I didn’t swim yesterday and would have felt guilty if I started it
Something like 2800 or 3100 yd swim (counting problems) and 2.47 mi walk this am! First swim post surgery , no free to keep it easy. Felt good to be in the water

6 or 7 x (100 sidestroke, 100 sidestroke on other side, 100 breast) done continuously
500 breast
500 dog paddle

Edit: counting problems

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

loving the alliteration for this month!

i posted mine on jan since we didnt have this yet but yesterday. was solid and Im currently smoked (and I love it)

haha

daved

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http://www.theundergroundcoach.com

Sorry I haven't been keeping up but what type of surgery??? Shoulder??? When did you have it???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

R shoulder, 1/19
decompression of suprascapular nerve to relieve suprascapular nerve palsy. This is the dx for 0.04 percent of people who present w shoulder pain. It's very uncommon, though when it happens it tends to occur in female volleyball players and swimmers. One case in the literature of a kayaker (male). They aren't sure why it tends to be more female

They cut the conoid ligament. This is a very small ligament that, when it isn't cut, makes a little "hole" bounded by bone and said ligament through which the nerve (and other stuff) passes. Cutting it decompresses the nerve. The goal is that the nerve can then again function and do what it is supposed to - make/maintain/activate the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. I have almost 0 supraspinatus muscle and bunch of loss in the intraspinatus. It took a long time to figure out what the issue was, and a local neurologist f'ing up the EMG in spring 2023 made it take 6 months longer...

They also debrided the labrum, which basically means there was some small amt of tearing and they cleaned it up.

It was done arthroscopically and all in all was quite minor (didn't feel like that, doesn't feel like that given the muscle loss :-(

anyway the real thing I'm worried about is in doing all that, they have to remove a bursa. It'll grow back in like 8 weeks or so, but IDK how much freestyle I can do without it, as those are important for protecting other structures. I see a swim specialist PT on Monday and look forward to his thoughts. Right now am avoiding most overhead movement that puts a lot of pressure on the shoulder (like, well, freestyle ;-)

so free free workouts for a bit

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I like the alliteration too, I was going to do "Fishbuary" or "Swimburary" but I think I used Fishuary last year

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Hmmm, well, I guess you can work on your breaststroke and sidestroke. I am very sorry to hear that you had to have this surgery, and I am surprised b/c I kind of always thought you were bulletproof with all the running you typically do. I guess running is out until the shoulder recovers???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Good luck on your recovery…..sounds like you will be back to full strength but will take sometime to rebuild. In the general scheme of things….what seems long now will seem a lot shorter once you are past it. The main thing is to follow instructions and don’t rush it…..trust me:-)

Yesterday, Friday is my shorter uptempo day of 2250 yards.
After a warmup of 300 swim / 200 kick (with short fins) I did
5 sets of 150 swim focusing on long reach (30 seconds rest) followed by 3 x 50 with hand paddles on 1 minute
Cooldown was 5 x 50 butterfly/back with fins on 1:30.

Keeping it chill for the next couple of months because I have an electrical issue in my heart where the signal to the ventricle gets blocked (av block) and can cause me to go into afib. My question is does anyone have experience with swimming after pacemaker implant (mine is scheduled for April 8th) and want to share dos and don’ts?

Biggest swim of the week yesterday

first, a 4.75mi run over lunch

then 4500scy
2x[200 swim, 4x50 drill]
4x200 descend on 2:40 (2:16-14-13-10)
4x50 easy on 1:00
4x150 descend on 2:00 (1:41-39-38-35)
4x50 easy on 1:00
4x100 descend on 1:20 (1:06-06-04-02)
4x50 easy on 1:00
4x50 strong on :40 (29's)
4x50 easy
4x200 pull, negative split (2:07s splitting 1:04-1:03)
2x50 easy

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That's good advice. thank you.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I did a 5-swim week ending today.

My swim of the week:

6:21 400m this morning. Usually 6:20s is a slog. But today I could not believe how "easy" 3:12 at 200m felt. I was huffin' on the last 100m, but it was never anywhere near painful. My PR is 6:11, which was a deathswim - a couple of years ago. Sheesh - I'm under half a length away from that, and feeling "pleasant". Surely I'm in PR shape right now!? I got soft after some deathswims. "Oh dear - that hurt so much. Do I want to endure such pain again?" And consequently, I have rarely tried a hard 400m in recent times.

Kick my ass, Slowtwitch. Please.

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I only swim.
I used to run. (31:09 10k)
I never did Triathlon.
Sue me.

Yes.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

😂

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I only swim.
I used to run. (31:09 10k)
I never did Triathlon.
Sue me.

Noting totals for myself as I don’t put sidestroke stuff in training log
Feb 2- 2700 yds sidestroke/breast
Feb 5 - 2700 yds sidestroke/breast

Today was 1 mi walk then 2700 ish yards (probably a bit more, head was all over the place)
Did it as
9 x (100 sidestroke, 100 sidestroke on other side, 100 easy breast)

Pt appt this am! Hoping for good news in terms of return to freestyle ways

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

400 IM fancy part II:
5:14 (SCY)

Analysis:
Moderately disappointed
(I swam 6:00 SCM in November with almost no butterfly, back, or breast- in decade's. Also I was just starting back into training after a couple of weeks off)

6:00 SCM = 5: 24 SCY

So:
After 2 month of moderate training - back, breast and butterfly - I only officially improved 10 seconds.



