Sunday, October 25, 2009

The quest for the banana hammock!

This weekend marks week four since the ’Hood. During this week I have felt a marked improvement in my leg, since going to my GP two weeks ago I am still not able to ride my bike, the issue is that I cannot do a full rotation, it’s improving. If you can imagine with the crank at 6:00pm; week one I could go to 7:30pm forwards and 5:00pm backwards, week two I am up to about 4:00pm and 9:00pm, this Tuesday I’ll try again but overall it’s really starting to feel like it’s healing, I am able to skip up and down stairs and getting in and out of a car is easier, other than the bike these are really the two ‘benchmarks” I have.

I’ve been doing some core stuff but obviously I’ve not been expending the calories like I had been previously (and I am not going to kid anyone that I have adjusted my diet), end result is a best described as imbalanced input/output, imbalanced to the tune of about 12lbs! Yeah I nearly fell of the scales!

I’ve also been listening to lot of podcasts lately, I listen to them in the car during my commute; you can really burn through them with a 2½ - 3 hour commute a day. One of them in particular struck a cord with me, if you’ve followed me for anytime you’ll know that I am pretty can-do person especially when it comes to running, now when it comes to swimming; and specifically freestyle, well let’s just say that can and do are not usually in the same sentence…well until now. It’s really a case of not doing it because I don’t like it and not liking it because I am no good at it…well duh Stuart there was a time when you weren’t running a bajillion miles and how did you get to that point…I could go on but you can see where I am going.

I am not quite jumping in the deep end literally or metaphorically as I had some lessons earlier this year and even invested in some hand fins and a pair of jammers (who knew they were called that!) I am not sure if I will ever be ready to go all out Speedo but certainly loosing those 12lbs will point me in the right direction

Now I just need to get on, get in and get my feet wet!

8 comments:

  1. what about the Banana Hammock???? Where is it? Don't we get a picture??? a description? a comment about the banana hammock?????

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  2. Stuart, I can tell you with my recent taper and inactivity, I have gained about the same amount of weight. NOT GOOD before a race!!!!
    Keep working the leg.
    I'm gonna have your podcasts to keep me going at Javelina.

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  3. I used to not like swimming because I got tired so darn fast. This was mainly because of my lack of technique. People say you should do drills, but really, what drills?

    I got a book and DVD about a technique called "Total Immersion". HIGHLY recommended. Swimming will never feel the same AND there are tons of drills. It's all about the technique.

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  4. Stuart,

    swimming is definitely activity that you can do even with restricted range of motion in your legs. Just build up the volume slowly not to get injured - even swimmers have injuries - mostly in their arms and shoulders when they overdo it. But injury from swimming is less likely than from running (well I'm sure you know more about that than I do). Have a quick recovery. Looking forward to that first run post you will do once you are back on your feet.

    Jan

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  5. Often those injuries will give us a chance and make us dare to try something we wouldn't have done otherwise. I love your attitude; enjoy our new challenges:-)

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  6. I am glad to hear that there is some improvement happening for you!!!! Yippee. Sorry about the weight gain. :-( I know how much it sucks!!!

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  7. glad you are getting better - every bit of improvement helps! hopefully you'll have full range of motion soon so you can easy back into your more typical workouts. swimming beats me up, so i'm sure it'll tide you over in the meantime :)

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  8. DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO WEAR A SPEEDO!!!! Even the Olympians (and all of the top area triathletes) wear the jammers b/c they are more aerodynamic and faster than Speedos. There is no real reason to wear a speedo and I am always alarmed when I see someone in one!!! I don't think it should be something to strive for :) (And welcome [back] to the pool!!)

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