Week 2 Recap

Aghhh, another successful week. A good week at that I might add. Running perked back up with a lower HR & faster pace. I continued my at home IT band therapy of icing, stretching and foam rollin' 2-3 times per day... It seems to be keeping the inflammation at bay! Yippee...

We had a couple of great rides with the AVG speed picking up! And, my swims are FINALLY picking up a little speed with a little less effort.... 6 months off REALLY slows ya down! At one point, on Wed I think, my masters coach was asking how I was doing... She said that 'this week' I was looking a lot stronger. I told her that my shoulder, arm pain/numbness had subsided, so I could get a better stroke....

So, one of the workouts was 20x 100. 1-4, we were to count our strokes, making them as FEW as possible...and going SLOW. This would be, number of strokes = 'N'

My N = 17
5-8 were level 3 and N=2 so 19 strokes
9-12 were level 4 and N+4, 21 strokes.
13-15 N+1 level 2
16-20 levl 4, N+3

My level 2's were 1:46-1:48
Level 3's 1:40
Level 4's were 1:34-1:36

Before I started the set of 16, the last fast stuff... Coach Ann asked my my stroke counts & times... She said that for "my caliber" of swimming I should be UNDER 20 strokes. So... she watched me again. She said that my "pull" was slipping... So, she told me to try to take my pull arm out side a little before coming in and finishing the "pull" movment... What do you know... I dropped my stroke count to 18 on the way down & 19-20 on the way back... and my 100 was 1:32-1:35..... VERY COOL!

Then, on Friday we had another set of 10X100.... Odds fast, evens slow. My fasts were 1:28-1:31

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to someday get that 100 time down to 1:25 or less... I know I saw 1:25-1:28 pretty frequently last year... but certainly not right now!

So, it's Saturday afternoon and I've just finished ALL of my workouts again :-) Including actually making it to see Daniel both Tuesday & Thursday this week vs doing my strength stuff at home. And, of course he brought out those damn Gliders again and BOY do I feel it...

Weekly totals just under 14 hours:

Tomorrow is my rest day, then Monday I get a deep tissue massage from our wonderful Kylah.. It's my Valentines day present. It's it is going to hurt. Me, and HER. Poor thing... At least we tip her well!

On another, more sad/scary note... We had a little scare with our oldest dog Sara. She is a lab mix mutt. Shane rescued her over 10 years ago from a shelter. She was scared to death of people and only about 45lbs then. They said she was about a year... or so then. She's come out of her shell a LOT but still has her moments when new people arrive. For the most part she's a low maintenance dog. Keeps to herself, doesn't like to be too close, or to cuddle. Hence her nick-name Sassy-Sara..


Well, anyway she is getting old. She's slowing down.. For the most part she is in pretty darn good health though. But.. a couple of weeks ago she came running down the hall way and slid out on all fours. Thinking the floors were just dirty & she slipped we laughed, but she did move slow for a few days. Then, Friday morning at about 4:30 I heard all this scratching of nails on our floor. It was LOUD... it was like what you would see if you saw a dog (or person) trying to run on a sheet of ice...... The noise moved from our room to the hallway...and it now added the sound of weight hitting the floor.

I jumped up and ran to the hallway where I found Sara flat on her tummy shaking... I tried to help her up, but she'd try and just collapse to the ground.... I yelled to Shane (who somehow was still sleeping) and he got up & helped her back to our room to the dog bed.

Poor thing, she was scared to death. When we got out of bed a while later... she was scared to get up. We helped her into Shane's office.. but somehow she finally got the confidence to get to the other end of the house to my office (she likes me better - ha!).

We got her into see the vet yesterday.... They did some muscle tests and for being so old she is in pretty good shape. She did have a lot of pain in both her back and front hips though, jerking when the vet pulled on them. We also ran some blood tests to check her organs, etc... She also got a "pawdicure" (nails cut) that will hopefully help her get a better grip.

They called us shortly after we got back home and said that her liver levels (or something like that) were pretty high, so the doggy advil they gave us for her hips could not be used... Today we go back to exchange for something that her system can handle, and hopefully she will be ok for a while.

The conclusion is well, not really a conclusion. Either her legs gave out on her and she slipped, then just got really freaked out... or she also could of had a seisure.

Right now we just need to have her stay pretty calm (which she does for the most part, except some random crazy dog playing she does with Abby sometimes) and watch her limping etc...

I think this girl is here to stay for a while... She's a tough old lady, that is for sure! We are keeping the puppy, away from her for a while.. but she is definetly feeling better today! Big smile on her face & moving around pretty well...

Well, I think that's all for this week! Hope you all had a good one as well ;-)

Comments

Spokane Al said…
It sounds like your training is really beginning to come around for you. Congratulations. I can only dream of those 100 swims of yours.

I also hope your dog recovers. I will be thinking good thoughts of her.
Andra Sue said…
I hope Sara ends up being okay!

I can't tell much from the picture, but if you notice that she has any muscle-wasting in her limbs (and also b/c of the high liver enzymes), you might suggest the vet check for Cushings. The specific test is called an ACTH-Stim Test. I only suggest it because those were two of the first signs we missed with Emily's diagnosis.

The muscle-wasting caused her to slip around on our wood and tile floors much more than she should have. That and not hopping on the furniture as usual!
Paul said…
That foam roller is the best! Training is looking good! Keep on those IT bands!
My Life said…
Good for you on all your workouts! I need to keep coming back to this post this week... keep me inspired to get all mine in!

I definitely think you could get those 100's down to 1:25! I bet by the end of this season!

And poor Sara... was she just hurting and afraid of the tile? It wasn't a seizure was it? We now have tile and the pug will come running down the hall, get to the end of the runner and start skidding... and once she regains her grip she walks all cranky to her bed. Poor babies! ;)
brendaj said…
I'm so sorry to hear about your dog scare. We have a similar situation with our 11-year old lab. He's been arthritic for a while and his nails grow super fast so he's become increasingly nervous on hardwood floors. This month he's started to hesitate when he comes out of our bedroom in the mornings since he has slipped a few times. It makes me so sad when I have to coax him out of the room.

We're going to try and keep his nails shorter and also get more rugs for our house. Also, we're trying to find the right amount of exercise for him to keep his joints moving without making it worse.
Anonymous said…
omg!! poor sara!! breaks my heart to think of her like that. give her some lovin' from auntie carrie for me!
Benson said…
Great swimming progress. You're a tough woman.

Sara seems pretty dang tough too. I hope all is getting worked out and she gets back to being herself. Hugs, pats and scritches behind the ears.
Supalinds said…
It looks like your training is really starting to click. Good for you!!!

I hope everything with Sarah works out. Breaks my heart!
Steve Stenzel said…
Nice job in the pool! Great times! (and stroke count!!)

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