What I think about while swimming laps.

… Ok, let’s pick a lane. Crap. As usual, Fast is very fast, Medium is slow, and Slow is for floaters. What I wouldn’t give for an honest to goodness Medium lane. sigh. “Medium” it is.
… The first lap is so easy and refreshing. I love the first lap.
… Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath.
… Hmmm, is Stroke4 + Breath better than Stroke3 + Breath? The former is probably more efficient, but with the latter I’m alternating the shoulder that has to do extra work when I lift my head to breath. Does that really matter? I don’t know. Stroke*4 it is.
… Whoops, forgot to exhale. [Lift head, realize I can’t breath in any more, submerge. Stroke, slow down. Lift head, exhale, full stop, submerge. Stroke, lift head, inhale, submerge.] God I hope no one saw that.
… Crap, water in my mouth. Spit or swallow? Spit.
… Shit, ouch. Come on, second wind. Any day now.
… Is that a cramp forming? Maybe. Come on, second wind.
… Ahhh, second wind. That’s better. I’m no longer in pain.
… Now I’m bored.
… Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath.
… More water in my mouth. Spit or swallow? Spit.
… Great, stuck behind Slow Fat Guy. Again. Doesn’t he know he’s ruining it for everyone?
… Whoa: I wonder if I’m someone else’s Slow Fat Guy?
… Aw, don’t be silly, Jeremy. You’re definitely someone else’s Slow Fat Guy.
… Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. . .
… Ok buddy, once again you’ve decided to use your return lap to rest by swimming really slow. I hate to do it, but this time I move to pass you in the middle of the lane. For some reason, you take this as a cue to speed up, race me back to the shallow end, and move as fast as you can to kick off before I do, thus ensuring that we’re going to be in the same situation 35 seconds from now. Maybe I’m overreacting, but you, sir, are the biggest asshole since Pol Pot.
… Brilliant idea: paint the walls – and the bottom of the pool – with something interesting to look at. Monochromatic light blue paint gets pretty boring after an while.
… Still more water in my mouth. Spit or swallow? Spit.
… God, if everyone else is like me, this pool must be 20% saliva.
The streetlight reflects off the piss on the ground / Which reflects off the hamburger sign that turns round / Which reflects off the chrome of the BMW / Which reflects off the the fact that I’m broke. Now what the fuck is new?
… You know what would be awesome? If they installed underwater speakers, like they have in the pool at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
… Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. . .
… Come on, third wind.
… This lane has too many people in it. Can’t someone just give me a membership to some fitness center with an exclusive membership? And by “exclusive,” I mean like 1.
… That girl’s got a nice ass.
… Hey, you know what MB would like to hear about the most boring and monotonous part of my day? The SDMB!
… Oh, wrinkled old man swimmer. Time has ravaged your presumably once youthful body. Please accept my unspoken apology as I rush to kick off before getting stuck behind you.
… How do people do that flippy underwater thing to change direction at the end of the lane? That’s both cool and practical. I should figure out how that’s done.
… Well, no one’s around me at the moment, and the wall is coming up directly. Let’s try it! How hard could it be?
… Oh, shit.
… Oh fuck I hope no one saw that.
… Oh my God.
… Ok, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. Stroke, stroke . . . no, still mortified.
… More water in my mouth. I know what to do this time.
… Damn it. Water up my nose. I. Hate. Water. Up. My. Nose.
… I want to fucking quit. One more lap.
… One more lap.
… Ok, one more lap.
… For real this time, one more lap.
… Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath. . .
… Why am I the only person at the deep end? What do you mean your closing? That’s bullshit! We’ve got ten minutes left! God, I was just hitting my stride.
… Ok, let’s see how many hairs I rip out of my scalp with my swim cap today. Wow! That felt like 7 or 8! Good thing I’m not losing my hair or anything.
… I am out of shape. I should really go swimming a lot more often.

To do a flip turn, just imagine it as a somersault shortly before you get to the wall. Techniques vary, but you can try just doing the somersault (so now your face is pointed up toward the ceiling), push off in a streamlined position, and then rotate during your streamline so that you are once again facing the bottom of the pool.

To avoid getting water up your nose when you flip, gently exhale through your nose as you turn.

I go swimming a few times a week. I get up at 5:30am so I can be there as soon as it opens, so I can get a good lane. It’s becoming an obsession.

I want to learn to do the flip move, too. I tried it just the other day and I failed. Too much water up my nose causing embarrassing sputtering and coughing.

The aqua joggers annoy me.

I think that’s one of the downsides to swimming–no mp3 player.

There are swim mans now. But I’ve never seen anyone use one.

What I think about…

Never could do four strokes between breaths; can’t breathe to my left (even after Coach made me do an entire practice breathing left back in high school), so two strokes between breaths it is.

Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Wall’s coming up…FLIP, push off, glide, stroke, BREATHE.

After not having a local pool I could swim in since I got out of the Navy six years ago, there’s now a pool within walking distance of my new job. Unfortunately, it also means that I can’t carpool to the office with the two guys who work with me and live in my town, 28 miles from the office. Still, working out is important…

Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Wall’s coming up…FLIP–crap, flipped too soon, got no push off, and now I’m dead in the water. Start up from a full stop, and continue…

What I do NOT think about during a workout are the cute girls in the pool, as that could get embarrassing…

Some general guidelines, VarlosZ, which you may already know:

  1. Always breathe in your mouth, out your nose. This keeps water out of your nose. Water in your mouth is no big deal; you can just spit it out.

