what do you think of when swimming laps?

A

aseay

Cathlete
am i going to make my goal?
will i be craving for water when i didnt bring any?
am i going to be too cold to swim?
am i too tired to swim?
do they ever clean this pool?
that guy keeps staring at me-must be my goofy goggles
the man swimming in the other lane makes a huge wave every time he passes.
ok i need to think possitive or focus on what? or nothing at all?

laura
 
LOL!

It's changed over the years. When I first started swimming laps 27 years ago it was

please, let me make it to the end.
please, don't let me drown.
please, let me be able to lift up my arm.

I literally hung on at the deep end for dear life.

Now I usually think about stuff I have to do. sometimes I play number games. Sometimes I think, David Letterman style, of the "Top 10 Most Annoying Things Swimmers Do In The Pool" that happens ALOT. (#1 is not keepiing their arms and legs in their own lane. I'm sick of getting whacked. this from people who have apologized to me for 15 years for hitting/kicking me. duh get a clue and fix your stroke/kick) Or I think of funny pet peeve articles to write for Swim mags.
I count my laps - in French. I've done this for 22 years.
Barbara P




http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
I am not working out today and I wish I had that option of swimming right now! It sounds refreshing!! Just wanted to add that thought.. came over me...duck
 
i swam tonight-best time to go cause few (barely any)swimmers. the pool only has 3 lanes but i always find a spot by myself. 30 laps

1111.....
2222.....
3333.....
4444....
5555....
short stretch,drink water,and continue on drinking every 5 laps
my legs feel weak! i had a goal of 20 laps in 30 min which i've exceded. whats your goal? i'd like to swim every day but i need to do upper/lower dvds

laura

laura
 
Tonight I was swimming beside the water aerobics, and I was thinking.....boy do those movements look silly underwater<sorry for the water aerobic folks, but they DO look funny, but they were working it>
 
i tried the water aerobics twice and found it kinda boring and didnt get any doms from it. they only used noodles for equipment. at first i thought swimming was boring until i got better at it. i guess one of my goals would be able to swim 70+ laps before i hit 40!

laura
 
>i tried the water aerobics twice and found it kinda boring
>and didnt get any doms from it. they only used noodles for
>equipment. at first i thought swimming was boring until i got
>better at it. i guess one of my goals would be able to swim
>70+ laps before i hit 40!
>
>laura

I've never tried water aerobics although my sister teaches it.

Do you count a lap as a round trip or as one-way? I count lengths...when people talk "laps" its confusing because you're never sure if they are talking a round trip or one way. Plus when I count lengths and I lose count (which happens) I always know at least if I'm an even or odd number because it's odd going towards the deep end and even coming back. I do 100 every morning (2500 yards).
Barbara P

http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
A "lap" is one lenght of the pool--not round trip. :)

When I swim I think about how many more I have to go before I'm done, I concentrate on not losing count of how many laps I've done, and I'm praying that my goggles won't fill up with water!

Allison
 
>A "lap" is one lenght of the pool--not round trip. :)
>
>

There is much confusion on this, after 27 years of swimming laps, I have run into many people who say lap meaning round trip and some who mean length. My mom, who has been a Masters swimmer for about the same length of time, has run into the same thing. I say length because it is clear. Think of a car race. A lap is a round trip around the track, not half way.

I celebrate my 27th anniversary of daily swimming this coming Monday. That is half of my life! I never thought, back then, I'd make it this long when my first day I thought I was literally going to drown!

http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
>>A "lap" is one lenght of the pool--not round trip. :)
>>
>>
>
>There is much confusion on this, after 27 years of swimming
>laps, I have run into many people who say lap meaning round
>trip and some who mean length. My mom, who has been a Masters
>swimmer for about the same length of time, has run into the
>same thing. I say length because it is clear. Think of a car
>race. A lap is a round trip around the track, not half way.
>
>I celebrate my 27th anniversary of daily swimming this coming
>Monday. That is half of my life! I never thought, back then,
>I'd make it this long when my first day I thought I was
>literally going to drown!
>
>http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap

I've been competitively swimming for 11 years now and I was always told that a lap was one length of the pool--that's how the terminology has always been used at the pools I've been to. Intersting, though. I never knew it was an issue of debate. I would love to hear more about this!

Allison
 
When I swim, I swim between a mile and a mile and a half and consider each legnth of the pool a lap. So, from the shallow to the deep is one lap, etc.
 
>>>>I've been competitively swimming for 11 years now and I was always told that a lap was one length of the pool--that's how the terminology has always been used at the pools I've been to. Intersting, though. I never knew it was an issue of debate. I would love to hear more about this>>>>


Google "swimming laps vs lengths" you'll get hits like below. Like the first one says, lap is finishing where you started, like running around a track. That's why I always say Length, because there IS so much confusion. Like the confusion about Olympic length pools. They are 50 meters. Not 25 yards or any other length.

