So since at least two people on this board are interested in my adventures in joining my University's team I thought I'd create a thread (much like ande's swimming blog) to detail all of it. Yeah.
Since the season doesn't actually start regular practice for another week and a half, this is mainly an intro post - and I'll update it with what happens when I go meet the other girls on the team and such! Stay tuned! It'll be better than any general hospital or passions!
Today I actually swam for the first time (since my freshman swim test last year) in the University pool. It was huge. And cold. Over the summer I got used to swimming in health club pools with water hovering around 80-85. Not exactly the most comfortable water at times, but at least nice and warm. The Ratner pool here is...freezing by those standards. I'm guessing the water temp is 75 at the warmest. Gives new meaning to the term "warm up".
I was really nervous when I first got in - the girls and guys returning members were having informal practices and I was sort of afraid they'd notice me. Although, I don't think they did. Or maybe they did and I just didn't hear what they said about me. Haha.
I also swam a 600 for the first time in a long time. I mostly stuck to 400s and below in my summer workouts (yeah, I know, I'm a little bit of a wimp). Unfortunately, that couldn't last. The coach suggested when I met her that I get in the water and swim 6-800 straight every day this week as part of my workout. It kind of hurt. Actually, it was one of the odder experiences of my life. For the first 200 or so my chest was tight from my asthma and I was freaking out about the distance (I was also really cold). Then all of a sudden I started to get really into it and just kept on going. I probably could have done 1000 if I wanted to.
The workout was cut short - only about 2300yds - because I promised my friends I'd come home and cook dinner for them tonight. And that's where I leave it tonight.
Background: For those who didn't see my posts on the board throughout the year, I'm a soph. in college who has been going through the prepartion to join my school's team. I attend the University of Chicago (a div 3 school) and was a competitive swimmer for seven years before high school. Burnout put me out of the water for almost 5 years, however, and I'm only recently getting back into it.
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That's interesting...fortunately, the weather here in Chicago isn't exactly nice enough for those type of pants! (Not that I wear them, I'm not really a fan of having to pull my shirt down every 5 seconds...)
Had morning and afternoon practice today:
Morning was dry land as usual, pretty much the same as always. Into the pool afterwords...lots of pull again.
Warmup:
400 pull
200 pull w/ paddles
Main:
5 x 100 pull w/ paddles
At this point we enter what I like to call the "exercise in absurdity" of this morning's swim.....that is....backstroke pull! I'd never pulled backstroke before, and let me tell you...it's hard! I barely went anywhere, and as soon as I managed to get myself in correct body position, I would lose my rotation! Gah!
5 x 100 backstroke pull
8 x 25 swim no kick no buoy
Cool down:
1 x 100 easy
Total: 1900yds
Afternoon:
Since today was halloween...we had a halloween practice! Everyone had to wear costumes (I went as a pseudo cow-girl...frankly it was a really cheap, really quick costume that consisted of a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses, and a squirt gun)
Since everyone wore costumes, we got to have a "trick-or-treat" practice. That is, our coaches had several different sets...some "tricks" and some "treats" that one person would draw from a bag. It was fun, for the most part, and my injury behaved itself for the majority of practice.
I definitely have like....no kick right now. My poor right leg is working so hard, and my left leg just won't go. Even when the numbness hasn't set in yet, it's like it's not getting the same speed signals as my right leg. Very frustrating.
We have another meet this weekend....it's a home meet. I don't know if I'll be competing. I'm guessing I'll talk about it with the sports medicine doctor this week. I'm rather conflicted about it. I was able to do dives from the deck into the pool (although not the blocks) during practice today, which is a step up. I guess it just depends on how my leg is behaving on thursday morning...that's probably when I'll know. Although, it's still not my decision. Still up to my coaches. Fun.
The good thing is, all the rest of the meets for the half of the season (before winter break) are home meets. No more traveling until January! Yey! I'm hoping that I'll be able to swim in at least one of them! (We have 3 more before the break)
Feeling a little frustrated lately...not just because my injury is being stubborn. Sometimes if I ask my coach whether or not I should do something she just basically like brushes me off or tells me only I can make that decision. Fundamentaly, I know she's right....but at the same time....I feel rather lost with what's going on with me. As I've said before, I've never been seriously injured...(or even moderately injured)...the concept of having things that I can't do for a significant amount of time is just....so foreign to me.....and I think I wish I just had someone there telling me "do this, don't do that...do this for a little bit..." like specifically directing me so I knew how best to heal.
I'm terrified that I'm going to make it worse again.
In other news, I don't even know if I'll be able to go on the training trip even if I'm 100% healthy. I come from one of those lovely split families, and so each of my parents is making seperate travel/visiting plans with me......and somehow I have to coordinate it all. So I don't know...sigh.....
Oh, I did a reverse bellyflop at the end of practice today, so the back of my thighs are really hurting. I managed to flop right onto my injury (smart right?) so we'll see what it's like tomorrow.
