Several ideas have crossed my path this week that have made me ponder my hyperfocused approach to fitness, especially swimming.

Earlier this week, I was talking with a good friend who said, “I don’t time my walks and don’t care how far I go, so it doesn’t matter to me. I left all of that competitive time (running, walking, etc) stuff behind in the military.” Instead he walks by the river, watches the morning sun and the ducks on the water, the beavers build their lodge, and basically enjoys being outside.

Another friend sent a link on the “Fun Theory”, a fascinating YouTube video documenting a social experiment. A group of engineers transformed subway stairs from plain into a black and white, musically functional piano keyboard – and 2/3 more people took the stairs just to play on them.

Entrepreneur and fitness guru Jonathan Fields has a fabulous post on how to make exercise more fun than sex. Perhaps he’s a tad optimistic, still, he has a point. We used to run around outside playing until we were exhausted as kids, and never once thought of it as drudgery or exercise.

So what do I do?

I swim. A lot. I’m kind of obsessed with swimming. And truly, I love it! I enjoy the coolness of the water, the weightlessness, the strength, grace, rhythm and endurance I feel in the water. In a pool, I like the smell of chlorine, the stillness, the snap of a perfect flip turn. In open water, I like the light refracting through the water, the waves, the sense of connection to the natural world.

Still, I let myself get so hyperfocused on the trivial details, the part that matters so much less. I require myself to swim two miles per workout. I want to get faster, I’d like to get my mile back under 30 minutes. I need to kick more. Intervals would make me faster; harder workouts would improve my time.

Holy crap, I’m 45 years old and I’m not and never will be Dara Torres! As my friend said, it’s not about competition. If I do what I love, and focus on the things I enjoy most, the rest will follow. And even if they don’t, I’ll stick with it, because doing what brings me joy motivates me.

I also walk and do yoga, but I don’t get so wrapped up in compulsiveness there. I don’t know if it’s because I am not so attached to those activities, because they aren’t naturally competitive sports, or because they don’t lend themselves as easily to the process of continuous evaluation and improvement.

The line between exercising for enjoyment, fitness, physical and mental health, and obsessively, compulsively exercising to a rigid perfectionist standard, is not fine and is not blurry. I wander across it far too often. I need to – I will – focus on joy and loving what I do as a primary goal, a lifetime goal.

Last week I tweeted a facetious novel writing suggestion, the first one in the list below, and it made me think: how many ill-advised ways can I come up with to write a 50,000 word novel?

1. Write a 50,000 word MS project plan.

2. Write a 50,000 word novel in Morse code.
3. Write a 50,000 word novel consisting entirely of limericks.
4. Write a 50,000 word comedic romance novel in Klingon.
5. Write a 50,000 word vampire novel with a fountain pen. In your own blood.
6. Write a 50,000 word literary novel in the bathroom, on toilet paper.
7. Write and illustrate a 50,000 word serial graphic novel. In full color.
8. Write a 50,000 word murder mystery on post-it-notes. Scramble them, then transcribe.
9. Write a 50,000 word novel in sharpie (or tattoo!) on your own skin. And that of your family, if your handwriting isn’t small. Preserve via digicam.
10. Write a 50,000 word novel in less than 30 days, while working full time, sleeping too little and drinking too much caffeine. Oh, wait, that’s NaNoWriMo!

Any really bad writing ideas you can come up with?

Happy birthday, mom! You remain one of my heroines and an inspiration in my life. I’m so proud of you for all your adventures and successes!

This year you traveled the Caribbean and the US, swam the Senior Olympics, continued to run agility with my four-legged black sister Sadie, and produced more quilts in a year than most people do in a decade. May your rocking chair continue to gather dust for many years to come!

Thank you for all the love and support. I wish you much joy and happiness – with much love.

When I simply enjoy swimming without pushing or competitiveness, it’s a wonderful experience. I love the weightlessness, the smoothness and grace, the hypnotic rhythm, and the mindful, meditative state I reach after lap upon lap. Still, I’d like to get faster.

I’ve been swimming pretty good workouts lately – usually 2 miles, 3x a week, consisting of:

• 1 mile freestyle warmup

• 400 mixed kick
• 800 of stroke work, more distance or intervals
• 200 warmdown

It takes me about an hour and fifteen minutes and feels really good.

Motivation

I had the chance to swim with a triathlete friend in Alaska. Craig is a good distance swimmer – he lapped me a few times. (Dammit!) We both want to improve our endurance swim times, and had a great conversation about workout intensity.

We prefer solo swim workouts and long slow distance training. It suits our strengths in the water. (And on land.) He mentioned, though, that he tends to not push himself as hard when he swims by himself. I notice myself that I’m predominantly a mono-paced swimmer – my half-mile, mile and two mile pace are all the same.

He suggested — and I agree — that it means I’m sandbagging a bit. I’m not working as hard as I could be and I’m keeping plenty in reserve.

The alternatives? Interval training by myself is one possibility, and I already do a little, but not a lot. The other is working out with the local Masters’ swim team.

Interval Training

Long slow distance is a phrase commonly used to describe both training method for endurance sports. Many find it effective preparation for endurance events like marathons.

Still, most coaches and sports trainers recommend interval or speed training to build speed. It’s very effective in cardiovascular build-up and makes more well-rounded athletes. Interval training can also be more effective at inducing fat loss than simply training at a moderate intensity level for the same duration.

What is interval training? There are several variations, but they all include shorter distance, higher-intensity effort. They might include:

• Intervals: Swim 8 x 100 yards free with 20 seconds rest in between

• Timed intervals: Swim 8 x 100 yards free on the 2:00 – the faster you swim, the more rest you get
• Laddered intervals: Swim 2 x 200s, 4 x 100s, 4 x 50s, with 20, 15 and 10 seconds rest respectively.
• Fartlek training: Swim 800, alternating 50 easy with 50 sprint, no rest in between.

The last type of interval training might be familiar to those who use programmable fitness machines, and add in hills, variable speed or incline, or intensity to their workouts.

This is pretty do-able, in fact, I already do it probably one day a week. Today it was 8 x 100 IMs, with 15 seconds rest, but practicing it more regularly would help my speed.

Masters’ Swimming

Masters’ swimming is the adult version of a club swim team. It’s for all age and ability levels and all goals – competitive swimmers, triathletes, fitness swimmers and open water swimmers.

My wonderful mother swims Masters’ at 76 years old – she competed in the national Senior Olympics this summer. So do Dara Torres, Rowdy Gaines and open water champ Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen.

Masters’ teams – there isn’t one at my local North Kitsap pool, but there is one at Bainbridge Aquatic Center, the next town over – generally work out 3-5 days a week, with flexible schedules to serve working adults. They do shorter, intense, interval-oriented workouts, but still do a good job of supporting the endurance athlete since so many of their participants are triathletes or open water swimmers, rather than meet competitors.

The thought of working out with a swim team makes my OCD heart palpitate. I’d have to circle swim in a busy, choppy lane, feel all competitive and pay attention to a pace clock.

Why would I do this? Interval training and/or Masters’ swimming? I’d like to continue to enjoy swimming, to love what I do, but I’d also like to build a better speed base and prepare for some longer and faster open water events. I’d also like to build a variety of ways to stay actively involved in swimming for the long term, and social and team engagement is a good way to do that.