Quote Originally Posted by sfa View Post
I have this small problem. I'm competitive with myself in a way that is probably unhealthy. I suspect that if my son's birth had dragged on or required medical intervention or was in any way worse than my daughter's birth, I'd probably have nine kids by now trying to GET IT RIGHT and BEAT MY LAST TIME at childbirth.
OMG. I laughed hard at this one. I probably shouldn't have children, I think this might be my future.

I don't have any sage wisdom for this one. Training isn't always "fun" and sometimes racing isn't "fun", but there's something so satisfying about it, not just in improving from last year or learning something or thinking about what I could do to be better next time... I don't know what it all is, but it all combines to make racing addicting.

You may be right that swimming more may make it more "what you do" rather than "something you hate" and racing more may make you less pressured to perform in your one race. Those things have been true for me, within moderation.

Maybe you give it a shot and see if it's something you can/want to do.