Breaking Out of a Swim Slump

I’ve been in a swim slump. It started approximately the 2nd week of January. My times were off in practice, I was feeling tired all of the time and run down. The following week I was fighting a virus, so I took 4 days off. I hadn’t taken more than two days off in four months.

I thought after four days off I would feel great. Nope. Sluggish, slow and sore. Maybe I’d been overtraining? It’s easy to second guess your training when you’re swimming slow.

To compound matters, my training routine changed in January. I had to start traveling more for business so I couldn’t swim with my regular swim group. My training was mostly by myself, which can be hard even when you’re feeling good.

It’s now February 17th and I’ve broken out of my slump. The New England Masters Championships are exactly a month away and I’m swimming fast and getting ready for taper.

Following are some strategies I used to break out of my swim slump:

Swim though the bad days – It’s easy to want to skip practice when I’m not feeling like swimming. I made it a point to swim through those “bad” days over the last few weeks. Even though my times in practice were not good, I believe swimming as hard as I could helped me get to where I am today.
Lifeguard Happiness Quote
Focus on my goals and vision – Last September I set specific time goals for my favorite events. Most nights I swim the events in my head before I go to sleep and see the final times on the scoreboard at the end of my race. This strategy has helped me get through my bad days, knowing that they will lead to me reaching my goals.
Add new drills – I’ve been researching and trying more drills in my practice. One of my favorite is to focus on just my kick during parts of my freestyle sets. I don’t have a strong kick and this drill has helped me improve my kick and overall speed.
Have a planned workout – This one’s been really important. I make sure to have a planned workout before I get in the pool and not “wing it”.
Have a planned weekly schedule – Here’s mine: Mondays are distance day, Tuesdays IM, Wednesday is off, Thursdays breaststroke day, Fridays sprint, Saturday is my one group workout and Sundays are off. Having a planned schedule makes it easier for me to make it to the pool.
Be Grateful – I try and practice gratitude daily and think of all of the things I’m grateful for. There are so many swimming related things I’m grateful for. It’s hard to stay in a swim slump when I’m practicing gratitude.