 initial subconscious thought to the side and keep going. Also, while biking and running, we have a constant and endless supply of air to always breathe. After a few minutes the body establishes a working exercise rhythm, the brain and the subconscious accept it and you establish your "pace". I can bike at an average 21mph for six straight hours. I can run a 9-min/mile pace for three hours. The point is that I have trained my body and mind to break through that initial plateau and establish an efficient and do-able exercise pace.
The same thing happens when you swim. Except for two differences; you haven't been swimming as much and as regularly as you have biking and running. And you don't have that constant and endless supply of air. You need to pace your breathing and roll up to the air to get it. But that's just a function of form. You still have the same subconscious plateau to get over. And there's no other way to do it, other than to just do it.Go to the lifeguard and tell him/her that you're going to do an endurance set of 15 laps (endurance for you that is) and to please keep a close eye on the lane you are in. Then SWIM 15 LAPS NON-STOP! Keep your pace slow and steady and remain as relaxed as possible. At some point in the first three laps, you will feel tired and begin to get nervous. That nervousness may even become anxiety or fear. Stay slow and steady and KEEP GOING! DON'T PANIC - YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! You have to keep going! You cannot stop! It is not an option! The lifeguard is watching you and they won't let you drown. Just keep swimming. You're forcing your body to establish a swimming pace and teaching your subconscious to release the anxiety and fear.You'll begin to notice something around the 6th to 10th lap. IT STARTS TO GET EASIER! Your heart rate will lower, you'll smooth out and the swimming will even begin to get boring. That's the goal! You may want to instead of counting laps, just keep mindlessly swimming for 15 minutes and glance at the clock every once in a while. Sing a song in your head. Think of something else other than swimming. Transport yourself to another place. Your body will adapt and your mind will relax and accept it. Lots of competitive swimmers here often complain about doing endless, boring laps. They're constantly doing different drills to put some fun back into the training and they're the ones posting, "How do you keep track of your laps? After 50, I lose track." These people have trained their bodies and minds to swim past that plateau and establish a swimming pace. And you can too!One final note: Nobody EVER got better at swimming by practicing once or twice a week. If you want to get better, you've got to get wet! So be in the pool 4-6 times per week! Five hours or more a week is a MINIMUM to get anywhere. Be consistent and practice, practice, PRACTICE! You practiced walking and running for three YEARS before you got truly good at it. It took you two whole summers before you could comfortably ride a bike. So don't think that two days a week is going to get you through an Olympic swim that's four months away. Sorry. There's just no other way of doing other that to get doing it.I hope you found this free advice helpful.
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