Recovering from shoulder surgery; feeling crummy...
Former Member
and actually considering giving up swimming. I am so discouraged these days....
I fell and hurt my shoulder about 9 years ago. I didn't have surgery at the time (was told I didn't need it) and thought I healed correctly. Fast forward to today...after swimming 6 years I start to feel an ache in my "bad" shoulder when I swim longer than a mile. So off to the sports med doc I go....I get an MRI which looks like I might have torn cartilage, which is causing the pain. Surgery is scheduled....they find nothing. Nothing is torn; nothing to fix. So now I will have to swim with the pain....
I know that some of the tension is a result of an imbalance in my freestyle...I always breath to my left, which means I pull harder with my strong (right) side. When I try to breath to the right it all falls apart. I don't feel balanced in the water; I am sure there are a million things wrong with my stroke...I should kick more...blah blah blah.
I just started swimming again...been in the water for the last few days and I am very discouraged. I'd love to hear from folks out there who have taught themselves to breath to their uncomfortable side.... and how you did it, how long it took, etc.
Anyone else out there going through a discouraging time...or if you have in the past, how'd you get over it?
Ande - what are your thoughts?
I used to box...maybe I should just go back to the ring and stay out of the water....:(
Parents
Former Member
Karen: you're not happy with your times, what with demands & consequences of motherhood? Last time I checked your Zone results & times, they looked damned good to me!
Kari: reams of good advice you've gotten, if you accomplish the bilateral breathing (as a habit), then it should help-but, if you find that despite the good old varsity try it never feels natural (like for me), you can at least mitigate it by ensuring that your shoulder rotation is equal to both sides & by experimenting with the most minimal head motion possible in order to access your breath (you need someone watching you to give you feedback on that). This has helped stubborn old non-bilateral me a lot.
Karen: you're not happy with your times, what with demands & consequences of motherhood? Last time I checked your Zone results & times, they looked damned good to me!
Kari: reams of good advice you've gotten, if you accomplish the bilateral breathing (as a habit), then it should help-but, if you find that despite the good old varsity try it never feels natural (like for me), you can at least mitigate it by ensuring that your shoulder rotation is equal to both sides & by experimenting with the most minimal head motion possible in order to access your breath (you need someone watching you to give you feedback on that). This has helped stubborn old non-bilateral me a lot.
