Heartbroken: Swimming goes on the shelf

So I'm pretty sure it's official. My shoulder is shot. The pain has not faded, despite my best efforts to ice and rest it. I'm going to have to see my doctor about it again, but I can't afford the work, x-rays, and God forbid, an MRI at the moment. I'm waiting until the start of the new year, so my insurance deductible is reset before I have it looked at. I truly am heartbroken about it. For anybody who is trying to get in shape and/or lose weight, they know the biggest hardship is staying in a routine. This completely destroys it, so I'm going to have to increase other forms of exercise in the meantime.

With swimming temporarily on the shelf, this is going to have to suffice as a workout blog, rather than a swim blog. My knees had been giving me issues lately as well, so as a preemptive strike, I went out and bought new running shoes. My other ones were torn and beaten and gave me zero support, plus they were starting to smell something fierce. I'm not sure how many miles I put on them, because I owned them for over a year before I began working out again, and they doubled as my casual everyday shoes, as well.

The new kicks

The old kicks. Note the shredded heels.

Anyway, I hit the gym today and tried them out. I ran 3.2 miles, but just like they used to, my feet started going numb right around the three-mile mark. I'm going to try and loosen up the laces a bit next time, but if that doesn't work, I may have to trade them out for a different brand that specializes in wide feet. The problem is those 'special' brands are VERY expensive. When I bought these shoes, the guy at the store told me this particular brand is popular for those with wide feet, so I hope after I break them in, they will be OK.

Finished off the day with 6.5 miles on the bike and ran out of time before I had to leave, so I didn't squeeze any weights or ab work in. Tomorrow...

Back to the basics

After Saturday's sprint triathlon I gave my body a break for a couple of days. Today I wanted to get a nice workout, but not push it too hard. I started with a little over two miles on the treadmill and followed it up with almost 5 1/2 miles on the bike. I did some light calisthenics (weights, crunches, mountain climbers, etc.) and then went down to the pool.

My shoulder is still hurting, but since I only swam twice last week and they were both very short, very light swims, it has had a little bit of time to rest and heal. I decided I was going to work on my stroke and really try to get to the bottom of the shoulder pain. I know I need to bilateral breathe when I swim and that would take a lot of stress off my left arm/shoulder. So today I did nothing but bilateral breathing when I did freestyle sets. It was very difficult and it's going to take some getting used to, but I have to start somewhere.

Warm up
200 free
Core
8 x 150 (100 free bilateral, 50 breast)
Cool down
100 breast

My shoulder was sore, but it wasn't on fire, so I took that as a good sign. The breast stroke intervals really helped avoid the wear and tear on it and it helped give me a breather in between the freestyle sets, which were very foreign to me. Good start. Tomorrow I'm going to try the same thing but up it to 10 sets.

Total distance: 1,500 yards

Call me a triathlete

This morning I completed another item on my fitness "bucket list." Kelly, Jessica and I competed in our first sprint triathlon. It was the Weber State Turkey Tri, a 5k run followed by a 10k bike, then a 300-yard swim. It's not a full triathlon, but it was a challenge nonetheless.

On my way up the hill for the second lap of the bike leg

I feared there was going to be a lot of snow on the roads from last night's storm, but the roads were perfect. Kelly and Jess had a hard time getting checked in because the event coordinators lost their registration, so it was a bit of a hectic start. But once they got squared away, we were on.

The run was by far, the most challenging leg of the race for me. In the sprint triathlons, they go in reverse order, so the run was first and I was hoping to finish the 5k in under 30 minutes. I didn't quite get it, and to be honest, cold weather is much harder on your lungs and I was having a rough go at it. I'd been practicing in the cold weather, but this morning it was about 20 degrees cooler than normal because of the snow storm. I crawled into the transition area after about 32 minutes and Kelly's brother Jeff, along with his wife Jenny, were there taking pictures cheering me on. That gave me a needed boost.

