The last couple of weeks have posed as a challenge and learning experience. Last time I wrote, I had 1 more build week that was to end in a 7.5-8 mile swim. Ugh, yeah, well my body had other plans. My right shoulder had been sore; sore not painful. I expected sore. Who doesn't expect sore when you're swimming 20k+ yards per week? The good news was that it didn't hurt while I was swimming, only later in the day. Well, the Friday before my 'big' swim, that all changed. I was swimming a high intensity set and by the end of the workout, my shoulder began to hurt. REALLY HURT. But, when I got done with my workout and got in the shower, the pain seemed to subside and I went on to work (where I sit behind a desk for 8-9 hours). As the day progressed, the shoulder was stiff and by the time I got home, I was unable to raise my arm to parallel. OH CRAP! I got in touch with my kayaker and we rescheduled my monster swim for Sunday rather than Saturday so I could allow my shoulder to rest an extra day. Saturday morning, my shoulder was a little stiff and sore but my range of motion was MUCH better. Whew.....what I relief. I continued to stretch and rest my shoulder through the day in hopes that I'd feel good to swim Sunday. Sunday morning, same thing. Shoulder was a little sore and stiff but the range of motion seemed OK. After church, I headed to Westport to meet my friend and kayaker. When we got there, we were greeted with blue-green algae in the water. At the shore, it didn't look bad and seemed to get better the farther from the shore so I got in the water and started my swim. It only lasted about 5 minutes or so when the algae started to hit me in the face under the water like driving in a snow storm. After talking it over with my kayaker, I decided to call it a day. There was no reason to risk getting sick this close to race day. After talking with my coach once I got home, the plan was to start the much needed recovery week early and move the really long swim to the following weekend. With my 'A' type personality, this made me a little uneasy but try to stay positive. Monday morning, I was back at the pool, a short workout with some high-intensity short sets. Normally not a problem. I could feel my shoulder 'popping'. It was more annoying than painful and like the Friday before, by the time I had showered, it was simply a little sore and stiff. This time, by the time I left work, raising my arm brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't put my right hand on the steering wheel. I called my parents, in tears, convinced that my race was over. I was going to be side-lined. After all, I was less then 4 weeks away from race day. I'd missed my longest swim over the past weekend and was running out of time to get it done. Tuesday, I sucked it up and called the doctor. Of course, they couldn't get me in until the next day but they did get me the first appointment of the day. Wednesday was going to be day that would tell me what was going on, I hoped.
I met with my doctor. He didn't think anything was torn but wanted to get x-rays and send me to a physical therapist. This just made me angry because physical therapy usually takes weeks to see results and I didn't have weeks. Can't you just give me a cortisone shot (and I hate needles) and be done with it? I promise to rest it and go to therapy after my race. NO, it will mask the pain and do more damage in the long run. UGH! Then the gal in the doctor office that handles the referrals, tells me it's going to be 72 hours before my insurance company would approve a referral to a therapist. I didn't have time for that. Here come the water works, I couldn't hold them back. She got on the phone and by the time I had paid my co-pay, she had an appointment for me with a therapist that afternoon and she told me she would call my insurance company and see what she could do and would contact me if she couldn't get the approval before my appointment. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. That afternoon I met with the physical therapist. He called what I had a 'shoulder impingement' caused by an imbalance in my swim stroke (I only breath on the left) and a lack of strength in the support muscles. I didn't really want to hear the details. Lets cut to the chase, can you fix it in time for me to swim my race 3 1/2 weeks away. He gave me a look and asked me if I can commit to meeting with him 3 days a week and do the exercises he gives me. I immediately responded with "If it will get me to race day, you bet". I also had to promise that I would balance my stroke by breathing to both sides. I will do whatever you say!!!! So, he worked on a few 'trigger points' and gave me a couple of exorcises that day. I met with him again Thursday. I was instructed that I could swim but I had to stop if it began to hurt so Friday, my workout was mostly a 'kick' set. I swam again Saturday and Sunday, low volume at a moderate intensity. I was truly amazed. My range of motion seemed to be back to 100% after only 3 appointments. I could swim with no pain. My neck and upper back was a little sore from the exercises since we are trying to strengthen the surrounding support muscles. After only 5 appointments, I was able to swim a 6k open water swim race and maintain my race pace. If I had a kayaker with food and water, I felt as if I could have swam all day. Hallelujah!! I'm still a little uneasy about heading into race day without having done the monster 7.5-8 mile swim that was planned 2 weeks ago but I just have to have faith that I've done enough and I'll get to race day healthy, ready to face the challenge. Hopefully, when I go to see my physical therapist this afternoon, he'll release me from treatment 'earlier than expected'.
I believe in the power of prayer but I had never prayed for healing for myself or asked anyone to pray for me until now. Through everything that was going on, not only was I praying but so were my parents (along with members of the church they attend), my sister, my husband and my son. Like I said before, physical therapy normally takes weeks and several visits to see measurable results. I had almost full range of motion in 2-3 visits and no pain by my 5th appointment. My insurance company had approved 24 appointments, it that says anything. I truly give God the glory for His healing power.
Less than 2 weeks to go. It's maintain, rest, taper time. This is the time than we look forward to during the duration of our training; counting the days to the time when the workouts have less volume and are a little less frequent. This gives us the time to focus on getting additional rest, heal any nagging aches and pains while mentally preparing for our race. I've done this before but it's also a time that, often, is accompanied by a lot of extra nervous energy. Family members find their athlete to be on edge, anxious and short tempered. I know it's coming and as much as I hope to keep the nerves at bay, I warn my friends, family and co-workers and apologize in advance.
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