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| The AGUA Masters Team @ Ithaca College Long-Course Meet |
Finally back from the Ithaca US Masters Long Course Swim Meet, which was held at Ithaca College on Saturday, July 13.
The last time I even swam a long course meet was over 20 years ago. I was on the swim team only because I was one of the few people who knew how to swim in school. There really wasn't a serious program or training - I was told to swim and I did.
This was my first real serious long-course meet. I trained for this meet - HARD! As I mentioned in my last blog post, I did sustain a shoulder injury last week, and although the pain was still there, I was determined to swim this meet one way or the other.
I was entered in five events - 200 IM, 50 Free, 50 Breast, 100 Free and the 200 Women's Relay. The final results were:
First Place: 100 Freestyle and the 200M Women's Freestyle Relay
Third Place: 200 IM and 50 Breast Stroke
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| My Ribbons from this meet for 4 out of 5 events! |
200 IM
The 200 IM was my first event and this was the one I was most nervous about. That 50m butterfly is just LONG, and this truly tests your energy and stamina. Half-way through the butterfly I could feel the sharp shooting pain from my shoulders and I just suppressed it knowing that this was going to be a painful event no matter what. As I neared the wall, I could hear and see my team mates from the side cheering loudly for me.
As I did the backstroke, I tried to catch my breath and power through once again ignoring the pain in my shoulders. As I transitioned to breast stroke, the pain was stabbing and all I could hear was Coach Kelly in my head yelling "snap and reach" with every stroke. I was fighting for every yard and holding back tears from the pain. The final transition was freestyle and the stroke helped relieve some pain from my shoulder, I was pretty tired and my legs were dead and all I wanted was to hit the wall and get out of the water - the pain was excruciating!
As I hit the wall, I couldn't help but feel disappointed and frustrated with myself because of the shoulder injury. I have to admit panic also crept in - how was I going to get through the rest of the meet with my shoulder screaming with every stroke?
I cooled down, dried off, grabbed my sweater and decided to go to the mat area and do some yoga to re-center myself and stretch my muscles. As I sat there focused on the moment and the stretching, I let go of the 200 IM race... A few downward dogs, my shoulder was feeling better. I decided to accept that the 200 IM was now in the past.
I searched for my team mates who greeted me with high-fives and told me that the IM looked strong. No one suspected I was hurting - except for Arman, Sarah and Coach Jonas who knew looking at my tear-stained face that my shoulder was bothering me. Two pops of ibuprofen, some arnica gel and a puff of my asthma inhaler - I was going to fight through this meet no matter what. I was not going to quit.
It wasn't until after I swam the 50 Breast that I learned that I actually placed third in this event, and also achieved a personal best time. This was the race I was most proud to place - this was the event I feared and truly hurt the most.
50 Free
Having the stretch mats available was truly a god-send. Not many swimmers were utilizing the mats, so it was a great area for me to do my yoga practice and find my center and focus. As the 50 free neared, I decided to do a combination of Ashtanga and yin yoga - part warm-up and rehab to stretch my muscles, loosen my joints and help my shoulder. With my arms out of the question, I knew that I had to rely on the power of my legs to get through this fast swim.
As I jumped off the blocks, the shoulder pain came back to haunt me... I pushed it aside and decided I was going to kick. Not my best swim, nor my signature event but I did come in at 5th place, which was better than missing the mark all together.
A nice long warm down, I jumped out and ran to the bench. My stomach was beckoning and my body shaking - I needed food!
50 Breast
There was some time in between the 50 Free and 50 Breast stroke event, so I took advantage of the time to eat a cliff bar, a banana, a few gummi bears and hydrate. I took out my iPhone and listened to music. During meets, I like wearing a hooded sweatshirt that I can pull over my head - to give me a sense of personal space, listen to music that gets me in the mood (usually hip hop like Eminem), and visualize my next race.
The fly and breast stroke seemed to be the most painful strokes to swim. Right before this race, I went back to the mats, another 30 -45 minute yoga session... I needed my hips, joints and everything loose to swim this event successfully.
As I dove in, I felt great! I heard Coach Kelly in my head "Relax. Take your time. Pull - Snap - Kick - Reach and Glide!" I truly felt a difference in my stroke, compared to the 200 IM, and I happily glided through the water every chance I could because it relieved my shoulder, and I actually felt myself moving efficiently through the water, and the timing of the stroke finally down!
