i'm a swimming math retard.
oh for the love...
okay.
so last night i needed to swim. my coach gives me a list of workouts each month and depending on the day, i look at what workout to do and.. i do it.
simple enough.
except when its NOT.
like last evening, for example!
i took a look at my workout and saw THIS:
warm up -- continuous swim 5:00
8x50 one arm drill
8x50 catch up
10x100 1:00 RI
cool down -- continuous swim 5:00
approx. 2200 yds
right. m'kay. so i saw that, and thought this..
2200 yards plus 10 minutes of warm up/cool down?! EFF THAT! i'm not swimming extra. that's dumb!
so i got my stuff, and headed to the pool...
first things first... i do all my drills last, and i do all my straight swimming first. otherwise my arms get really tired, i stop paying attention to my form, and when i'm doing the straight swim at the end, i'll talk myself into getting out early cuz.. i'm compromising form! i don't want to teach myself a bad habit! lets quit early!
yes i know. lame. but i've found a way around that by straight swimming first so.. it is what it is, yeah!?
ANYWAY.
10x100...
off i go.
500 later i'm bored. so i come up with a brilliant plan... oooh! i know! i'll swim half of everything twice.. 5x100, 4x50 and 4x50 and then do it again! sweet!
.... not. so. sweet.
here's the problem...
first of all i can't count while i swim. especially when i start doing 150's and 250's.. i always lose track of what the hell hundred i'm on and lets face it. i have a tendency to round UP.
that, plus the fact that by the end of my 4x50's i'd forgotten the my straight swim set was 10x100... not 8x100... because i'd been swimming HALVES. halves at that point meant 4x50, so i figured it also meant 4x100 on my second set.
WRONG. I. WAS.
by the time i was nearing my last set of 100 two things were going through my mind...
wow. i'm usually way more tired by the time i hit 2000. SWEET! i'm a fracking rock star today! and two...
wow. i don't ever usually swim 2000 this fast. SWEET! i'm doubley frackin rockalicious today!
not once did i stop to think for a moment about what i was doing.
not once did i stop to do some simple math and add up my actual yardage.
not. once.
because.. i was rockalicious. and i was totally okay with that!
but here's the problem....
you saw what i was supposed to do,yeah?
here's what i ACTUALLY did. which i didn't realize until i got home and took a second look at the workout...
warm up -- none. i'll warm up as i swim. duh.
5x100
4x50
4x50
(and then i thought HEY! lets mix it up a little!)
1x250
1x150
1x50
2x100
1x50
and i thought... SWEET! 2200!!
except. NOT. SO. MUCH.
what i neglected to realize was that a.) i forgot one of my 100's and b.) when my coach added up my yardage IT WAS TO INCLUDE THE WARMUP/COOL DOWN!
so far all my effort in trying to stay true to my program... i ended the night 600 yards SHORT!
WHAT THE FRACK!?!?
i am otherwise a relatively intelligent person. what the HELL happens to me when i get in the pool!?!
Comments
I had a problem keeping track in the pool too - especially on the long sets of 300, 400, and 500.
What helps me is to focus and count 25s. So I send off from the wall and I think that there is an imaginary 25 at the end - I'm swimming toward 25. Then I turn around and swim toward an imaginary 50, and so on.
If you are having trouble counting your 100s (as in 10x100) it helps to get a watch that will count your splits. I bought a simple Timex Ironman watch at Target for $40 and it has helped tremendously!
Posted by: Andrea | April 30, 2008 08:34 AM
swimming is retarded.
i have a watch and it still doesn't help cuz you gotta know when to hit the split time. after the 50? or the 100? if it's the 100 you still gotta count. and add. and stuff!
i like andrea's idea. add up while you're swimming.
in theory.
:)
Posted by: jeanne | April 30, 2008 08:27 PM
it always happens to me as well. i am concentrating on swimming so i forget to concentrate on counting.
the easiest way for me? dumb it down...however many laps (or lengths) i have to do...i just keep repeating the # i am on.
so if i am in a 50m pool and have to do a 500 (10 laps)...on each lap i will just repeat the #. 1,1,1...2,2,2...etc.
i know it seems dumb but it works for me!
Posted by: Eddie | May 1, 2008 03:30 PM