Boredom
jenschumacher
Los Angeles, CAMember
Inspired by @loneswimmer's #2 response to a question about boredom during a 24-hour pool swim:
I believe I may be one of those few marathon swimmers who does encounter boredom, at least in training. The actual swims themselves are never boring to me, but a 4-8 hour training swim can be a mental strain. It's not exactly boredom I suppose, but more of a struggle to resign to spending such a long duration swimming, if that makes sense. I use a lot of strategies (mental 'games' like counting, working on stroke, music, etc.) and those often work, but I find myself encountering the problem frequently. I try not to allow my mind to drift to non-swimming things or zone out too much (called disassociation in the sport psychology literature, and known to decrease performance, although only has been studied in endurance events as long as a running marathon, so could be different for ultra endurance activities). However, sometimes I wonder if this disassociation is a strategy used by marathon swimmers to get through some of the mental struggles I'm describing and I'd be better off using that strategy as well.
Either way, I'd like this thread to be about people's experiences dealing with boredom and/or struggling with duration/time in marathon swims. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!
Asking about boredom is a red flag for me. Most marathon swimmers have strategies for this and don't think about too much.
I believe I may be one of those few marathon swimmers who does encounter boredom, at least in training. The actual swims themselves are never boring to me, but a 4-8 hour training swim can be a mental strain. It's not exactly boredom I suppose, but more of a struggle to resign to spending such a long duration swimming, if that makes sense. I use a lot of strategies (mental 'games' like counting, working on stroke, music, etc.) and those often work, but I find myself encountering the problem frequently. I try not to allow my mind to drift to non-swimming things or zone out too much (called disassociation in the sport psychology literature, and known to decrease performance, although only has been studied in endurance events as long as a running marathon, so could be different for ultra endurance activities). However, sometimes I wonder if this disassociation is a strategy used by marathon swimmers to get through some of the mental struggles I'm describing and I'd be better off using that strategy as well.
Either way, I'd like this thread to be about people's experiences dealing with boredom and/or struggling with duration/time in marathon swims. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!
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My longest swim to date was 8:25. At around 7:45 I got an antsy feeling that was more about “am I done yet? When is this going to be over?” than about boredom. So I did some sprint sets and that feeling went away. Is it possible that a lifetime of 8-hour workdays had my internal clock set for an 8:00 quitting time?
In the pool, I have trouble keeping track of laps. I hate pool swimming and I hate laps. I used to think that I got bored in the pool but when I drilled down to what the real feeling/thought was, it turned out to be a feeling of not having enough time. For some reason, I don’t get that feeling nearly as often in OW. So when that bored/antsy feeling comes up in the pool, I tell myself that I have all day if I want, there’s no rush, nobody’s waiting for me at home, I can swim for as long as I want, etc.
The other struggle I experience on longer swims is frustration or anger. It usually shows up after 4 hours. Anything can trigger it – e.g., the kayaker is looking the other way, I’m afraid I’m getting sunburned, there’s too much chop, the sun is right in my eye, etc. It’s not really related to the swim conditions, even when it’s about chop or the angle of the sun, b/c I can get frustrated with really silly things – the Gatorade is too cold., or not cold enough. It’s just an emotion cycling through. So I just swim through it and it passes.
I also smile a lot on long swims. I get serenely giddy after hours of deep breathing and strong stroking in my favorite environment, even when conditions are rough. Even when there’s problems like chafing, hunger, soreness – at some point the sense of accomplishment overshadows the physical pain. Is it possible that long distance swimming gets us down to our essential feelings – joy, anger, will to survive?
I'm relieved to hear other people say the same thing. I'm used to hearing my triathlete buddies gleefully report throwing up on the run. In the next breath, they express horror at the thought of staring at the black line in the pool for 2 hours. That makes me feel like there's something wrong with me. Like I must be a boring person if I'm not bored with something universally considered to be boring. I have the same problem (minus the "occasionally"), but I couldn't have expressed it so well.
