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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Yeah, I'm being pretty vigliant about my stretches. I've notcied that if I don't do them as much as I should things just get so much worse. I always feel better after my rehab than not......
We had another meet today. It was a tri team meet in Monmouth, IL. We were competing against Monmouth College, and Rose Hulman. For the guys team it was actually a quad meet as Western Illinois (a d1 school!) was there also.
Monmouth is 3.5 hours away from Chicago.
3.5
3.5 hours.....in a bus.....each way. 3.5 hours sitting on my injury....sitting....in pain....as my ibuprofen wore off (I ran out this morning). Fun times.
Other than the injury related stuff the bus ride wasn't all that bad. Had lots of fun times with my teammates....we're a crazy bunch I tell you. We also watched Kingpin and Braveheart on the way down and back. Heheh. It was actually kind of ironic because one of the teams we were swimming against, Monmouth, is called "the fighting scots"..
Monmouth had just built a new pool. It's still really small...8 lanes / 25 yards, but it's a nice little pool with pretty adequate deck room. Originally I was going to video tape like I did last week, but we forgot the camera on the bus and couldn't do it. So I just chilled for the meet. Cheered on my teammates...ate pretzels and gatorade..yep.
As nervous as I normally get during meets (when I'm actually competing in them) I was still totally frustrated to not be swimming again. I *know* it's probably what's best for my health, and I *know* that even if I did swim my times would be abysmal even by the standards of someone who's been out of the sport for 5 years......but STILL....aaaaaah. I don't even know if I'll be swimming at the home meet this weekend. Fah.
It's really kind of sucky with the new state of my injury. Originally, I had a timeline that said 4-6 weeks. 4-6 weeks and I'd be better. I could deal with that. The pain was getting slowly better with the rehab, and I felt like I was making progress. Then all this numbness stuff started happening and now I feel totally set back. I honestly have no idea when it will go away (or at least be under control enough for me to not have to worry about it), or when it will be best for me to push my body hard as in competition.
I'm guessing these are all things I'll talk about with the Sports medicine specialist who I see on wednesday...but I just don't like being in this state of utter confusion.
When I met with the head trainer she actually suggested that if the injury does not get under control soon I might have to think of taking a break from swimming. I don't think she was suggesting I quit the team (at least I hope not!), probably more like take a week off if it gets really bad.....but....geez...I Just can't imagine going without a week of being in the water.
Humm......that's really all for tonight. I have swim lessons to teach tomorrow (or at least be the locker room attendant!), and I'm totally excited about the upcomming DST switch....yes for an extra hour of SLEEP!
Oh, by the way, we won the meet against both teams. We beat Rose Hulman AND Monmouth (yey!). I don't have the scores right now, but I know we did surprisingly well...won a lot of things we were not supposed to.
Breastroke I can understand. I lost my ability to do the kick simultaneously for a while. I also do not work the type of yardage you do. If you back off, and not completely stop, maybe that is the answer. Back issues are so very frustrating, and are also hard to figure out. I am thankful I found a good chiropractor is listens to me and understands my activity level.
To a point. It can certainly loosen it up, but it seems to get worse after lots of hard intensity swimming, or lots of total yardage (if I'm not just pulling...).
I'm also not really able to do fly right now. I tried it the other day, and I definitely was getting pain while doing it, which is frustrating..breaststroke is the same.
You are probably hitting up against the aggravated nerve in fly. In back and free, everything rotates as one unit, except on turns, which are also aggravating you. It does make sense to me. I would advise you to ask more questions during PT to try and understand what is going on. Ask them to show you pictures on a chart of the body, what they think might be causing it. Then take that information, and go look up what they are telling you on the internet, and learn more. This may help you understand what your body is telling you, and understand what your limitations may be.
Here is another thought too, that may be causing more inflamation then necessary. In my research with my problem and my dealing with PT, it was pointed out, that tight, low rise pants lie right across where the sciatic nerve runs. When the nerve is already irritated, wearing this type of clothing can aggravate the inflamation. This was not my issue as I am old and no way wearing tight low-rise jeans, but this is an issue if you are.
The breaststroke thing is logical, because I can't do the abducting machines in the weight room...or squats in any form either. The fly thing...I really don't know why it hurts more than back or free. I wish I had an explanation for that one.
The difference between swimming a long axis stroke (back and free) and short axis (*** and fly) might be the key. In *** and fly the axis you move along would be perpendicular to the lower back. While in free and back the axis would be the back. The axis thing works for free and back flip turns too. Also when your pulling you might keep your spine more in line with you body. I don't know if this will help you but it might be something to talk about with the coach and trainer. And maybe with more knowledge of your injury you and your coach can figure out a plan to keep you swimming and help you heal. :)
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.
Glad to hear things are looking up for you!
Is it the lower part of your back that hurts? I don't profess to know more than your coach, but make sure you are swimming freestyle with your nose pointed down. It takes the pressure off of your back.
I noticed an immediate change when I made this adjustment. I swam my entire competitive life looking forward oh so many years ago. If I'd only known!
I'm sure you know all this, but sometimes it helps to go back to basics - that was the secret to George Brett's success.
I'm glad to hear you are bonding with your teammates. Yea Hilary!
:)