  2. You don’t need to turn your head much to breathe. If you do it right, you can breathe in the little “pocket” of water formed as you stroke. The water should be right at the corner of your mouth.

  3. For a flip turn, just start with a somersault with your legs relatively tucked in. As you get better at it, you can extend your legs more and more during the flip. It’s better to flip too soon (which may leave you unable to push off well), than to flip too late and hit your feet or legs on the wall. Exhale gently and continuously out your nose when you go upside down. Anybody can learn this–it just takes lots and lots of practice–and a coach that tacks on 10 extra lengths to your workout every time your hand touches the wall during a freestyle turn. :slight_smile:

Good resources here for lap swimmers:
Lap Swimming Etiquette 101
Swimmers Guide Online

More flipturn advice:

  1. Practice when the pool is mostly empty. Don’t do it as part of your normal lap swim. Get in an empty lane and just try flipturns over and over.

  2. Start off doing it well away from the wall. Once you get the hang of doing the flip in the middle of the pool you can sync it up with your approach to the end of the lane.

  3. Start the turn with your lead hand going down. Then tuck your head. Then tuck your middle. Then your knees. When done properly it feels like you’re rolling up like a window shade.

  4. Use your forward momentum to carry your feet over the top.

  5. You’ll wind up upside down after the flip. Twist your upper body as you push so you come off the wall sideways. Rotate so you’re rightside up as you glide away from the wall before you start stroking.

  1. Poke fun at the folks who are lounging around in the overcrowded hot tub.

That flip-turn looks so simple, and probably is. It’s just that the few times I’ve tried it I haven’t generated enough force behind the somersault, usually winding up with my head pointed straight down and my feet in the air, and water up my nose despite blowing out because I’m upside down and stationary.

#1 I figured out a long time ago. #2 sounds like some level of zen mastery which I don’t even bother aspiring to.

The Finis SwimP3 player is pure awesome for long lap swimming sessions…the right music can really get you through the monotony.

I totally used to think all that stuff too, until I hooked myself up with one of these things. I hated listening to my own thoughts while I swam. Now I listen to music. Yay!

You remind me of one of my exgirlfriends. She never swallowed. :frowning:

I have one of those, they’re great! Except the first time I used it and put music on it that was more for running than swimming. You do look sort of moronic wearing it though. I was amazed the first time I put it on, shocked that I could hear it and it sounded tinny, but then when I stuck my head under the water it sounded perfect.

Anyway, what I think about:

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2,
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3,
4! 100! 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4,
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5,
etc.

I lose track if I don’t count and it gets to be like a mantra so I come out feeling like I’ve not only gotten exercise but also meditated my way through a mile.

Also, some pools have lines on the bottom that end in Ts just before the wall. They’re to help you gauge your flip turns. I’m short, so I go half a bodylength past the T before flipping.

Stroke, stroke, don’t bring your arms up when you start flipping. In other words, while you’re beginning the flip, your arms should be down by your sides. This will be important.

Snap your hips, exhale to stop water getting up your nose, and when your feet break air, bend your knees so that your legs end up tucked while you’re upside down. You don’t want your legs to be flailing in the air and driving you down in the water. (Or hitting the wall. :eek: ) Your arms can now help you flip faster by pushing water over your shoulders – basically, snap your forearms up toward your chest, palms in.

Feet hit the wall. Arms are now twisting from being bent against your sides to extend over the head like you’re diving, hands pointed together. Knees bending.

Shoot off the wall as far as you can, start kicking. And when you feel yourself slowing down and/or have no air left in your lungs to exhale, break diving posture and roll to one side, letting one hand start stroking again. Break the surface of the water and start swimming.

(This whole post written for freestyle turns)

(man, now I miss my high school swim team days)

ETA: Heh, when I swam, I usually got into a zen state pretty quickly and just zoned on the exercise.

Look at it this way: now you have something to respire to… er… never mind. :smiley:

That’s pretty much what I think about when I’m swimming laps, except when I get distracted by other thoughts and lose count, and then end up feeling slightly dissatisfied about not knowing how much I’ve done. Clearly I need some sort of lap-meter.

For #2 you need enough speed that you’ve got a bow-wave going, effectively. The water is piling up in front of your head, leaving you a little pocket of air to the sides of your head. Where you breathe.

I actually have time to get to the pool tomorrow. I think I’ll take robby’s Etiquette 101 and staple it to the face of whichever Fat Slow Guy will be inevitably jumping into the fast lane with me.

What I think about while swimming is whatever earworm song got stuck in my head that day, alternating with my lap count. But I never remember all the lyrics to the former, and always forget where I’m at on the latter, so it’s all rather futile.

The pool here at my apartment is too short for lap daydreaming. Luckily, I have it to myself 95% of the time.

Try swimming laps when you’re on a road trip…hotels, college pools, and public parks. Now that’s an adventure!

I visualise having been on a plane which crashed into the sea and having to swim for survival.