Swimming slump

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:54:04 GMT

I couldn't even swim butterfly and breaststroke was painful, but doable. That's normal, right? Cmonster: If back pain was keeping you up at night, a break from swimming was a good idea. Glad to hear that you recovery is coming along nicely.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:00:52 GMT

For anyone who posted comments, just a follow up. Last wed. was my last swim. This week my neck is feeling much better, still alittle sore and tight but much better. I'm letting the holidays dictate my swimming schedule. hopefully by next week everything will be A OK. The chiropractor and Masssage therapist have been hard at work. Back to the big boy schedule in '09.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:05:35 GMT

Cmonster, which OW swim are you training for?

RE: Swimming slump

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:57:24 GMT

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:19:52 GMT

Ummm, aren't you supposed to be in the middle of some 12K workout about now? Or are you loafing again?:afraid: Mrs. Glider is AMAZING! I too was having neck pain about a year and a half ago. I started going to the wonderful Mrs. Glider chiro, and I'm swimming faster than ever before. And I'm pain free. It worked miracles for me. I too can swim 1:05 pace (limited #) and 1:15s forever.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:16:19 GMT

Yes, I agree that a GOOD ciroperactor can work wonders. Mrs. Glider is a chiropractor, and a pretty good one IMHO. Just ask CreamPuff:) Mrs. Glider is AMAZING! I too was having neck pain about a year and a half ago. I started going to the wonderful Mrs. Glider chiro, and I'm swimming faster than ever before. And I'm pain free. It worked miracles for me. I too can swim 1:05 pace (limited #) and 1:15s forever.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:10:25 GMT

Yes, I agree that a GOOD chiropractor can work wonders. Mrs. Glider is a chiropractor, and a pretty good one IMHO. Just ask CreamPuff:) I know some people are skeptical of chiropractors, but I came back from a long business trip this summer (from India) with a back/neck/shoulders that were wrenched beyond belief. I couldn't even swim butterfly and breaststroke was painful, but doable. I tried sports massages for a couple of weeks in a row, kept the training light and it was getting no better. I then went to a chiropractor who was a former collegiate swimmer himself. While I wasn't fixed in a single session, I started feeling improvement immediately and was back to normal after about a month. Select your chiropractor with care, though. My advice would be to get recommendations from swimmers or athletes like yourself to find a doc whose practice (& ideally experience) includes a lot of athletes. Years back I had tried another chiropractor to no improvement. I think the reason for success this time was this guy's experience as a swimmer and the fact he works with both "older" athletes like me and younger athletes.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:56:52 GMT

Backing off now will allow your training adaptations to kick in. These adaptations mostly take place during recovery periods. That then allows you to stack more training on top of what you've already done afterwards. Train, recover, adapt, repeat. I will back off a bit. With regards to the running i'm putting about 26-30 miles a week in. I got a 50k in january. My fear is getting derrailed for a long spring OWS. Nice thing is that my wife does massage therapy:) So far so good, keep them coming. Thanks.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:49:37 GMT

I will back off a bit. With regards to the running i'm putting about 26-30 miles a week in. I got a 50k in january. My fear is getting derrailed for a long spring OWS. Nice thing is that my wife does massage therapy:) So far so good, keep them coming. Thanks.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:43:31 GMT

The human body is a wondeful thing. It will tell you when it's in trouble. Right now your body is screaming at you: I need recovery AND rest. I've been there. It's a week or two process to get out of. Try this Week one: Keep your yardage the same, but your goal is recovery swimming. Add 10 seconds to your 100 base intervals and add 10 seconds to your swim time. If you are averaging 1:15s on 1:25, shoot for 1:25s on 1:35. Same yardage, recovery swimming to get the gunk outta your muscles. Week two: cut the yardage to 50 to 60% of what you are doing. Do day 1 and 3 of your three day week with a good warm up and do short sets of short sprints (good effort, not necessarily AFAP), long rest. So maybe 8x50 on 2:00 trying to hold low 30s. On day 2, do another recovery day as the week before, but again, 50-60% of your normal yardage. You need rest and recovery. And probably the full two weeks. You don't have to stop swimming, just take it easy. Give yourself a little break. Report back in two weeks, okay? Looking for a little motivational help or a solution. I am slowing down. Sometimes it's difficult to even get through a warmup. I only swim 3x a week, 4-5k. I can repeat 1:15's all day, 5 months ago I was repeating 1:05 on sets of hard 500's w/o issue. I don't understand. I have also developed quite the neck and upper back pain. Can't seen to solve that either but, it's keeping up at night now. I do speed work, i do distance. What do y'all think. :badday:

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:31:02 GMT

I say treat yourself to a nice massage a couple times over the holidays. If it is keeping you up at night, maybe a trip to the doctor is needed. Maybe not swim so much, but do some more quality work until you feel like the slump went away. Add in another activity such as light jogging, elliptical, or whatever... give yourself a bit to bounce back.

RE: Swimming slump

ourswimmer — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:39:49 GMT

I will back off a bit. With regards to the running i'm putting about 26-30 miles a week in. I got a 50k in january. My fear is getting derrailed for a long spring OWS. If you back way off the swimming for a month or two and focus on training for and running your 50k, you will still have plenty of time to ramp up the swimming again for spring and summer OW season. Use the time you might have been swimming to do whatever you need to do to get that neck and upper back pain under control, so that when you are ready to swim more again you can do it.

RE: Swimming slump

pwolf66 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:08:41 GMT

Christian, I developed neck and shoulder pain during my swimming and this turned out to be a side affect of my head position. I was holding my head too high in the water and as a result my back muscles tightened up. Also, what kind of stretching do you do? Any yoga? If not you might want to consider adding stretching and/or yoga to your routine.

RE: Swimming slump

Patrick W. Brundage — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:04:47 GMT

I have also developed quite the neck and upper back pain. Can't seen to solve that either but, it's keeping up at night now. I know some people are skeptical of chiropractors, but I came back from a long business trip this summer (from India) with a back/neck/shoulders that were wrenched beyond belief. I couldn't even swim butterfly and breaststroke was painful, but doable. I tried sports massages for a couple of weeks in a row, kept the training light and it was getting no better. I then went to a chiropractor who was a former collegiate swimmer himself. While I wasn't fixed in a single session, I started feeling improvement immediately and was back to normal after about a month. Select your chiropractor with care, though. My advice would be to get recommendations from swimmers or athletes like yourself to find a doc whose practice (& ideally experience) includes a lot of athletes. Years back I had tried another chiropractor to no improvement. I think the reason for success this time was this guy's experience as a swimmer and the fact he works with both "older" athletes like me and younger athletes.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:57:55 GMT

Lots of good comments thank you. I really want to do the swim for the environment in may. If i can take a break and still put in enough swimming to complete 7.5 miles in good standing then that will be the plan. But is tha possible at this point. The 50k is just for fun. i'm not killing myself, i'm just out there running trails for about 6 hours. This neck issue has got to stop though.

RE: Swimming slump

Former Member — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:53:59 GMT

I know some people are skeptical of chiropractors, but I came back from a long business trip this summer (from India) with a back/neck/shoulders that were wrenched beyond belief. I couldn't even swim butterfly and breaststroke was painful, but doable. I tried sports massages for a couple of weeks in a row, kept the training light and it was getting no better. I then went to a chiropractor who was a former collegiate swimmer himself. While I wasn't fixed in a single session, I started feeling improvement immediately and was back to normal after about a month. . Got a good guy certified in ART. He's been working diligently on me.