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Also @KBREEDER or anyone else, I like the idea of getting company for part of long swims but I am terrible at recruiting people - any tips? My teammates usually respond with "why on earth would you want to swim that far"/"are you joking?!" or something to that effect...
So, I'm lucky in that I very rarely get bored in the water, but at the same time, I'm nowhere near as attentive to my swimming as I probably should be, so there's definitely a trade-off there that I am trying to work on too.
To me, the main problem with long solo training swims is the "solo" aspect of them. So, I try to swim in group settings as much as possible. It makes the time pass more quickly, and I can train harder with other people around to push me. (As a sports psychologist, Jen is probably aware of Triplett's studies of social facilitation.) On just group workouts alone, I can usually get in 30-35km/week.
If I must do a long solo training swim, I find OW mentally easier than the pool, and long-course easier than short-course. The problem with OW is finding a paddler or an appropriate training partner (I'm unwilling to swim alone in the ocean). I also find it harder to sustain high quality in OW without being motivated by a pace clock. I grew up doing intervals so that's what I know.
So, even when I have comfortably warm OW nearby, I end up doing most of my training in the pool anyway (with some OW for cold & rough acclimation, as necessary). In the pool it's easier to quantify and hold oneself accountable.
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Pool swimming is another story though. I train 80% alone, and am bored most of the time. It's important that I mix up the practices- sometimes I just swim for an hour and a half, other times I do short sprint sets. I write a lot of practices, and let others write practices for me. Swimming with friends is good. I also make myself do a few 5 hour/20k pool swims each year. I hate them so much, but I know if I can get through those, then I can get through anything in a race. When I'm fighting through the pure boredom of a solo 20k in a pool, I've found the best way to get through it is to simply focus on the now. I have the hardest time at the beginning and the end- at first, I'm thinking, "Holy crap, why am I doing this?" And at the end, I'm thinking, "Ugh, I'm so tired, I can't wait for a long shower!" I have to force myself to relax, and just go with it. I'm a huge clock watcher, which I know drives most people crazy, but for me it helps me keep a pace and focus on one 100 at a time. When I'm staying 'present' I'm a lot less bored than if I'm busy planning my post workout meal.
@KarenT thank you so much especially for the first part you wrote. I remember writing that down after we talked about it when you were out here but had somehow gotten off track of using it when I'm struggling, but that's a great one, reminding yourself you get to do "nothing today but swim."
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In fact, for events over 4 hours, I have been working on associating and dissociating at different times. We actually practice intentionally using one strategy or another at different times.
I wrote something up on this and have been sharing it with the folks I coach for a while now. I went ahead and published it where others can see it, in case a few folks find it helpful.
http://acadianendurance.blogspot.com/2014/03/associating-and-dissociating-in.html
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I liked the article on dissociation/association. I find I do it naturally, at opportune times, and not so opportune times. So I am excited to try to control it. I think in a sport where one is conserving energy, dissociation at the right time can be handy. Now, if you were racing your motorcycle in the Baja 500, not such a good idea. So I'm thinking to tune "out" when times are tougher, but not so much when concentration is needed. Like, when the ocean gets rough, and I tune out, I find my stroke rate goes down, and I get tossed about. For me, I need to stay focused on my stroke in those times, keeping the stroke count up, body more taught, not just a meditating jellyfish floating on the sea.
My sister gave me a little jingle to sing and it makes me smile because she gave it to me. It's so silly I can't help but laugh. I also have been humming songs. Lately I have been singing "Unicorns I love them" from Despicable Me 2. I know. Those are all the words. Unicorns I love them. It's just stuck in my head. So maybe my next task should be finding a new song, with the right pace, that is maybe kind of a mantra, (why not choose a song that has a positive impact on the brain?) that keeps your arms going fast enough, but allows your mind to drift? That could solve the problem (for me) that dissociation causes.
Such a good thread!
I do math, but that is more to keep me motivated than to keep me busy. "I've already done 10%. I can do another 10%."
Actually my problem is than doing someting else than swimming makes me bored.get me a solution for this....