'America' vs. USAswimming laps. The old technical definition of the word, lap, is finishing where you started. So when they swim 50 lengths of a 50 meter pool, they say, ...
forums.canadiancontent.net/us-american-politics/46846-america-vs-usa.html - 117k - Cached - Similar pages

Swimming: Laps vs Miles [Archive] - Trifuel.com[Archive] Swimming: Laps vs Miles Basic/Newbie Forum. ... So - If I swim 33 laps (up and back) or 66 lengths, I swam one mile... right? ...
www.trifuel.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1322.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Laps in an Olympic size pool [Archive] - Trifuel.com[Archive] Laps in an Olympic size pool Swimming. ... understanding that in a 25 meter pool (that is wall to wall which would be one length vs. a lap which ...
www.trifuel.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-450.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.trifuel.com ]

swim a mile on 43 ThingsLaps vs Lengths — 2 months ago. Worth doing! Are they the same thing, ... Laps for me conjures up the idea of ‘circuits’ where you swim around all four ...
www.43things.com/things/view/47836 - 29k - Cached - Similar pages


http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
>>>A "lap" is one lenght of the pool--not round trip. :)
>>>
>>>
>>
>>There is much confusion on this, after 27 years of swimming
>>laps, I have run into many people who say lap meaning round
>>trip and some who mean length. My mom, who has been a
>Masters
>>swimmer for about the same length of time, has run into the
>>same thing. I say length because it is clear. Think of a
>car
>>race. A lap is a round trip around the track, not half way.
>
>>
>>I celebrate my 27th anniversary of daily swimming this
>coming
>>Monday. That is half of my life! I never thought, back
>then,
>>I'd make it this long when my first day I thought I was
>>literally going to drown!
>>
>>http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
>
>I've been competitively swimming for 11 years now and I was
>always told that a lap was one length of the pool--that's how
>the terminology has always been used at the pools I've been
>to. Intersting, though. I never knew it was an issue of
>debate. I would love to hear more about this!
>
>Allison

My kids have been swimming USA for 12 years, and I have been swimming Master's 7 years. All the coaches say a lap is round trip, there and back, a length is once across. Now we could get real crazy and talk about long course meters(50 meter Olympic size pool), short course yards(25 yards) and short course meters(25 meters). It drives me crazy when someone calls a 25 yard or meter pool Olympic size.

Editing to add that I see someone else clarified this much better than myself. I usually do interval work so don't worry about counting that much, 200's on down are easy to track. I get bored swimming any distance straight, and prefer IM work to plain freestyle.
 
>
>My kids have been swimming USA for 12 years, and I have been
>swimming Master's 7 years. All the coaches say a lap is round
>trip, there and back, a length is once across. Now we could
>get real crazy and talk about long course meters(50 meter
>Olympic size pool), short course yards(25 yards) and short
>course meters(25 meters). It drives me crazy when someone
>calls a 25 yard or meter pool Olympic size.
>
>Editing to add that I see someone else clarified this much
>better than myself. I usually do interval work so don't worry
>about counting that much, 200's on down are easy to track. I
>get bored swimming any distance straight, and prefer IM work
>to plain freestyle.
>

See there is a lot of confusion. I agree with your kids' coach, a lap is a round trip, you finish back where you started, as in running a lap around a track. But a lot of people (including coaches) say lap when they are talking about a length. So I just say length, because I never know what people actually mean when they say "lap".

LOL on the short course/long course. And the "Olympic size" claims are one of my swimming pet peeves. I once booked a hotel in Orlando because they had a 50 meter pool, BUT got there and found out it was roped off width-wise! so it was 25 yards! 18 lanes of 25 yards. I was NOT HAPPY. Yeah, it was a 50 meter pool, but you couldn't swim it as 50 meters! I've gone to other hotels that advertised "Olympic size" and found 60 foot pools. Even a Swim magazine goofed on that, and I wrote a letter to the editor which got published. The pool at my local college (Weslyan Univ) is the same. Very rarely is it set up for 50 meters. Really - why bother having a 50 meter pool if you aren't going to use it as such? One of my biggest joys in swimming is swimming in a 50 meter pool (in 50 meter lanes). Very hard to find.

As far as the boredom - I swim 100 lengths, but I have to have my toys. I use pull buoys, paddles, fins and a board (but just at the end). I have all my own equipment because I don't want to use the common equipment that everyone else uses. That helps with the boredom.
Barbara P

http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
Yep, I have all the toys too, I just like the challenge of meeting hard intervals rather than swimming straight. I make myself do a straight 1000 yards, or even a 1650 once in a while just to get a baseline time, but snore, I dislike it. I love the 400 IM though.
 
>Yep, I have all the toys too, I just like the challenge of
>meeting hard intervals rather than swimming straight. I make
>myself do a straight 1000 yards, or even a 1650 once in a
>while just to get a baseline time, but snore, I dislike it. I
>love the 400 IM though.

Well it can get boring. I divide my brain in half, half counts the lengths (in french, LOL) and half goes into la la land (as long as I don't have anyone flailing or kicking next to me and I have to watch out so as to avoid getting bonked, another huge pet peeve).
But some days it doesn't work and I can't wait to get outta there, but fortunately they are few and far between :)

http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
I just started swimming this summer and I'm proud to say I have reached my goal of 1 mile. But I find it incredibly boring. I usually just count the laps and try to focus.

What do most people do when they swim, in terms of distance. I'm new to this and not sure what a good workout would be.
 
>I just started swimming this summer and I'm proud to say I
>have reached my goal of 1 mile. But I find it incredibly
>boring. I usually just count the laps and try to focus.
>
>What do most people do when they swim, in terms of distance.
>I'm new to this and not sure what a good workout would be.

Congratulations on reaching your goal! When I first started, I was very bored. Now, I rarely get bored. I'm not sure why...maybe I've just gotten used to it? I've been at it a LONG time (27 years) and I also run, do other cardio and weights (cathe, firm and others) but consider swimming to be my mainstay.

Here's an article on the US Master's swim site about beating boredom:
http://www.usms.org/articles/articledisplay.php?a=155

Also, on the Swimming World site, there are some sample workouts tailored to your level:
http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/swim-cgi/

You could also try googling swimming workouts for more ideas.

Plenty of people come to the pool with formal printed workouts. Personally, I don't, but it's personal preference.


http://www.picturetrail.com/barbarap
 
What do I think of ... If I am alone in the water, I usually count my arm strokes and listen to my heart beat. If there is someone in the next lane swimming, I am usually thinking about swimming better then they are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top