Sometimes after our workouts I feel completely wiped. (I refer to this as "blowing a gasket"). It's all I can do to drag myself to the car and drive home, which is luckily not very far. Usually it's a sprint workout that will do it. Let's just say that it makes it hard to get work done the rest of the day... Does this happen to anyone else? Any suggestions, other than "don't swim as hard," which seems to be defeat the reason why I am there in the first place? (It doesn't seem to me that I am swimming harder than anyone else).
What anithistamine are you taking? Many of them, including Benadryl, will make you drousy! :afraid:Claritin is now available as a generic and won't make you drousy. And, the generic is very inexpensive at Costco.
Claritin, yes... and benadryl at night. Still not fully under control. *sigh*
Two Words:
NETI POT
The most glorious invention since sliced bread.
So I've heard. But my allergies tend to manifest themselves on my skin (rashes, puffiness), and when it gets very bad, my asthma. Sneezy/stuffiness only rarely.
Two Words:
NETI POT
The most glorious invention since sliced bread.
Funny, I must be the only person on the planet for whom a Neti Pot doesn't work, from what I can tell. I have horrific allergies and post-nasal drip, so my doctor suggested I try one. It did nothing for me, but prescription pseudoephedrine is my new best friend. :bighug:
Benadryl can have a sedating effect that lasts well into the next day. Maybe if you are a Benadryl lifer, you can overcome this. But if you are taking this drug regularly, even at night, it has just emerged as my No. 1 suspect for your somnolence.
Benadryl can have a sedating effect that lasts well into the next day. Maybe if you are a Benadryl lifer, you can overcome this. But if you are taking this drug regularly, even at night, it has just emerged as my No. 1 suspect for your somnolence.
I'd put it in as "one, but not the only factor." The benadryl makes for a certain low-level amount of tiredness, yes, but the sprint workouts go far beyond that. And while I am not a lifer, it has been quite a number of months (maybe 6 or so?) so I would think my body would be mostly used to it by now. Before the Benadryl, I was taking Chloritrimeton, which is now hard to find, or at least it was the last time I looked.
How much are you cooling down?
Some smart people disagree with this theory, but it is pretty simple to check and see if it helps you.
When you do a hard workout, anything keeps your heart hammering away for a while, I think you need an extended cool down.
When you are swimming, your heart isn't working against gravity and it has the aide of periodic muscle contraction to aide flow. If you skip cool down, or only do a short cool down, your heart is working really hard and then you take away all its help.
An extended cool down is probably a time thing more than a distance thing. When you first finish your hard set, you want to start swimming to have the muscle contraction to help your heart, but as your heart rate begins to slow down and your catch your breath, swimming slower, doing open turns or even stopping on the wall would prepare you for getting out of the water an facing the full effects of gravity.
There was a thread a while ago "Is cool down necessary" where I argued my point and several others supported the counter point if you want to read more about it.
I agree with you 100% on the importance of a good cool down. Unfortunately, our coach sometimes doesn't leave much time for one, and we have another group getting in right after us. But I always take as much time as I can, and sometimes a little more. :) It generally amounts to 100-200 yds.
Yeah, I don't think I have any heart problems either, just the low BP. Is there any way to measure that other than investing in a home BP monitor?
I may try the GU if my other solutions don't work. I tend to avoid what I see as expensive food products whose ingredients don't look like food to me, although perhaps that perception is not accurate in the case of GU.
Ask your teammates. I am virtually certain somebody already has a home bp monitor that he or she would agree to let you borrow for a few days. Who knows? Maybe you could get your whole team to do before and after bp readings during practice sometime? That would make for a fascinating little armchair scientist thread in its own right.
In terms of Gu, I agree: it's expensive, the Gel tastes pretty bad (I do like the Chomps better), and it's pretty much a man made food-like substance.
The reason I switched to it is that I was getting that bonk problem every practice. For a year, I would force myself to eat little peanut butter crackers before practice (real food, sort of). These worked, but they did a number on my stomach during hard practices. They also really dried out my mouth, something that swimming does even without the crackers.
I started brining some Gatorade to help swallow down the crackers. I felt more and more like a little old lady who swallowed the fly.
Anyhow, then a triathlete friend told me about GU. I tried it. It worked. It was simply to throw a half dozen in my swimming bolsa so I would always have one.
And I have been an enthusiastic GU guy ever since. I buy them by the case online. Still expensive, but not horribly so. GU and tap water is actually cheaper that peanut butter crackers and Gatorade.
I would be really interested in your bp before and after readings. I am not a doctor but, joking aside, I am a hypo, and find this stuff fascinating. My prediction: if you are normal, your bp should go up after a hard sprint. Or at least during it (though how to measure you bp mid-50 is problematic.)
Try some of these cookies before practice
www.bbcookies.com/.../home.php
They are energy cookies as well as giving you calories. They taste great, too. I love the chocolate cherry and the chocolate chunk ones. You can find them on Amazon with free shipping for less than going directly through the site.
Former Member
How much are you cooling down?
Some smart people disagree with this theory, but it is pretty simple to check and see if it helps you.
When you do a hard workout, anything keeps your heart hammering away for a while, I think you need an extended cool down.
When you are swimming, your heart isn't working against gravity and it has the aide of periodic muscle contraction to aide flow. If you skip cool down, or only do a short cool down, your heart is working really hard and then you take away all its help.
An extended cool down is probably a time thing more than a distance thing. When you first finish your hard set, you want to start swimming to have the muscle contraction to help your heart, but as your heart rate begins to slow down and your catch your breath, swimming slower, doing open turns or even stopping on the wall would prepare you for getting out of the water an facing the full effects of gravity.
There was a thread a while ago "Is cool down necessary" where I argued my point and several others supported the counter point if you want to read more about it.
