So I got lessons from a good friend (and professional triathlete) and she told me how to tweak my stroke and what to do.
So then I go swimming and start thinking about all the things she told me (elbow up, extend through the water in front, pull down, rotate, kick from the hip) it was all too much. My stroke suffered and I felt like I was standing still in the water. Like a golf swing, I couldn't just do the motion the way I do it- I was too caught up in thinking about all the things I had to do right.
Finally I just forgot about trying to work on technique and just started swimming at a pace that was comfortable and felt good.
I know my stroke could use some work, and that I'm not as smooth and efficient as I can be, but to heck with it. I swim decently fast and I'm not stressing about it- and that makes ALL the difference.
Turn your brain off, and just swim for that 50, then rest and do it again.

I think swim strokes are like running strides- you have what you have and you can always tweak, but in the end everyone's stroke is different (I've tried changing my running stride with no success either). Just go swim and don't think about stuff- or only think about ONE thing each session- like elbow up, or rotate side to side.

It also helps when I just repeat mundane things to myself over and over while swimming. Like keeping track of how many laps I do, I say the number to myself the whole 50 in rhythm to my breathing (1,1,1,1,1 2,2,2,2,2). It's all about mind games in the water for me. ;)

And it DOES get easier. I promise!!!
I taught my husband to swim and he used to really struggle, and now (of course), he swims faster than me.
Keep at it- and it WILL get easier!!! :)

[QUOTE=Dogmama;650247]I take a break because of heart rate - I'm out of breath. It's crazy because I sprint on my bike and on my runs with no problem. Of course, I'm not holding my breath intermittently either.QUOTE]

Don't hold your breath. You need to be exhaling continuously through your nose while your face is in the water. If you hold your breath, when you rotate up to breathe, you have to exhale first, then breathe. That will exhaust you very quickly. If you continuously exhale, then you are ready to breathe as you rotate up. This will make a huge difference. You can actually see this in some of the underwater video coverage of the Olympic swimming events.

Work first on breathing every right hand stroke (or left if you that is your dominant side). Once you get that down, it's easier to breath every 3rd stroke. This means you need to learn to breathe on your non-dominant side as well. If you are swimming in open water with waves, or in a crowded lane of a swimming pool you will appreciate being able to do alternate side breathing.

Let me third the advice about holding your breath. When I started swimming as adult it took me a crazy amount of time to figure out that this was why I couldn't swim any amount without gasping.

Since the Olympics are on you can watch how those guys breathe and it makes more sense.

Yes, I do exhale underwater & inhale with the stroke. It has to be in my head. I lift weights and have a fairly strong upper body. I inhale on my right arm stroke, so I'm not waiting too long.

I've been swimming for about a year and a half. I've been able to bilateral breathe that whole time, but I struggled with the whole "out of breath" thing for awhile. I also mentally struggled with the idea that all of my cycling fitness just didn't translate to swimming fitness. For me, it was simply getting enough time in the pool. Drill and stroke tweaks helped a little, but mostly it boiled down to practice and becoming more comfortable in the water.

A year ago, I wouldn't have believed that I could do a 2000-yard workout and not die. Keep at it, it does get easier.

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Originally Posted by Becky

For me, it was simply getting enough time in the pool. Drill and stroke tweaks helped a little, but mostly it boiled down to practice and becoming more comfortable in the water.

A year ago, I wouldn't have believed that I could do a 2000-yard workout and not die. Keep at it, it does get easier.

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I think you're right. I swam today and it was better. It's completely in my head. I thought I couldn't swim 50 yards, so I couldn't. Today I realized that I'm not THAT out of breath at 25 yards, so I turned around & calmly swam at the midpoints. When I thought I could do it - I was fine! When I started thinking that I was struggling...guess what happened? :o

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

It's completely in my head... When I thought I could do it - I was fine! When I started thinking that I was struggling...guess what happened? :o

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Then that's a relatively easy fix. You just have to tell your brain to SHUT IT! :D
Glad today was easier.
I swam an hour and a half today. My mantra was "graceful like a manatee" as I was rolling side to side. Manatees are quite graceful swimmers (and at times, I think I resemble one rolling around in the pool). ;)

Keep at it, and sign up for that race! You KNOW you're going to be ready by then!!

I try to separate my "thinking workouts" from my "not thinking workouts" similarly to the other 2 sports in triathlon. Sometimes when I run, I focus on form, sometimes when I bike, I focus on cadence, sometimes when I swim, I focus on form. The other times, just focus on the workout. If you're a thinker, sometimes it helps to have workouts that keep you busy like intervals, or to focus on ONE thing (like your kick but ignore your arms).

Swim lessons helped me quiet my stroke and even my kick so I wasn't sinking in the water, but all the instructor's effort to change my stroke or kick cadence couldn't undo 25 years of swimming. ;)

For me, running was like this, though. I feel like it took me a while at miserable pace to get past 3 miles.

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

I think you're right. I swam today and it was better. It's completely in my head. I thought I couldn't swim 50 yards, so I couldn't. Today I realized that I'm not THAT out of breath at 25 yards, so I turned around & calmly swam at the midpoints. When I thought I could do it - I was fine! When I started thinking that I was struggling...guess what happened? :o

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Awesome!!

Yeah, I think I experienced the same thing with running. "I'm not a runner, ugh, this is hard, this is hard" until... it wasn't. "Oh, wait. I can do this!"

One lap at a time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

I think you're right. I swam today and it was better. It's completely in my head. I thought I couldn't swim 50 yards, so I couldn't. Today I realized that I'm not THAT out of breath at 25 yards, so I turned around & calmly swam at the midpoints. When I thought I could do it - I was fine! When I started thinking that I was struggling...guess what happened? :o

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I'm glad to hear this :) You can do this, no matter what your brain says!

I get that struggling thing sometimes, where I just feel out of sync (last night's swim!). It helps me to focus on the breathing, and let the rest of it fall back into place, like yoga or meditation.