Silence is golden

Which is to say, swimming is going well. I've been doing about a mile a day five days a week, with only off and on twinges in my shoulder. No big deal. I've dropped the five pounds or so I gained over the summer, too.

I remain invisible to other swimmers.

Whatever.

It works! (?)

I think the nose clip, while dorky and giving me the general appearance of Michael Jackson, works.

Not breathing out through my nose threw my rhythm off (some would argue I don't have much of a sense of rhythm to throw off), and I only did 1,400 yards or so, but that was a couple of hours ago and I can still breathe easily.

Freaky. I hope it lasts.

Worth a try

Well, it appears necessary to at least give nose clips a try. I've practiced breathing out through my mouth (I usually use my nose), and I'm sure I can figure it out. This wretched congestion won't give up, and is barely affected by decongestants. I'd much rather use a dippy device than have to keep buying and taking unneeded drugs, if they are indeed unneeded.

We'll see. I've read enough to be somewhat optimistic that this might help, and nobody pays attention to me when I'm at the pool anyway, so it's not like all the pretty girls will stop talking to me. I am invisible to them, which truth be told is kind of nice. I just want to work out, not chat. Perhaps they feel the same way.

time off? bah.

Well, apparently, I have not forgotten how to swim. After last weekend, I made sure to get in a midweek swim (or two. Like lap counting, I've forgotten), and Saturday was just fine. I'm still down in the cardiovascular conditioning, but it's only been a week. It will be nice to a) keep swimming; b) push the yardage up a tad, but not too much; and c) drop five pounds.

Sunday swim - happy!

After a measly 700 yards or so Saturday, I wasn't too optimistic, but nor was I too sore Sunday, so I thought I'd shoot for a mile and see how it went. No big deal - 500-yard warmup, then 1,200 yards, then a cooldown lap - 1,750 yards, which by my count is a lot more like a mile than the 1,650 some swimmers suggest.

Ahh, yes, but there is that one little detail: time. Well, I was slow, but oh well. I think the 35 laps, plus two breaks, ate up about 45 minutes. That, my friend, is not too quick. Methinks I will never have a mile under 20 minutes. Drat.

woo-hoo!

Did a fabulous 700 yards today, a whopping 250-yard warmup and then 450 more. I guess I should be happy I made it that far after such a long layoff.

No big deal; back at it tomorrow.

The road back?

A visit to an ortho doc yesterday turned up no obvious problems, except for the whole pain-in-shoulder thing. He gave me a six- to eight-week shoulder workout plan to try to strengthen some parts of my shoulder(s), which he thinks might be all I need to get into a pain-free environment.

Oh, that and better posture.

ortho fun

Although I've been out of the water for the summer, I'm still enjoying all the benefits of a defective left shoulder. My kind doctor lady is hooking me up with an ortho guy, though, an apparent hotshot at arthroscopic surgery, but hopefully also someone who can concoct a non-surgical solution.

The massage lady, excellent and dear to me though she is, has only kept me above water. At first, her work was a huge improvement. Now it is keeping me a little bit ahead of the chronic pain. So that is big progress, but I'm certainly at a plateau. I just want to be able to swim and weave without all this god damn discomfort.

missing the pool

Just got a picture dropped on my desk of the annual full-ride scholarship winnner at the alma mater. She's a swimmer, which reminds me that I'd like to be down at the pool. Now!

so-so Monday

just a regular day. I'm feeling pretty good as far as shoulders and fitness go, but I'm trying to come to grips with a three-month layoff. not sure what to do.

boo, hiss

So, the pool will be closed for three months, starting quite soon. I guess this will be a summer of tennis (and healing?). Curses!

Not quite so quick, but all's well

Another 2,500 uninterrupted Monday was a good chance to check my work. I was off a little from Sunday, but only by a few minutes. So instead of 2,500 yards in 47 minutes, I think it was more like 2,500 in 50. Hey, that's still not bad by my somewhat clunky standards. I think that as time has gone by, I've got a goal forming, which is to get my 50 splits down to 45 seconds. That means slashing a quarter of my time, though, so we'll see how that pans out. I'm thinking that's a good goal to try to reach in 2008 or 2009. If I get there sooner, well, maybe I'll shoot for more.

Yeah, sure.

yardage increase

I liked the experiment with swimming the whole workout straight through, and I wanted to raise my yardage a little, so I did a 2,500 straight through Sunday. I'm pretty sure I counted correctly, and it looked like I came in around 45-48 minutes. Without glasses, it is hard to tell for sure.

I realize this still isn't fast, but I think my 50-yard time has gone from 75 seconds to, obviously, less than 60, in the past year or so. Not bad, I think :)

Thursday swim

Well, what's to say? I changed my mode of operation. My used-to was to do a 500-yard warmup, take a minute-or-two break, then do 1,800 yards for the "workout."

On Thursday, I decided the break was just a way to get less of a workout, so I ditched it and did a straight 2,300. I think I still took it easy on the first 500 and sprinted the last 200, so I don't think that part made much of a difference. Now I really am facing the big question, which is whether to go for a yardage increase.

I can do the whole workout in - I estimate (and I have to, because I'm never sure how many more laps than 46 I'm doing) about 50 minutes, give or take a few. Yes, I know, that's not very fast. Odd thing: When I do the warmup I rarely lose track of laps, and 500 yards (10 laps) always takes a little less than 10 minutes. I know I'm fresh then, but I don't think I slow down much if at all in the workout portion, so I'm thinking I'm really swimming more, consistently, than 46 laps.

WTF. I need to learn to count, maybe. :)

Vanquishing the shoulder woes

Well, I've put the needles business off until further notice because I haven't had any pain to speak of while swimming (or after, either). So much the better; I'm sick of complaining.

good swim, but lotso congestion

Another painless day in the pool - I think I might bail out of needles this month...

happy & jolly and etc., by golly

Buzzed through an easy 2,300 Sunday (after a not-totally-easy 1,900 on Saturday), although I did the last 300 after a break (so, 500, 1500, 300).

I think I gained a couple of pounds, too, with all these catawampus weeks of swimming & not. Curse that! But hey, easily remedied.

On a side note, one (count it) martini Sunday evening (happy Easter!) was too much in the congestion game. Completely stuffed up for hours afterward. This only seems to happen on swimming days. Que curioso.

tired but effective

Didn't get quite so far as I would have liked Sunday, but that's all right. Esp. b/c I did some weaving first; a good day of exercise all around. Hoping today is smooth, too.

Enough damn whimpering

Monday: 2,250 yards, an acupuncture appointment (complete with some kind of adjustment) and the usual ills.

Fuck it. I'm in pretty good shape, finally. My body looks the way I want it to, mostly. The pain factor is static - off and on with no rhyme or reason.

So, I think it is back to the grind: Three mile-plus swims a week seems to do no extra damage to anything, and it is good exercise, so I'm sticking with it. I've been doing a 500 yard warmup and then 1,750 yards (90 feet short of a mile, unless you do swimmer math, in which case that is 100 yards more than a mile - go figure).

I think maybe a yardage increase is in the cards.

Back in the saddle again

Couple of decent swims so far this week... nothing special, but nothing too painful, either. I sense a pattern here. Oddly, even when I get some discomfort, it doesn't last long. I guess I just have to be careful. I'm still trying to come up with a revised plan. I guess 2,250 yards, three times a week, is what I'm looking at.

That seems to be enough to pull off my fitness/weight goals for now. If I ever become more efficient, I guess I'll have to push the yardage back up. That, I think, would be nice.