What I learned.
1) Turns and dives are very important short-course.
I was always bad at turns and dives, especially back breast and fly.
I think I would have done relatively better in LCM and even SCM.
It would have been wise to spend a lot more time relearning/learn turns.

2) There is no such thing as 100 yard fly "taking it easy".
Also 100 breast "moderate and fast" does not exist either (without a lot more training).
Form degenerates rapidly with a lack of strength and fitness.

I did do a decent amount of 25 s fly, back and breast at a moderate sprint speed.
I feel this would have improved my form in 100 Fly, back or breast.
But did little to improve my form in 400 IM.
More raw volume.
Or more months of focus on fly, back and breast would have helped a lot.

3) Both my stroke specific fitness, and my stroke specific strength really suck!!
I think a small amount of threshold training would have helped a lot.
A small amount of much harder sprinting.
Would also have helped.

Conclusion:

I was just fooling around.
I do believe that I could "find" another 30 or 40 seconds of improvement, if I worked really hard at it, for years.

In comparison with triathlon, in search of mastery:
I am not a very talented runner.
Yet, I did manage a #1 AG masters rank a couple years ago.
I feel that I might be as almost as "good at triathlon" as I could be at IM swimming.

Next time:
I think I will focus on 100 Fly.
I think it would be easier for me to reach a higher degree of personal mastery without interrupting my triathlon training.

This was fun!
I do think the fly, back and breast training helped with strength and balance.
That was really the point.

400 IM fancy part II:
5:14 (SCY) //

Good on ya for pitching up and doing it, in spite of your many reservations. Now you have another data point, and a whole lot more experience swimming it as a masters swimmer. What were your splits?? And you can still do an easy 100 fly at your age, the door doesnt slam on that until about 60 or so. Of course it requires training a lot of distance fly to do so, but at least your body can still adapt to those training stimuli.

Splits were:
1:08
1:22
1:34
1:10

The fly was about same speed as in november. It felt a little easier.

I tried to recover from the fly, on the back leg.
But the turns really sucked.
And the oxygen debt got worse.

I think my well oxygenated breast stroke might have been a lot better than in November.
But I was too out of breath to hold decent form.

I really do think LCM would have been easier/better!!

I was a distance swimmer in college.
As a child, I also swam the 200 fly LCM!!
I also once swim a 4:41 LCM 400 IM (with bad back and breast).

The easiest ways to improve:
1) Improve turns and pacing around turns.
2) Butterfly and breast fitness
3) General speed/strength
4) General fitness

Most importantly - how many women were ahead of you and by how much?

KIDDING!!!

Congrats!!! I'm so glad you did this.

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I only swim.
I used to run. (31:09 10k)
I never did Triathlon.
Sue me.

I'm sorry you were a little disappointed with the result. I for one still think it's awfully fantastic to be able to swim that event AND I think that's a decent time. (But I get the disappointment and your feelings are real and valid).

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

asking the real questions LOL

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

All I'm saying is that I would do very bad things to be able to do something in the pool that netted me that sweet vo2 maxed, using-the-gutter-as-a-pillow-after effort. So while I'm rebuilding my body, suck it up and do it for me if not for you.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

You have kicked my ass!! Thanks. 😂

I think I got soft in my....um....advancing years. As a new swimmer, 5 years ago, I was happily ignorant about pain. Now, after a few (painful for me) sub 6:20s, I became fearful. But why? That's silly. And maybe my upcoming 6:08 will feel shockingly good! Because I'm a stronger swimmer now.

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I only swim.
I used to run. (31:09 10k)
I never did Triathlon.
Sue me.

It seems that when I make jokes on this topic...

Some people find it definitively "not funny."

So I will be serious.

Feel free to ridicule me though.

I was 2nd.

Analysis:

First place- almost lapped me. But... she is 14 years younger. She just missed the Beijing Olympics team.
And she was a top IM and backstroke swimmer in college. She also shows a constant record of masters swimming. I googlefued her.
(I was a crappy D1 distance swimmer. I was a absolutely crappy back and breaststroker. I am now a triathlete. And I have been swimming fly, back and breast for 3 months).
Bottom line- she is a much better swimmer. But perhaps her personal performance is not THAT much better.

Third place- was only 3 seconds behind and is only 5 years younger. Her breaststroke split was more than 10 seconds faster than mine. I suspect she was NOT a top collegiate swimmer.
She is both a better swimmer AND performing better on a personal level.

Fourth place- was 10 years OLDER and only 18 seconds slower.
This seems to be much better on both a personal and relative basis.

I am uncertain about the rest of the people.

Bottom line- I was not the worst, nor the best.
And no-one really cares.

I wish I had a gender sensitive self depreciating joke.

😂 Awesome.

In my first meet an 86 year old guy handed my ass to me. By....like.....30sec over 400m.

It's all relative!! 😀

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I only swim.
I used to run. (31:09 10k)
I never did Triathlon.
Sue me.