I'm done with training for awhile. The OWHOF conference this weekend was great. I got to meet a TON of people I admire and got to refocus myself on some swimming ideas. I was getting a bit behind on my end of year goal of 500 miles. If I were to meet that goal, I'd have to swim daily over 4000 yards. Just like last year, mentally I need a break. I still love swimming but it's becoming a chore now instead of something I love and look forward to doing. I still plan on swimming but getting up daily to "get my yards in" just so I can say for 2 seconds that I hit 500 miles isn't worth it to me. I'll go over 400 which is still good. I'm going to prep myself for cold water swimming soon.
My main thought is that if I keep going the way I am with yards per day to meet my end of year goal, by the time I get the goal, it will be a new year and I'm going to start training seriously again for more marathon swims. I would be burned out for sure and it would take a serious toll on my training or care of swimming for next summer.
I'll still get up to swim once and awhile so I don't completely lose it but I just need a break to let my body 100% recover from all the work this year...(I still feel some aches that I know I've gotten from so much swimming the past few months) and to let my mind relax from thinking about swimming so much. I've talked with other ultra marathon swimmers and they say they all do the same thing. Some even take several months off with ZERO swimming to relax their mind and let their body fully reset. I'm just going to take a few lights months is all.
I still consider this year a better year than last year. I've gone farther than ever before for miles accumulated for the year, had some AMAZING swims with some of the best friends in swimmig I could ever hope for, and had my heard DESTROYED by swimming too. Good year overall.
I'll still post when I've done swim workouts. I'm not cashing it all in by any means, I'm just going to pull the reins back some is all.
I think that's smart. Allow yourself some perspective and chance to enjoy what you have accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI have been wimpy in the last few weeks with my surgery. Slam the Dam should be interesting! Oh well. I'm just looking it as a fun race, which is what it should be anyway.