Agony at the Pool

I decided that I have to keep getting to the pool. I was inspired by fellow-blogger Bolder who managed a serious swim set recently (38x100s) so I realised that to make this whole return to triathlon work, I have to step it up.

Wouldn't that be the best irony for me - actually manage to get my running back only to find I've neglected the swim and either drown, be rescued or come in to T1 last. I'd probably laugh if I wasn't crying. And I would be.

Soooo, its back to the pool. I managed a 200m warm-up, then 15 x 100m on 2minutes each. I started the set finishing each 100m in 1:35 and so had 25 glorious seconds to recover. But by the time I was at #8 it was down to 15sec breaks and for the last three I was struggling to get 10sec gaps. Yeesh. What's much worse, is that in the lane next to me a woman was belting out solid laps at around the same pace. I was supposed to be the one doing the quick sets with a rest.

Now the story gets ugly.

I have a history of leg cramps towards the end of my swim sessions. I've blamed the fact that I'm swimming in a 25m pool and so there are too many tumble turns for my liking. I used to run 3km to a 50m pool, then run back to work in my lunch hour, but of course that sort of stuff is out now. I'm stuck with the 25m. The other suspect in the great cramp mystery is the fact that I ride a lot. Ok, and I don't stretch enough. So today during the last 100m, I start to feel the left (bad) leg start to tighten. I know that I should stop there and then, but I'm determined (read stubborn) to finish what I set out to do in training. Well, most things really. So I stopped kicking and did manage to finish it. Then I tried to get out of the pool by jumping to the side. Bad idea. Once on the poolside, the left leg cramped like it had a large electric current passed through it. Just locked up like a bastard. The pain was bad. I sat there with gritted teeth and tried to reach the toes to pull back and hopefully release the calf. Not a chance. The leg was now like a piece of iron. The pain started coming in waves and each time the muscles would tighten even further. Now I'm in serious agony. The gritted teeth have become grinding teeth and I'm starting to panic. I can't get up, can't even move. I try to slide backwards in the hope of stretching out the leg, but that just starts other muscles cramping. First the hamstring then the quads. I know that the nerve damage has something to do with the intensity and also the inability to release it but that knowledge doesn't help. I decided to just wait it out; surely it can't keep going. But it does reader, it does. And keeps getting tighter and more painful. The next wave of agony is almost more than I can bear and a groan escapes my lips. I look around in desperation and the woman in the next lane has stopped her machine-like laps and is looking up at me. "You ok?" she asks. "er, no. I'm not really" I reply and I'm a little shocked and embarrassed to hear clear panic in my voice. "Cramp" she asks. "Yes! and its the worst I've ever had!" I answer. "Please, could you help me up? If I can stand and walk, I can get it to release". So my saviour hops out and gives me a hand up. Once on my feet I can force the toes up by leaning forward with the foot staying flat. "Nerve damage" I manage to stammer, although I'm not sure why I mentioned it. Slowly, slowly it starts to ease and then all at once it lets go. Oh the bliss. She lets go of my hand and asks if I'm ok now. I blabber out some thanks and apologies for interrupting her set. Then I walk for 5mins up and down the poolside until its fully gone. But the soreness is still there, even now 7 hours later.

So, perhaps I new plan is needed. I have to find a way to get to the 50m pool me thinks. I do not what to ever go through that again. Fellow bloggers, if you have any words of wisdom on this topic, I'd be more than happy to hear them.

Oh, and I'm so counting the swim as training. Far more than I bargained for. And on a side note, my saviour had an arm like steel. When I pulled myself up to stand with my full weight (still several kilos more than I like) her arm didn't waiver in the slightest. You rock lady, whoever you are.