I sucked down a gel pack and grabbed my bike, only to go in the wrong direction back out onto the road, so I had to walk back, which cost me about a minute. They changed the bike course at the last minute, due to some icy conditions on the original one, so they had us bike the run route twice for the 10k. Personally, I thought the new course was harder because it had more dramatic climbs and drops, rather than gradual ones, so it was more challenging than originally anticipated. However, I gained some ground on Kelly, who I knew was going to have a very fast run.

Kelly and I chatting with Jessica after she finished.

Once I got back to the transition area, I stripped off my clothes (had a Speedo on underneath), grabbed my goggles and ran into the pool area. The pool was packed with swimmers, and I probably passed about seven or eight people, but most of the triathletes at this thing were new to it as well, and had little pool experience. So when I tapped them on their feet to move over, they didn't budge. I wish the event coordinators would have addressed that better and made people more aware of pool etiquette. I probably had to stop and stand up about 10 times because I was running into other swimmers who wouldn't move over.

In the end, my watch said I finished in about 1 hour and 9 minutes (final results aren't posted online yet). My goal was to get 1 hour and 10 minutes, so I barely hit my mark. Kelly was waiting for me on the pool deck and he ended up beating me by about two minutes. I wasn't able to make up the huge gap he put on me in the run, but I narrowed it considerably. Then, we waited for Jessica to finish and cheered her on during her last lap. She's a pretty damn good swimmer for someone who has only done it a handful of times. She seemed to have the same problem I did and couldn't get slower swimmers to move out of her way.

First-time triathletes. Take that fit people...

Overall, it was pretty fun and a new experience. My shoulder and knees are sore, but they aren't screaming at me like they have been all week, so I'll take that as a small victory. I'll definitely do it again next year and try to best my time.

Total distance: 300 yards (whoopie)

My crumbling body

I was always under the assumption that your body doesn't start to fall apart until you get older. That doesn't seem to be the case for me. I've been battling shoulder problems for months, but during the past two weeks it's really taken a turn for the worse. I've lowered my yardage totals significantly and cranked up the amount of times I ice it per week, but nothing seems to help.

When I last went to the doctor about it in July, he said it was rotator cuff tendinitis and he prescribed me some meds to lower the inflammation. That didn't work, but after a while, after the meds were long gone, the pain mostly went away, so I kept swimming. But now (especially after the Masters meet on Saturday) it's back with a vengeance and I don't know what to do. I fear if I go back to the doctor he's going to tell me to shut it down. No more swimming. I also fear he will need to x-ray it, revealing a problem that requires surgery, which I cannot afford.

On top of that, my knees are starting to have aches and pains when I walk and go down stairs. When I was heavier, I never had knee issues and ironically, now that I've lost almost 40 pounds, they are starting to hurt. I'm pretty sure it may have something to do with my crappy running shoes or possibly even that I'm springing off the wall to hard when I swim. Just one more problem to deal with ...

I'm only 25, and it's a frustrating feeling when your body is already falling apart. I thought you were supposed to feel like crap when you are overweight and out of shape, but as of late, it feels like the opposite. I'm still a bit chubby, but it doesn't seem fair that I've put in all this work and now my body is paying the price for it. Ughh...

Anyway, here's today's workout. I mostly did kicks, which was slightly new to me, given that I can barely lift my shoulder above my head.

Warm up
100 free
100 breast
Core
3 x 200 kick (alternating free, breast and fly every 25)
300 free (big mistake)

After doing the 300 free, my shoulder was on fire and I didn't even have it in me to attempt a cool down. I'm in a world of shit right now...

Total distance: 900 yards

South Davis Masters success!

Today was the big day. I got just enough sleep and was able to get up at a reasonable hour and eat a good breakfast before Jen, Jessica, Kelly and I drove down to Bountiful for the South Davis Masters meet. Right off the bat I was a bit stunned as to how many swimmers were there. I was a little intimidated at first, but settled down after my first event.


Me coming into the wall during the 500-free

 I swam the 50-free first, the event I specialized in during high school, but I was realistic with my seed time, aiming for less than 30 seconds. I felt good, got a good start and when I hit the wall, I had no idea what place I was in. I looked up at the board and saw I finished with a time of 28.41, second in my heat, losing to another swimmer by one-hundredth of a second. Yes, you read right. ONE HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND! Sheesh. It was still, a personal best since I took up swimming again, but nowhere near the time I pulled off when I was 16.

