Five Tips to Training Alone During the Holidays

Photo Courtesy: Pexels

By Taylor Covington, Swimming World College Intern.

Swimming can be a lonely sport as it is. While the swimmer’s bond is arguably the strongest in all of athletics, this immense level of camaraderie is largely attributed to a shared degree of torture. It’s something few can withstand and even fewer can comprehend–a mentality woven through a self-deprecatory sort of discipline braided with stronger threads of heart and grit.

Swimming not only teaches us to respect ourselves but also the people who can withstand it with us. It’s the people who–despite the dulling sensory experience, the time-warped capsule of black tiled lines, rushing water and the intermittent boom of pop song lyrics–you know will always be there. It’s when your own thoughts fail you during a particularly inhumane set, yet you know the source of that white-water splash beside you is suffering too, and for some sick reason that makes things a little better. It’s the people who subject themselves to this brutal and beautiful sport we have chosen; the people who come back for more. Yes–those are the people worthy of such a bond that swimming affords.

There are moments, however, when that integral aspect of training is stripped away: when holidays or travel plans yield an empty pool and a full dry-erase board. Collegiate swimmers, in particular, may find themselves home for break with no club team with which to train. They may go abroad or to that family cottage in the middle of nowhere, yet training stops for no one and no thing; they would be remiss to sacrifice all of their hard work during such pivotal times of the season. How does the lone swimmer find the gumption to break the surface of a quieted, still pool with the lifeguards as her only company? Here are five tips to successfully training alone:

1. Treat it like any other practice.

gunnar-bentz-olympic-practice-kick-kickboard

Photo Courtesy: Kevin D. Liles-USA TODAY Sports

Mimic your usual practice routine. Don’t let yourself view this practice as “different,” or else you run the risk of losing your motivation. Try to work out at your usual time, eat your normal pre-practice snack, and approach the workout as usual. As an athlete, your body is used to routine, and it will be easiest to respond accordingly if you maintain some level of normalcy. If you’re worried about this, hold yourself accountable by telling a teammate about your practice plans. Agree to send a quick text or Snapchat from the pool at the same time; you’ll be more likely to hold up your end of the deal.

2. Lower the intervals/“Just Make it”

Photo Courtesy: Ironman

This sounds counterintuitive, but it works. So you’ve planned 7 x 100’s on the 1:30 “build”? Don’t be naïve. Even the word “sprint” possesses a duller, more obscured meaning in the context of a solo swimmer. If you don’t have a physical person to race, race the clock. If you want to ensure you’re pushing past comfort, make challenging set intervals to give yourself something to work against. There’s some false comfort in “just making it” that can actually tick your competitive edge and get your juices flowing. Don’t think: just make the interval. You’ll be surprised at how quickly the clock will dominate your focus, becoming a challenger in itself. Create heart rate goals and customize your intervals accordingly. Give yourself some tangible indicators to assess your effort throughout the practice.

3. Mix it up.

BEIJING - AUGUST 04: Sophie Edington of Australia attends a practice session at the National Aquatics Center at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics on August 4, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Photo Courtesy: Cameron Spencer

This isn’t the time to challenge yourself mentally; you’re already doing that by training solo. Create fun and engaging (yet productive) workouts for yourself. Using the “just make it” mentality, refrain from doing multiple rounds of the same set. The workout will be easier to approach (and consequently, finish) if you can attack each chunk without the looming threat of another dreary, painful round. Think to yourself, “If I can just make it through the first main set, the second one is shorter and faster, and I can put on fins.” Before you know it, your disintegrating, paper workout plastered on a kickboard will be telling you to hit those slow 5 x 100’s on the 1:35; you deserve it after all those hard, self-motivated gains you’ve just made.

4. Be negative.

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr / Swimming Australia Ltd.

Close your eyes, and revisit your worst nightmare. If it’s not jumping into winter training knowing that you’re out of shape, you may need to dig deeper into your subconscious. Go back to that moment when you knew you were unprepared for the flip side of the whiteboard. Let yourself feel the gnawing pain in your stomach during the last drill-scull-swim of warmup, as your brain sifts through goal times and best-holds and arrives at an alarming cry for survival. Remember the time you took time off after getting your wisdom teeth removed, and you felt like bricks in the water for two weeks? Relive it. Suffer in it. Do whatever it takes so that you never have to feel that way again.

5. Now, build yourself back up.

sarah-sjostrom-sweden-happy-100-fly-2016-rio-olympics

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

At the very end of the day, you’ve worked far too hard to let your aerobic base plummet. You’ve spent too many hours in the pool to waste time “getting back into shape” at the onset of winter training. Be ready to attack the hard sets and reap their full benefits. No matter how difficult or inconvenient solo training may be, tell yourself that you’re willing to do anything in the name of getting better. What happens in the quiet confines of a lazy pool on a chilly December afternoon will show up when the lights come on, and who doesn’t want to find themselves lonely at the top?

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

6 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Jaclyn Pecze

5 years ago

Sophia Smith tip 6: 50x100s

Sophia Smith

5 years ago

Reply to Jaclyn Pecze

they don’t need an article they just need our set

Tony Sparks

5 years ago

Excellent points! No excuses for not training, even solo, Barracudas!

Karen Simpson

5 years ago

Excellent article! Sets the tone for a successful season. Have to have the self motivation to work hard when eyes are not watching!

Kevin Lancaster

5 years ago

Definitely great tips, to give yourself a boost when working out alone. Sets are empty without some inspiration, and new ways to look at things. Workouts with no intensity are useless.

Margie Ritchie

5 years ago

I like to imagine that my coach is on deck watching and pushing me during the harder sets or that a visiting coach is on deck and I want to impress them! haha. 50 x 100’s? Make them interesting by “descending 1-5” or “1 fast 1 easy” etc.