Pain in the Neck

The good news is I don't think I'm sick.  No symptoms of illness today.  No sore throat.  The headache is gone.  No achy bones and joints. The bad news is that my lats and neck are extremely tight.  My back feels rounded by tightness.  My side neck muscles are totally strained. It contributes to a feeling of illness because my entire upper body feels off.

And it's definitely because of my new swim stroke.

At least I know the culprit.

It could be a lot worse. I could have gotten sick.  I may still get sick, for all I know.  But so far, the past couple days have given my legs a chance to heal completely.  I feel fresh from the waist down  I'll be jumping in the pool tomorrow morning and perhaps I can work through the soreness and agitation. Maybe Coach Gerardo can pinpoint what I'm doing that's causing this tension.  Or, maybe I'm doing the stroke right and this is the initial natural by-product. I hope so. And I hope I pick up at least a minute of time from this new mechanical tweak/parlor trick.

Not much else to report from today.  The only "workout" I had, if you can call it that, was a 1.5 hour yoga session at Black Dog.  It was a "gentle yoga" session, perfect for my back and neck but not so good for my fitness level.  However, I feel a touch better in the lats -- not so much in the neck.

By tomorrow, I'll essentially have worked 2.5 hours in three days.  I basically missed roughly 6.5 hours of training.  Will that come back to haunt me this Sunday?  I have no idea.  I do know Gerardo wants me to post a 2:30:00 finish time at the event. That would be 14 minutes faster than my previous best.  I am up for the challenge still, but I doubt it will be good enough to qualify for nationals.  I will fire it up and do my very best though.  That's all I can do.  Bum swim stroke and all.

150 days and counting. And exactly five months from today, I hope to be an Ironman.