S#I@

Four-letter words ...

• a "set of words written with four letters which are considered profane ... slang ... offensive"
• The term "four-letter word" itself has become a euphemism for more offensive words (which I won't share).
• Occasionally the phrase "four-letter word" is "humorously used to describe any word composed of four letters. This is the case when used to mean the word work, alleging that the speaker's or writer's audience treats work as unpleasant, or when the game of golf is noted as a four-letter word because the player's chosen entertainment pastime becomes an exercise in frustration".
  

There is a word that, up until now, I have never thought of as a four-letter word, yet somehow it has gone from being a word with a pleasant connotation to one that sparks all sorts of less desirable emotions. The word is SWIM. That's right, a swimmer is having a tough time dealing with the word "swim".

The problem isn't the word swim, the problem is actually swimming. I haven't spontaneously forgotten how to swim or anything like that - it comes down to MOTIVATION. More precisely the fact that I have none.

I have a great list of excuses as to why I'm not swimming right now and I think it's time I expose them. There is some truth to these statements, but not enough to honestly keep me out of the water. Here they are:

• No short-term goal.
• It hurts.
  
• My swimming buddies have found new / more swimming friends, so it is no big deal if I don't show up.
• I'm slower than I was last year.
  

A little background ... I was all keyed up to do some pretty huge swims this year - 26 km Lake Cowichan, 5 km Kelowna, 8 km St Croix. Things were going great until one day in March I was in so much pain during a swim that I had to get out of the pool (I've NEVER had to cut a swim short before). This completely threw me for a loop. I also found out that I would be starting Prolotherapy in May and would have to cut back on my training. So I didn't have much choice but to abandon my goals for the summer. Training was too stressful at the time. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.

Now I find myself at an interesting place. When I did my first ocean swim this year, I was relatively pain-free (as opposed to swimming in a pool which is not because of pushing off walls 100 + times in a hour). This was an exciting discovery! So I started thinking ... maybe all isn't lost. But for some reason, which I can't quite figure out, I have little desire to get back in the water. The pain thing is a bit of an issue right now; when I take time off from swimming my left shoulder often does not want to start again (impingement). This isn't new and if I'm smart (short, easy pools swims - which I hate), and do my prehab, it will work itself out in a few weeks. It WON'T work itself out if I stay out of the water or try to swim through it on 90 minute open water swims. This should be enough to get me going but frustratingly, motivation remains elusive.

So now I look to you, wise readers. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I want from you ... Should I even worry about this? Should I just let things happen? or should I figure out a way to get my you-know-what back into the water? Stories, anecdotes, challenges ... I'll take just about anything... post a comment or email me if it's personal.