The second event was the 100-IM. I was particularly excited for this one, because I had been practicing it a lot. I was in the third of four heats and got off to an OK start on my butterfly. I kind of had tunnel vision and didn't pay attention to any of the other swimmers around me until I pushed off the wall during the freestyle leg and saw I was out front by an arm-length or so, so I really turned it on and ended up winning my heat with a personal-best time of 1:13.91. My previous personal best was about 1:18.00. Not too shabby. Here's a video of me holding on for the win.

By the time the 500-free came around, I was feeling a bit tired. My shoulder was killing me by this point, despite being loaded up with ibuprofen. Kelly and I had a nice long break between events, so we ate a bagel and warmed up again. We ended up being in the same heat for the first and only time during the meet, so that was fun. However, he was in Lane 2 and I was in Lane 8, so we werent' exactly able to compete neck-and-neck. I was already hurting by about my fourth lap and I feared I pushed it too hard right out of the block. I gutted it out though, and ended up smashing my previous best (7:51.00) with a time of 7:09.64. I was completely shocked.

My last event was the 200-free. Being fairly satisfied with my first three swims, I was just swimming this one to get my money's worth, because my shoulder was shot after the 500. Kelly, Josh and I were going to swim in the 200-free relay to finish the meet, but couldn't find a fourth swimmer, so this ended up being my last event. I tried keeping up with a very fast swimmer from Utah State during my first 100 and I paid for it, running out of gas on my last 50, but I still beat my seed time (2:30.00) with a time of 2:28.85. I count it as a personal best only because I have never swam the 200 before and simply guessed my seed time. And I barely beat it.

Kelly and I after finishing the 500-free. I was spent.

Whew... What a meet. Kelly and I were both pretty happy with our results and we met a lot of good swimmers from around the area. Jessica and Jen were great supporters, even though the meet kind of dragged on down the stretch when we had less events. I hear there is another Masters meet in St. George in January and I'm tempted to sign up. We shall see.

Next up, the Weber State Turkey Triathlon next Saturday...

Total distance: 1,050 yards

Resting for the big day

Ice, heat, drink, repeat. That's how my day has been going so far. Tomorrow's the swim meet I've been looking forward to, so I'm trying my best to physically and mentally prepare myself today. My shoulder is still aching a great deal, so I've been icing it off and on and jumping in and out of a hot bath all morning for about 15 minutes each. I was supposed to swim in the 1,650 free tonight, but I couldn't get the night off from work, so I'm going to have to settle for the 50 free, 200 free, 100 IM and 500 free tomorrow. Perhaps even a relay.

I've also been inhaling water like it's my job. Hydration and carbo-loading are key the day (or even days) before a race. It's really bringing back memories from high school. I can't believe I was able to eat whatever junk I wanted, drink soda and practice hard the day before a race. Not anymore, though. Today is strictly water, fruits, veggies and complex carbohydrates with low fat. I'll throw in a little bit of grilled chicken for my protein.

Speaking of high school, I went and watched Roy High take on Bonneville and Bear River yesterday in a tri-meet. It was fun to watch and genuinely got my blood pumping. I was even getting butterflies in my stomach watching them race. I can't believe it's been almost nine years since I last competed in a swim meet. I'm almost certain I'll hardly sleep tonight. Hopefully I'm not stuck at work too late and can get into bed at reasonable hour. Anyway, thanks for reading my "Uncle Rico" moment.

Polar bear swim and tri training

I haven't hit the pool all week until today. Partly because I'm trying to taper for my swim meet on Saturday, but mostly because my shoulder pain has returned. It came out of nowhere over the weekend, which baffles me, because I haven't been logging a ton of yards.


I was scared to death of the 46 degree water.

 

Anyway, I finally hit the pool again today, but took it easy on my shoulder and simply worked on my turns and starts. I haven't been slacking off in the cardio department, though. Kelly and I ran the 5k course for our sprint triathlon on Monday and then we ran the same course on top of doing the 10 bike course yesterday. I did another easy 4 miles on the stationary bike today along with some light weight training before going down to the pool.

