Hope To Run Again Before End Of The Year

Swam and rode my bike in the morning.  Wanted to beat the heat.  But it was still 84 at 11:45 when I headed out the house on my bike.  My lack of riding time is showing.  This is the third day in a row, and the legs felt tired.  But I have always enjoyed the bike, and may just take it a little easier tomorrow. 

Got my bone scan today.  After the scanner passed my head I could see the image on a screen as it moved along.  Outside of the normal bones only two things stood out to my untrained eye.  The first was a bright white spot where they injected the radioactive stuff.  And the second was a white spot at the midpoint of my left femur !  That is exactly where it has been hurting.  When the tech came in after the scan, she immediately said, "looks like something is going on in your left leg."  I am not sure why I was excited to see "something."  Maybe I am just glad it is something I can finally have diagnosed.  But now I am worried.  What if it somthing more serious than a stress fracture?  I go to the orthopedic Thursday, so hopefully it will not be too bad.

Swim - 1000 yards - 19:04 - continuous - mix of br & fr

15 minutes aqua jogging - with belt

Bike - 12.48 miles - 44:22

Swim, aqua jog, and bike today.  Swam 1000 yards continuous while alternating between freestyle and breaststoke every 100 yards.  Swam with much greater effort than I had in awhile.  Followed by 15 minutes of aqua jogging with the belt.  I noticed my stride length had shortened and got a bit choppy after about 10 minutes.  So I purposely stretched out my stride as far as I could.  Immediately I could feel the burn in my quads.  I was surprised how much harder this was.   I could never stretch my stride like that on land.  I kept this up for the final 5 minutes.  I will do this more often.  When I got on my bike it was 89 out.  When I finished it was 92.  My legs needed a little rest, so I took it easy.  Also I need to watch my fluid intake. I can tell I need to drink more than I have been in this hot weather.  Go to the doctor tomorrow.  Hopefully he will know what the "white spot" on my leg from the bone scan is.

Swim - 1000 yards - 17:52

Aqua Jog - 15 minutes - with belt

Bike - 10.20 miles - 37:27

Went to the pool for a quick swim.  Then had to hurry off to the doctor.  He confirmed the "white spot" on my bone scan was a stress fracture.  It is near the midpoint of the femur.  He wants to see me again in three weeks.  Then he said do no physical activity until then.  I thought he meant only running.  But he said no to aqua jogging, swimming, and cycling.  I could not believe this.  I do not think I will stop the swimming and aqua jogging though.  I may cycle a little less.  The pain has virtually gone away.  Only when I need to walk real fast do I feel it now.  And I have jogged or run for any reason in about 12 days.  His final words were a warning that a stress fracture could develop into a total fracture.  Like I said, I just cannot see swimming and aqua jogging doing that.  Not sure about the cycling though.

Swim

1000 yards free - 18:38

200 yards breast - 4:23

Well now that the shock of being told to do no physical exercise has set in, I have rethought my earlier reaction.  I have a choice.  No workouts for three weeks or a possible broken leg.  So I have decided to cut out the cycling and aqua jogging all together.  I will still swim, but with a very reduced effort.  I will swim so slow, it will look like I am floating.  I will just do this for longer periods of time.  I hope this is not a bad idea.  I also need to be careful when playing ball, tag, or other games with the kids in the yard.  As for work, I hope there are no foot pursuits.  Everybody expects me to at least give a good chase since I run all the time.

I am really bummed now.

Tried my best not disobey the doctor's orders.  I gave an honest effort not to use my left leg while swimming. It threw off my rhythm a little and was harder on my arms.  I swam some, then rested some.  Mostly freestyle.  I swam a little breast and back with one leg, but my form was too bad to do more.  No sense even trying butterfly without a two leg kick.  After swimming I tried a Schwinn WindJammer machine.  It is like a bicycle for your arms.  I did not like it, and after six minutes the left hand "pedal" broke off.  So then I got on the Schwinn AirDyne.  I used arms only on this for 15 minutes.  It showed I arm pedaled 3.1 miles.

Swim - 1000 yards - 18:34

My frustration with my injury is growing.  Today the pool was being cleaned when I went.  They also added "a bunch" of chemicals.  I was told it would reopen in the late afternoon.  But with me working 4 to 12 no chance of swimming today.

So I got on the AirDyne for 30 minutes.  Arms only.  6.2 miles. More boring than aqua jogging.  Got home and did 100 pushups and 100 crunches.  I did 4x25 of each, with about 4 minutes of rest in between. It took about 15 minutes total to complete.  Hopefully I can work down to no rest in between.  But that may take some time to get to.

I never imagined how difficult it would be to find exercises that keep up my cardio fitness without using my legs.

Worked my arms only on the AirDyne for 15 minutes (3.1 miles).  Then jumped in the pool.  Used my leg more than the doctor would approve, but a lot less than when swimming normally.  I am having to swim all freestyle to keep minimal "stress" on my leg.  Doing only one stroke, arms only AirDyne, and pushups has made my arms sore and tired.

Swim - 1100 yards - 18:13:12

500 - 9:00:46

4x50 - 30 sec. rest in between - 41:10, 40:89, 40:51, 39:06

4x25 - 15 sec. rest in between - 17:50, 18:56, 17:91, 17:64

300 - 5:19:49

Update - May 10

Messed up when adding totals.  Swam 1100 yards.  The warmup was 500, not 400.

