That Old Pain Threshold Again

Long, long ago in a pool far, far away, I began swimming.

Rather than taking lessons, I just jumped in and kept swimming toward my dad (who had tricked me into the dive) as he backed up and backed up until I swam 25 yards. The next Monday I was on a summer swim team at Memorial Pool in Euclid, Ohio. Years of early-morning practices, Saturday-morning meets and off-season training followed. And then I turned 17 and I stopped.

A couple years later I thought about swimming in college, so I bought a new suit, dug out the old cap and goggles, and headed to the pool. I swam four whole laps, hurt so badly I wanted to cry and I didn't return until late last year. About 8-9 years later.

Why the Gina history lesson?

On my recent swim post, Jason commented:

You are swimming 2500m and I am sweating 500m in about 1 hour (remember fat out of shape). I read the books and all that, but I cannot see how I can go from 500 to 3000m. How did you do it?

It's all about the pain threshold. Anyone who has talked to me about swim-conditioning has heard me say talk about the threshold.

You know that point while you're swimming when your arms are burning, you're breathing too hard and you just kind of want to die? Yeah, we've all been there. The secret: nirvana lies on the other side of that pain.

When you reach that point of exhaustion (assuming, of course, that it's relative exhaustion and nothing serious), don't stop.

At first, push yourself an extra lap past that point. Next time, go two or four. You're going to be tired. But when you push yourself past that threshold you'll eventually reach a state in which your muscles are warmed, your tightness loosens and it's all smooth sailing from there. I feel a similar relaxation after my first mile of running. Like warming up.

If you keep pushing yourself and still have trouble improving, take a look at your stroke. The problem most people close to me have had is breathing. They just can't get it right. Whether they don't understand the positioning, movement or frequency, they just don't do it.

If you're a troubled breather, check out the plentiful breathing resources available on the Web. I won't dole out general breathing advice, but I'm always willing to supply customized feedback. I may not be able to provide expert guidance about the other two legs of the triathlon (yet!), but I have a handle on the swimming gig.

So, that's my advice, Jason! It's probably not what anyone wants to hear (you know, that whole 'wanting to die' thing), but if you keep going, keep pushing, I think you can hit 2,500 yards in a month or two. Maybe less! Just beware of the desire to stop swimming, skip swimming days and slack off. Those are my biggest weaknesses. Next to chocolate.

Jason recently joined the triathlon community. Be sure to welcome him and visit Jason's training blog.