The Week of Much Swimming (And No Running)

I'm now fairly certain that I'm dealing with some runner's knee issues, which is why I haven't run at all this week. My left knee was a little sore a few weeks ago, so I backed off on my mileage, and it felt a bit better, but then it was pretty sore after last weekend's race, so I did the usual icing/Aleve routine for a few days. It started to feel much better in just a few days, so I'm hopeful that I caught this early enough that it won't become a chronic thing that necessitates weeks and weeks off from running.

The pain is very diffuse, and hard to pinpoint - it's sort of around the knee, and is worst when I stand up after kneeling or squatting, or even sitting, which is what leads me to suspect runner's knee. But like I said, it's a lot better already, and I wouldn't even classify it as pain anymore - more like just some residual stiffness. So I've had almost one full week off, and depending on how it feels, I may take next week off, too. I'm just going to play it by ear and be very conservative, so that this doesn't turn into a major injury.

I'm actually not all that upset about it right now, either. I am bummed that I haven't been running, and I'm anxious to get back to it, but thank god for swimming, because that has truly been my salvation this week. And it has been fantastic!  I haven't been good about doing drills, but I'm going to get back to that next week. This week I wanted to just churn out some laps, and did I ever!

I swam 1250 meters on Monday, 1650 meters on Tuesday, and 2050 meters today! And today, for the first time ever, I swam 1000 meters without stopping! I had planned on doing 400, which, up to this point, is the longest I've ever done without stopping. But I felt great, and thought I'd try to push it to 600, and then I was still feeling great, so I figured I'd go to 800, and then I thought 'well, if I can do 800, I can certainly do another 200 and make it an even 1000.' So I did - and I was shocked at how good I felt when I was done.

So getting in the pool three times this week has definitely paid off, as today's swim was probably the best one I've ever had. I felt so comfortable and so strong in the water; it was awesome!

A funny story from Monday's swim, though. I was in the only lane that was open for lap swim, and the lanes next to me were open for a water exercise class which had about 8 senior citizens participating. And at one point, about halfway through my swim, the whole class started walking around in a big circle. And they walked around and around and around and around, and as I came back up the lane, I realized that I was swimming and swimming and swimming and swimming - but I was hardly moving! They kicked up such a strong current with their little roundabout that I could barely make any headway.

I got quite a laugh out of that, and realized that I really have my work cut out for me when I finally start swimming in open water, if a group of senior citizens can generate enough of a current to practically stop me in my tracks : )   And needless to say, I was glad when their class ended!

Comments

[Wes]

Great swimming. I so need to get back into the pool. I'm thinking SOOOOON :-) Sometimes the current is bad. I blame my DNF at Two Bridges on the current. One of the things you can do it zig and zag. Like going up a hill on a bike when you were a kid. Glad the holidays went so well for you. Great pics of the family!!

[Shawn]

Holy cow!!!! 1000 meters without stopping?? Thats Awesome. Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving!

[J~mom]

Great job with the swimming!!! Sorry about your knee though!