Swim - 1000 yards - 15:41:31 - Freestyle

400 - 6:55.43

4x50 - 30 sec. rest - 36.72, 37.56, 38.53, 37.73

4x25 - 15 sec. rest - 16.60, 17.76, 16.56, 16.56

300 - 5:07.86

Arms were tired afterwards.  Also push mowed the yard today for a couple of hours.  I do not have a fancy mower that is self propelled.  So far this is the only thing to make me sweat all week.

100 pushups & crunches

Working dayshift now.  After work went to the pool.  Did not have a lot of time because I had to meet the family at a strawberry patch.  Arms were weary after swim.

Swim - 1000 yards - freestyle - continuous

100 - 1:37.53

200 - 1:49.95

300 - 1:50.39

400 - 1:49.36

500 - 1:50.04 - 8:57.27

600 - 1:49.82

700 - 1:47.76

800 - 1:48.88

900 - 1:48.75

1000 - 1:43.26

Total - 17:55.74

And the strawberries were delicious !

Swam today as usual.  After having two days off my arms felt refreshed.  I have been bad with my pushups and crunches.  Missed the last three days.  But over the weekend a friend of mine said in the military they did a reverse pyramid with the pushups.  They started at 10 and counted down with only a few seconds of rest in between.  Since I was not sure about a few seconds, I waited five.  My arms were shaking by 4 and on down.  Even typing now they have that same feeling.  Forgot to mention I had already done fifty before the pyramid.  One week until next doctor appointment.  Hopefully biking and aqua jogging is allowed.  Running is still in the distant future I believe.

Had more cramps in my right calf and right foot today.  Seemed to happen shortly after pushing off the wall on turns.  Not sure why this seems to be happening more and more often.  I wonder if my poor diet contributes to the cramping.

Swim - 1500 yards - 24:50.88

500 - 8:49.67

2x100 - 60 sec. rest - 1:28.99, 1:26.31

4x50 - 30 sec. rest - 39:31, 38:76, 39:68, 39:42

4x25 - 15 sec. rest - 16:89, 17:85, 17:58, 17:09

500 - 9:19.33

Swam 1 mile today, without stopping.  I have not done this distance without taking a short break in a long time.  Arms were tired when done, but I felt good overall.

Swim - 1 mile - 32:09 - freestyle

1000 yards - alternate 100 free and 100 breast - 19:03.20

100 free - 1:38.57

Went on a four day trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my wife.  We left the kids with the Grandparents.  We used the bikes from the inn we stayed at and took a "very" casual ride.  We toured the sights of Manteo.  This is on Roanoke Island.  The first colonists came here from England.  But they disappeared.

8.42 miles - 1:12:58

2500 yards - 800fr/400br/800fr/400br/100fr - about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes rest in between

46:46.39

Most I have ever swam in one day.  Except for when I was on the swim team as a kid.  I know we practiced for an hour to an hour and a half each day.  But I have no idea how far we swam each practice.  I can tell my swimming fitness is getting better, but I still would rather be running.

1000 yards - alternate 100 fr/100 br - 17:52.80

Swam hard.  Did not have a lot of time to train today.  Had a doctor appointment.  He asked how the leg felt.  I said fine, since I am not doing anything but swimming.  He said 5 more weeks of no weight bearing exercises.  So swimming, aqua jogging, push ups, and crunches are all I can do for now.

10 minutes aqua jogging

1000 yards free - 17:40.37

10 minutes of aqua jogging

I actually missed not being able to aqua jog for the last three weeks.  It felt good to "run" again.  Just doing the motions of running is better than none at all I guess.  My quads burned right away during the first set.  No burn on the second.

10 minutes aqua jogging

200fr/100br/200fr/100br - continuos

10 minutes aqua jogging

200 br/fr mix

21:55 total swim time

Same as yesterday.  Felt a little tired, so I slowed a little and concentrated on my form.

10 minutes aqua jogging

200fr/100br/200fr/100br - continuos

10 minutes aqua jogging

200 br/fr mix

22:05 total swim time.

Midnight shift is starting to wear on me now.  Only a few more nights !

I have decided I will not swim less than 1 mile for each swim.  I usually can only swim on the week days, so I should have at least 5 miles for the week.  This will be more than I am used to, but I can do it.

2000 yards - 37:56.02

600 free/300breast/600free/300breast

200 free & breast mix

Ugh !

Felt bad before, during, and after swim.  This is my hardest day to readjust from working Midnights.  I was hoping I would feel better as I went along but it did not happen.  I am glad I got my mile in though.

1800 yards - 35:35.09

500free/200breast/500free/200breast

400  alternate 100's - free & breast

Another good swim today.  I miss running.  By the time I can go again, it will be like starting from scratch.  And even though my running fitness will be down, my overall all fitness will not have suffered as much.

2000 yards - 37:09.02

1000 free

300 breast

700 alternate 100fr/100br

Still meeting my goal of at least 1 mile per day of swimming.  Tomorrow is the last day of the week for me.  Too crowded on the weekends to even try.  My arms do not feel sore before a workout, but after a couple of laps I can feel them.  They do get a little better as I go along.  And most noticeably is my breathing.  I used to need to breath every stroke.  But for about 2 weeks now I have been making myself breath every 4 strokes for the entire workout.  This has been hard, but doable.  I really hope this makes a difference when I get to running again.

2100 yards - 39:16.75

500 free 200 breast

500 free 200 breast

500 free 200 breast

Did not take a break between strokes.  Swam continuous.  I am thinking about some type of interval workout.  I want to have some hard and medium efforts mixed in with my slow.