What we did this afternoon:
Warmup:
400 swim
400 pull w/ paddles + snorkel
Main:
First trick-or-treat set:
5 x 300 ...5 seconds slower than base interval (for me, with paddles and buoy and snorkel, for everyone else...with paddles and fins)
Second set:
Team snake thingy...we swam in and out of the lane lines with fins on as a team...all coordinated and stuff. We even walked backwards accross the bulkhead. Crazy.
3rd:
40 x 25 on the :30. Odds, build. Evens, technique.
4th:
Fun relays! For the rest of the team, they had to do a 50 which was one stroke of each stroke...reapeating through the 50. Since I'm not able to do fly/***, I had to do corkscrew....woooo...I was so dizzy after it...we had to do it 3 times!
After that we went over to the diving well and the two divers playd a game with us. Each of us got on a diving board and they played "Jump, Twist, or Dive" where you would jump off the board and in mid air they'd yell out one of three things for you to do. It was really funny, and this was where I did my reverse bellyflop.
Okay, that's about it. I have an Econ midterm tomorrow...yeeey...and I'm really really sleeepy.
That's interesting...fortunately, the weather here in Chicago isn't exactly nice enough for those type of pants! (Not that I wear them, I'm not really a fan of having to pull my shirt down every 5 seconds...)
Had morning and afternoon practice today:
Morning was dry land as usual, pretty much the same as always. Into the pool afterwords...lots of pull again.
Warmup:
400 pull
200 pull w/ paddles
Main:
5 x 100 pull w/ paddles
At this point we enter what I like to call the "exercise in absurdity" of this morning's swim.....that is....backstroke pull! I'd never pulled backstroke before, and let me tell you...it's hard! I barely went anywhere, and as soon as I managed to get myself in correct body position, I would lose my rotation! Gah!
5 x 100 backstroke pull
8 x 25 swim no kick no buoy
Cool down:
1 x 100 easy
Total: 1900yds
Afternoon:
Since today was halloween...we had a halloween practice! Everyone had to wear costumes (I went as a pseudo cow-girl...frankly it was a really cheap, really quick costume that consisted of a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses, and a squirt gun)
Since everyone wore costumes, we got to have a "trick-or-treat" practice. That is, our coaches had several different sets...some "tricks" and some "treats" that one person would draw from a bag. It was fun, for the most part, and my injury behaved itself for the majority of practice.
I definitely have like....no kick right now. My poor right leg is working so hard, and my left leg just won't go. Even when the numbness hasn't set in yet, it's like it's not getting the same speed signals as my right leg. Very frustrating.
We have another meet this weekend....it's a home meet. I don't know if I'll be competing. I'm guessing I'll talk about it with the sports medicine doctor this week. I'm rather conflicted about it. I was able to do dives from the deck into the pool (although not the blocks) during practice today, which is a step up. I guess it just depends on how my leg is behaving on thursday morning...that's probably when I'll know. Although, it's still not my decision. Still up to my coaches. Fun.
The good thing is, all the rest of the meets for the half of the season (before winter break) are home meets. No more traveling until January! Yey! I'm hoping that I'll be able to swim in at least one of them! (We have 3 more before the break)
Feeling a little frustrated lately...not just because my injury is being stubborn. Sometimes if I ask my coach whether or not I should do something she just basically like brushes me off or tells me only I can make that decision. Fundamentaly, I know she's right....but at the same time....I feel rather lost with what's going on with me. As I've said before, I've never been seriously injured...(or even moderately injured)...the concept of having things that I can't do for a significant amount of time is just....so foreign to me.....and I think I wish I just had someone there telling me "do this, don't do that...do this for a little bit..." like specifically directing me so I knew how best to heal.
I'm terrified that I'm going to make it worse again.
In other news, I don't even know if I'll be able to go on the training trip even if I'm 100% healthy. I come from one of those lovely split families, and so each of my parents is making seperate travel/visiting plans with me......and somehow I have to coordinate it all. So I don't know...sigh.....
Oh, I did a reverse bellyflop at the end of practice today, so the back of my thighs are really hurting. I managed to flop right onto my injury (smart right?) so we'll see what it's like tomorrow.
What we did this afternoon:
Warmup:
400 swim
400 pull w/ paddles + snorkel
Main:
First trick-or-treat set:
5 x 300 ...5 seconds slower than base interval (for me, with paddles and buoy and snorkel, for everyone else...with paddles and fins)
Second set:
Team snake thingy...we swam in and out of the lane lines with fins on as a team...all coordinated and stuff. We even walked backwards accross the bulkhead. Crazy.
3rd:
40 x 25 on the :30. Odds, build. Evens, technique.
4th:
Fun relays! For the rest of the team, they had to do a 50 which was one stroke of each stroke...reapeating through the 50. Since I'm not able to do fly/***, I had to do corkscrew....woooo...I was so dizzy after it...we had to do it 3 times!
After that we went over to the diving well and the two divers playd a game with us. Each of us got on a diving board and they played "Jump, Twist, or Dive" where you would jump off the board and in mid air they'd yell out one of three things for you to do. It was really funny, and this was where I did my reverse bellyflop.
Okay, that's about it. I have an Econ midterm tomorrow...yeeey...and I'm really really sleeepy.
