On Healing...

In my last post I had said that my goal was "to heal".

I have had the great fortune to have my NOVA team mate Julia Juliusson of Sports Science Lab to treat my hurt shoulder...I mean rotator cuff. I have learned that the rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles. These individual muscles combine at the shoulder to form a "cuff" over the joint. The rotator cuff has function of stabilizing the shoulder as well as elevating and rotating the arm. Each muscle originates on the shoulder blade (scapula) and inserts at the arm (humerus ).

The four muscles that form the rotator cuff are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.

Without the diagnostic benefit of an MRI, Julia was able to tactilely determine that I had at the least, an impinged supraspinatus tendon. She has been treating my injury with ultrasound, massage, prescribed stretches and now strengthening exercises (ball and weights). She has also gotten me in the pool with a device called a "bell" that is like a multi-sided paddle (It really feels good to be in the water too!)

Today she had me swim a few lengths of freestyle and saw that my hurt left arm was doing the evil "crossover"! I was kind of shocked because I have read so many articles about avoiding that! I know my stroke has not been like that in the past and I had no idea that I had developed such a bad stroke! On subsequent laps, I brought the left arm out, held my core and rotated more. I still felt a bit of the "pinch" (impingement), but nothing like where I was even last week.

With Julia's help, I will be able to fix my stroke and do more long swims!

Julia is the best! Without her input, I would have likely jumped in too early and tried to swim through the pain and would have hurt myself more. This could have resulted in a lifetime condition of chronic shoulder issues!

I completely recommend Julia and Sports Science Lab to anyone facing any kind of rehabilitation issues!

http://www.sportsciencelab.com/

They are the BEST!!!

Why did I do that and what's next?

I have been on the road to this for over two years since I first read an email account of Jim McConica's Catalina swim exactly 5 years before mine (and I thought: "why in the world would anyone want to do that?" )

A few months later (October 2007) my friend Scott Zornig sent a mass email requesting crew for a crossing from Anacapa island to Santa Cruz island. I was just out of a really depressing relationship and I thought "why not"? So I got to kayak...it was a little more than I had bargained for! The winds were 25 knots, the sea had 6-8ft face swells, and the water was 57F!

I got tossed by a wave and had to roll the kayak back, hop on and catch up! I thought I would be able to contain my motion sickness with ginger products (wrong!) and threw up at the 5 mile mark. Scott's swim was only 6 miles but it was one of the most intense things I had ever been through and I was only the kayaker! I dry-heaved all the way back to Ventura Harbor, where I miraculously recovered and said "that was fun, let's do it again!"

I was invited back the following month to kayak for a relay crossing from Santa Barbara island to the mainland. On that relay I actually got to meet Jim McConica, Rendy Lynn Opedyke, Peter Attia, and Marc Lewis ...all amazing marathon swimmers! The relay was not successful but the experience was a positive one for me, anyways!

I went on to do a few more channel crossings as kayaker and official observer. My swim was the 10th channel crossing that I did.

My joke that it is that this is the sport of menopausal women! (1) I have insomnia, why not swim? and (2) HOT FLASH! Unfortunately I was not graced with any hot flashes, although I can't say that I was really tired.

A lot of people have said: What's next? And my response is: "To heal". I hurt my shoulder so I want to get better and then fix my stroke so this does not happen next time!

After I heal, I would like to organize and participate in a relay we will call "Girl's Night Out". Obviously all women ocean swimmers...Any volunteers???

:)