I finally returned to the pool today after a several-month hiatus. I decided I didn’t miss swimming. Not even a little bit.
I swam competitively in middle and high school, and here’s what I learned after doing 20 hours per week for several years and then burning out (and discovering I was better at running anyway):
-Cold pools at or before 6am are the worst. I have horrible flashbacks to 5:30am practices during the winter.
-The chlorine stench never really goes away. I can still smell it on my skin after a thorough scrubbing. I’m convinced it was my permanent perfume back in the day.
-Goggle marks and strap chafing are par for the course.
-Once you’ve got the technique, you never lose it, but it sure does break down more quickly if you haven’t used it in awhile.
When I returned to the pool last May to train for my very first triathlon, I hadn’t swam in almost five years. It comes back, but endurance and speed take more time to build in the pool than on the track or bike. Now I realize that with longer races, I actually need to devote some time and effort to swimming because 2.4 miles is a whole different game than 750 meters. I was a sprinter/breaststroker in high school, so this whole endurance thing is new to me.
Wilson Pool, NW DC
There are several additional challenges with swimming. The Wilson pool — DC’s nicest and only long-course option — is far from my apartment, so I have to drive, and it takes a solid 30 minutes to get home during morning rush hour. The lanes tend to be very crowded in the early morning or late evening because that’s when everyone else wants to swim too. Various teams take up three and four reserved lanes at once. I can only get an hour or so in before work, which is the most convenient time to go. And open water practice involves a whole lot of effort and is particularly unappealing while it’s still cold out.
Anyway, my reintroduction to the water went fairly well, despite the slower pace and less-than-ideal form. I wanted something relatively short and simple, so I used an entry from Scott Molina’s One-Hour Workouts, a series of compact yet effective training options for triathletes. It went something like this:
10 minute warmup: Ladder at 2RPE — 50m/100m/150m/150m/100m/50m
Main set: 4 x 400m
Odds are 400m free, RPE 2, 20 sec rest
Evens are 100IM/300 free, RPE 3, 15 sec rest
Remaining time: kick/drills (about 500m)
Total: 2700m, 60 minutes.
Now if I can just find a way to stay motivated, get my ass to the pool on a regular basis and actually do real, substantial workouts…
Speed Laces, Amazing Races 
i don’t think i have ever seen the wilson pool that empty! i swim there on weekends sometimes, let me know if you ever want a swim buddy. 🙂
Posted by katie | February 16, 2011, 11:26 AMI have the same swimming motivation problems. I was a competitive year-round swimmer from 5th to 12th grade and its SO hard for me to want to get back into it. Unfortunately, I’m going to need to for triathlons as well. And no, the chlorine smell never goes away. And after a while you just have a permanent goggle indent on your nose. Its ok.
Posted by Beth | February 16, 2011, 11:44 AMI fought this same battle. I swam through a couple of years of college and majorly burned out. Last year I only swam in races or as workout for active rest days. This year with the IM coming up, I knew (/my coach is making me) I had to up the yardage and do real workouts again. I started swimming with some people faster than me and I’m actually loving it. I think it’s the added challenge of a good workout and people to push me that makes it fun again.
Posted by Emily | February 16, 2011, 1:04 PMI feel the same way (except I was never a good swimmer). Maybe we should plan a swim/whole foods dinner date to motivate each other.
Posted by Liz | February 16, 2011, 4:01 PM