As I reached the wall, I looked up at the board and realized the time was still running. I punched the wall several times to activate the sensors, called the attention of the adjudicators on deck who were chatting, and with one final punch I stopped the clock - still first place in my heat... I was annoyed that no one was paying very close attention that the sensor in my lane was not responsive and neither were the officials in charge of back-up time! As a result, I don't agree with the official time - but either way I came in first place during my heat, and ended up in overall third place. I was happy placing third, as I did place in this event in April during the short course meet, and I do consider my breast stroke to be one of my favorite and stronger strokes.
100 Free
I'm not going to lie - I wanted to scratch out of this race! I was exhausted after the 50 Breast, and my shoulder was now throbbing. I spent more time in the stretch mats doing yoga, when one of the officials overheard me saying I was going to scratch the 100 Free, he turned around to me and said "No one scratches the 100 free... Come on, I'll cheer for you!" So I made the deal with Official Gordon to swim the 100 Free, as long as he cheers for me, and I went back to my area of the bench, ate, drank and listened to music to get me "in the zone."
As the 100 Free event drew closer. My team mate, Arman, who was also swimming this event encouraged me to get to the warm-up lanes. I loosened up my shoulders and got my legs alive to kick strongly. Arman had such great words of encouragement for me as I got up on the blocks - he said good luck and just have fun!
At that point, I decided it did not matter what I placed during the heat. All that mattered was to enjoy my swim, relax, and take advantage of my strong kick. and not rely on my arms and bad shoulder to get me to the wall. All I could think of was that this was the last event on my list - let it all go... What do you know - another personal best time in long-course and I actually placed first! Thanks Arman!
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| Arman and I @ Ithaca |
As I got out of the pool, I did not know the official results and had no idea I placed first!
All I wanted to do is cheer on my team mates, especially Arman who had been cheering for me in the sidelines, particularly during my 200 IM. I should also add that Arman and I had driven in the car together, along with Sarah and Erin. But Arman and I are buddies, and are often at every social outing after practice, and are part of a small group that makes impromptu plans to grab a bite after practice. Needless to say, Arman and I have gotten to know each other pretty well outside of the pool and he's one of my favorite people on the team. He's an extremely supportive team mate, who has the same enthusiasm for food as me, and he always makes me laugh. I know that when Arman is around it's a guaranteed great time filled with laughter.
I cheered quite loudly during Arman's 100 and went crazy when he placed second at this event. In fact, AGUA dominated this event First-Second-Third! It was awesome.
We swam down and I was pretty relieved this meet was over for me, and I was feeling quite exhausted at this point. Combination of the long drive, the anxiety of the meet from the night before and the meet itself! But as I headed back to the bench, Sarah informed me that I was swimming the third-leg of the 200M Women's freestyle relay in the next 30 minutes.
200 Women's Relay
I was really exhausted and about to collapse. I thought I left everything at the 100 Free! I told them I needed a power nap! Sarah looked at me strangely, and I could read from the expression on her face - where could I possibly take a nap at the pool? Well, the advantage of being compact height is that you fit anywhere. I grabbed my sweater, put the hood over my head, grabbed my towel and lay across the bench and snoozed for about 15 minutes!
Arman woke me up, since he was also swimming a relay and told me it was time to go and warm-up. I looked at him groggily, and said "Do I have to?" I honestly thought that I was going to swim this one without warming-up... Arman having seen me really early in the morning, instinctively knew that I needed to get into the pool - I am not a morning person and it does take me some time to be totally aware and awake, and that's the only way I was going to win this race! So we jumped in the pool together and I blew bubbles on the side wall, waking my body up and digging deep to find the strength, endurance and fight to finish one more race for the team.
With adrenalin pumping I dove into the pool, as the third-leg on the team, and gave it EVERYTHING I had - swimming a personal best, a much faster time than the 50 Free event I swam earlier. If anyone saw me at the wall, I was pretty exhausted and I knew swimming down was going to take a while, as I could feel the lactic acid in every part of my body and my shoulder telling me "we're done!"
Well, we won first place!!!
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| The #1 200M Women's Freestyle Relay Team for AGUA - Sarah Penrose (2), myself (3), Bev Pinzon (1) and Hayley Cort (4-Anchor) |
I am extremely sore today - my legs and shoulders are definitely protesting from yesterday's activities. I finally had a doctor look at my shoulder, and confirmed that I am suffering from a Grade 1 Sprain/Strain and need to stay off it for the next week or two. That said, I'm taking some time off from the pool to recover.
The most priceless experience from this meet was the bonds of friendship I established with my team mates. I do have some close friends on this team, and I truly enjoy their company in and out of the pool. I know it's their company I'm going to miss the most during my time off.
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