One of the things that keeps me motivated is swimming with Masters, or at least a regular group of people to train with. I've been swimming a long time, and I find it pretty boring to just swim on my own. Having a group of friends to do it with helps me be more consistent, and consistency is key.

If you aren't doing it now, learn to use the pace clock at the pool. For one, the mental math keeps your brain busy, and seeing how your times improve is a good motivator as well.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I bought a waterproof ipod and headphones off amazon. I listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks, whatever I am in the mood for. I love it.

I enjoy swimming mostly, but I agree with Jason. If I need to focus and keep the motivation, hop into a masters group. Lots of like minded people trying to get a workout as well. This can also help to improve your swimming as there will be people there to push you.

jake

---

Get outside!

How are you setting up your workouts? I'd be bored as heck if I was doing straight swims or something like 10,20,30 x 100 all the time. Mix it up. You can use kicking or alternate stroke work for a change of pace and/or add some speed play work into your practice. I.e. 8x50 descend 1-4, 5-8. Go to the monthly fishies thread to get some additional workout ideas.

Masters is definitely the way to go if you have a group you can join...it's a lot of fun and you will be challenged.

When I started improving I read a lot of the advice on SwimSmooth. Downloaded the animation. Figured out what type of swimmer I was. Watched a lot of videos on their site. I've never played golf but thinking about a technically sound swimming stroke must be like a golfer trying to improve their swing. I used to go to bed visualising it and looking forward to the next season to try it out. They have what they call their 'BMI' chart. That suggests whether you should be thinking about swim cadence or stroke length given your current progress. So just using their tools and knowing what I was doing in the pool was paying off in an obvious way made each session more fun.

I think the most common motivator for swimmers (but by no means the only) is the clock.

I obsessively check the clock. In a typical 3500M workout I probably get 30-50 data points.

For the first half of this year I am doing this set every week:

500 free hard
5 x 100ez
4 x 125 hard
2 x 250 ez
500 free hard.

My goal is to go under 6:00 on both 500's by April 1. Every single set I do every day (well every day I swim) is a little building block into achieving that goal. On these 50's I should go :36. On this long set I should do "this". On these hard 75's last week I went 53's, lets see if I can go 52 on half of them this week. I record everything, know exactly what I did on every 100, 150, 200 or whatever it is that I am swimming that day. I am recording the test results every week. Last week I was 6:04 / 6:12. Went out too hard on the last one. Thought I had another 6:04 in me but was probably only capable of a 6:08. The only motivation I need is that goal...

It works for me, at least...

Same here. Other than than in warm up, cool down, or during active recovery between performance-focused sets, I have a target pace for pretty much every rep, and precisely measure my performance against that target pace using a finger stopwatch.

---

"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Don't do more than 300s in training (unless it's a test set), like others have said mix up the distances.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Yeah, swimming more volume is tough without a squad or regular masters to go to. (If I had the time to go to masters every day, I'd friggin adore swim training! Darn kid.....)

As a MOP swimmer that's trying to get better, here are my tips from my experience to stay motivated.

- Change up the pools. Seriously! It's fun to swim in different pools with different folks, at different times of the day. I work at different locations, and just this change helps a LOT in looking forward to my noon swim workout.

- Don't be afraid to do 'easy' swim days. I drank the ST kool-aid for awhile, meaning that I tried to do what all the swim studs and collegiate swimmers said worked for them - high volume, NO easy days, timed intervals on everything. Seriously, 2 weeks of all-hard swim workouts burned me out not just physically, but mentally - not worth it as an AGer. Taking 2 easy days of swimming can set you up for some PR or near-PR training sessions shortly after, so view it from a 'useful recovery' standpoint if you're swimming regularly.

- Throw in a 'sighting' and drill session if you're not feeling up to hammering, but don't want to just do a boring easy swim. Work on sighting, breathing to the non-strong side, and other open water drills. It will pay off on race day.

- Dramatically mix up your workout. I think one workout type that adult-onset MOPers don't do enough of are pure power workouts to amp up that arm pull, like all-out 25s and 50s with tons of rest.

I could actually add to this in that one of my personal biggest motivators is mixing it up Vasa erg + pool and seeing how one benefits the other, but that's a different topic. (As an aside, one of my favorite occasional workouts on the Vasa is the 'long' endurance workout, where I'll do 90 mins straight on the vasa at moderate effort, kind of like a long run. This workout is mentally crushing to do in the pool, but on the Vasa, I can watch a movie when I do it, and still get that same arm beatdown/burn from all that volume. Good stuff!)

Go swim outside! Open water swimming is never boring.
I myself always wonder if I would win the fight with one of the alligators or sharks here. Maybe you have something fun to think about when you're in a river, lake or sea!

---

NO

Get some fins and concentrate on your kick for a 10x50, get some paddles and concentrate on your entry and pull for 10x50, get a pull buoy and concentrate on your body position for 10x50 then just swim 10x50 and put it all together. You set will be over then. If you get really bored get an ankle band and try to figure that thing out.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

Thanks all - I picked up a waterproof ipod and will try some of the suggestions mentioned above. I already do the repeats of shorter distances, but still find my mind wandering after a few repeats, so trying to find something that will help keep me focused on swimming instead of everything I can do outside of the pool. Finding that great swimmers make it look easy, but its definitely not something easily picked up.