Since most of us aren't teenagers any more, I'm pretty sure a large masters population is having to overcome all kinds of health issues on order to getin shape, and go as far as competing.
I was starting to get pretty competetive 4-5 years ago and setting a lot of PB's, when in my mid to late 30's I got slammed with a lot of health issues, couple of which (ick) caused a lot of rapid heart rate even at rest, and made me very exercise intolerant. Some of this is getting under control, other things I just have to live with, and accept I can't push as hard as I used to :(
I have a genetic blood disorder, thallasemia, which manifests itself in my case an untreatable chronic anemia, fast thyroid causing heartbeat irregularities (and other things), and one of arthritic conditions, scleroderma. In last couple years I'm just starting to figure out how to handle my newly dysfunctional body, and still keep active. It's been a very disheartening struggle, since at 40, I'm supposedly too young to be falling apart. Eh!
I'd like to hear from people who are having to manage their health issues, so they can keep swimming, and even competing... I'm hoping this can be motivating to a *few* people.
I feel like I have been trying to make a come-back to swimming for 4 yrs now!
For the first 2 yrs, every time I looked like getting any fitness my back would fail me.
Then Oct 2008 I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I had an operation (anterior resection) & recovered well from that, but once I was back at work full-time there was no energy for the swimming :badday:
Finally the past 2 months I have been able to swim regularly....Yay! :banana:
The energy levels are back to normal......but the shoulders struggle to cope with the swimming with the additional weight that I have put on.
It's going to be a long road back to where I was, but I do feel considerably lucky to have discovered my cancer when I was not due for my first test for another 7 yrs.
Kim, I congratulate you for recovering from cancer. Good luck with the comeback in to swimming. Take your time and it will come.
Well, I've been swimming my whole adult career with Graves Disease. So far it hasn't affected me, except when pregnant and they had to change my dosage of Synthroid. I just keep up the pills and I'm okay.
Lately, I'm dealing with my ankle. First surgery was in Nov to fix a sprain. They repaired some damaged ligaments. Then in March I kicked a ball and got a ganglion cyst. So in Aug I'm going back in for surgery. Some days I can kick, other days just walking hurts. Most days, I just modify the work out. When I do kick, I usually get lapped by the other kids (I swim with age groupers). I hope to be back to 100% in Sept!!
You got no symptoms with graves? All the females in my family have Graves, usually by the time they are 45ish, and it's symptoms galore. Some develop the bug-eyes too, some don't. Depending on how ealy it's caught, I think. My mom had heck of a time getting diagnosed... bit it's 'back home', not in the US. I didn't know till just last few years it runs in the family.
Mine is subclinical at the moment, as far as most of the hormones go, but the symptoms have started 3-4 years ago, after a miscarriage (Actually etopic, to be more precise). My body kind of never went back to normal after that.
I feel like I have been trying to make a come-back to swimming for 4 yrs now!
For the first 2 yrs, every time I looked like getting any fitness my back would fail me.
Then Oct 2008 I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I had an operation (anterior resection) & recovered well from that, but once I was back at work full-time there was no energy for the swimming :badday:
Finally the past 2 months I have been able to swim regularly....Yay! :banana:
The energy levels are back to normal......but the shoulders struggle to cope with the swimming with the additional weight that I have put on.
It's going to be a long road back to where I was, but I do feel considerably lucky to have discovered my cancer when I was not due for my first test for another 7 yrs.
Then again I'm down about 50 lbs, my BP is now in the normal range, and I'm off the heavy blood thinners, so returning to swimming may well have been a saving grace.
Excellent!!!!!
:cheerleader:
Podiatrist kept telling me (at least 5 times) to KEEP SWIMMING.
Oh, coolness! So that means you're coming to our swim meet on the 3rd? :D :p
*gasp* that means that even I may have to get wet.
If I didn't have this built in flotation device making my bum look big, I'd be worried I'm gonna sink.
Best wishes to all of you other Masters swimmers with health issues. Best of luck with your health concerns, and with your swimming goals.
Best wishes to you, too! Good luck with your goals and may you have tons of fun accomplishing them! :cheerleader: Keep us posted on how you are doing and stay close to the forums; they will prove to be a tremendous help to you, no matter what it is you are trying to achieve. I was a newbie Masters swimmer, this past February, and I have found my fellow forumites to be very encouraging, supportive, helpful, and terrific! :applaud:
Best wishes to all of you other Masters swimmers with health issues. Best of luck with your health concerns, and with your swimming goals.
Best of luck to you, too.
I agree :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
That is very impressive. Any hints on how you lost all that weight (I'm still aiming for 10-15 more, but it's getting harder and harder, especially since my 3x per week walking is out of the question)?
3x week swimming 1hr 15mins-1hr 30 min, about 3700 yards avg per session and diet changes - more fish less crap, more veggies less pasta, no fast food, and breakfast of oatmeal everyday (a bit fanatical perhaps). I'd like to go drop another 10-15 lbs and get down around 200 lbs - my "build a better boat" attempt.
Good luck! :cheerleader: And, give Oz a great big hug for me! I have been in your country several times; the longest being for six months during a one-year South Pacific adventure with just me and my backpack. I love Australia!
Thanks for the encouraging words folks, I'm working on keeping the routine but have got to stay out of the water this week with a throat infection....it is sooooo cold down here this month!
Good to hear that you enjoyed Oz Elaine :)
My "health issue" is my weight (280 lbs and 6'0" tall) and age (55), and perhaps a heart issue. My doctor recommended a stress test for me, but I have a $2000 deductible with my insurance, and the stress test is about half that, so I'm foregoing he stress test for now.
I decided to get back to swimming, for the first time in 25 years (I'm new to this site). I swim at my local LA Fitness, and have been doing so for nearly 6 weeks. I've found that what I can do now is a very small fraction of what I could do at age 18. Back then I could swim 4000 meters in less than an hour, but I now find swimming that distance, in a week, to be exhausting. My cholesterol and blood pressure are very high, and I'm taking medication for both. My goal is to mostly just to get back in shape with swimming, but I'd like to compete in Master's swim races from time to time too. Although I'm not remotely ready for that now. My competitive swimming days ran from 1960 to 1974, which was, I think, a great era in Ameican swimming (Mark Spitz, all of the great Olympic swim teams of that era, Indiana University's great success, etc.). Those days seem long ago and far away now, but my goal is to use swimming to get back to the fitness and fun of those times. I've noticed that some of you have mentioned losing weight with swimming, and I'm using that as my inspiration.
Best wishes to all of you other Masters swimmers with health issues. Best of luck with your health concerns, and with your swimming goals.
Welcome aboard!!!!!
I'm with your there on losing weight. Along with feeling physically miserable for last few years, the emotional toll it can all take, for me = putting on weight. I have at least 50 to lose to get within the mormal BMI range... and then we'll see how much more.
I'm trying to alk myself into getting going allready.