Also, I participated in my first polar bear swim with Josh, Gordon and Jake later in the evening at Bountiful Lake. The sun was almost set and I was pretty nervous. Josh measured the water at about 46 degrees and Gordon measured it at about 43. It didn't end up being much of a swim, for I jumped in and simply couldn't bear the cold and I got right out. Not Gordon though. He just dove in and went for it, swimming the 200 yards from the dock to the boat ramp. Yeah I know, I'm a sissy. It was nice to get to meet Gordon and Josh for the first time in person though, although it was under chilly circumstances.

On a negative note, I had my goggles on top of my cap when I jumped in. I must have been too caught up in worrying about the cold that I forgot to strap them over my eyes. I couldn't find them afterward and looked at a video Jen recorded, revealing that I lost them when I took the plunge. I loved those goggles, but they now rest at the bottom of the lake. Sad day....

Total distance: 600 yards

First snow ... first Saturday morning swim

This morning, Kelly and Jessica met me at the pool for some Saturday morning swimming. I don't usually swim on Saturdays, but Kelly wanted Jessica to get some more pool time in preparation for our sprint triathlon in two weeks, so I gave it a go.

I woke up to this outside my house this morning. Ugh....

However, when I woke up, there was snow on the ground. SNOW! Damn it. I didn't realize it was that time of year already. At least there was none on the roads. Snow is so much more enjoyable when you don't have to drive in it.

Anyway, since I normally don't swim four times a week, I considered today to be bonus yards, although it gave me a chance to make up some missed yards from yesterday's swim when I worked on my stroke.

Once again, I didn't do any specific sets, but I did have fun watching Kelly try to teach Jessica how to swim. She was doing surprisingly well for a newbie. Once lap swim ended, we all went upstairs to run and lift weights. I ran 1.8 miles with another hill incline at the end and then did some serious calisthenics. Crunches, pull-ups, push-ups, mountain climbers, Arnolds, bicep curls, lateral lifts, planks, swimmers, etc...

Nice little Saturday workout....

Total distance: 0.57 miles

Experimenting with technique

Once again, I slept in this morning. Bad idea. When I do that, I usually end up feeling more tired than if I was going on little sleep. So when I got to the pool today, I wasn't feeling too hot. So I figured I'd work on my technique  instead of trying to plow through some serious distance.

The bicycle stroke, which I need to work on badly.

I normally do a 'grab-and-pull' stroke, which works fine for longer distances, but I wanted to try out the 'bicycle' stroke which is more of a continuous motion and improves times on sprints. I did a bunch of sets of those, although nothing too formal.

Then I went upstairs and did some more serious cardio, since I didn't do a ton in the pool. Finished with 5.6 miles on the bike and 1.8 miles on the treadmill. I did a dead sprint on the highest incline available for a little less than a quarter mile to finish and it destroyed me. I haven't felt my lungs burn that bad in a long time.

Total distance: 0.85 miles

Powerhouse Thursday

Today I felt like a machine. I didn't make it to the gym during the past two days, so I felt like I had to do a little extra today in order to make up for it. So I got up early and boy, did it hurt.

I felt like this guy at the gym today.

First I hit the bike and pedaled 9.5 miles in just under 35 minutes. Then I jumped on the treadmill and did 2.3 miles with the last mile or so on a heavy incline. Finished that in about 25 minutes. Then I did some weight training and calisthenics. I did some squats, lunges, bicep curls, mountain climbers, Arnolds, push-ups, sit-ups and toe touches.

Finally, after all that, I crawled into the pool with the little bit of energy I had left.
Here's today's swim.

Warm up
200 free
Core
250 free (ladder build up with 30 second rests)
300 free
350 free
400 free
450 free
500 free

By the time I finished my last 500 I was barely moving through the water and called the quits. I was already going so slow by the time I ran out of gas, so I didn't feel like I needed to cool down. What a tough day. I ended up covering 13.2 miles between the bike, treadmill and pool.

Total distance: 1.39 miles