[Must type quickly before the Vicodin wears off. The last line has typos, a certain key repeatedly hit incorrectly. I should have been using the one just to the right of the one pressed. It should not be tough to figure out which.]
I did not swim yesterday. The wind and my leg made me opt for reading instead. I did make plans, however. I was going to do mostly breaststroke and backstroke in my upcoming swims. I had tried some backstroke with the pull buoy on Wednesday, but that was just too awkward, my body getting squirrely, putting too much torqued pressure on the shoulders (though still no separations!). I would do some smooth backstroke with just enough kicking to keep straight.
Today, I drove to the pool.
I started with 500m of breaststroke, and the last 100m was even reasonably impressive. Afterwards, I grabbed the kick board and did 250m, alternating between flutter kicks and "frog" kicks each 50m. Usually, I would do at least 100m on my back with the kick board, doing flutter kicks, but with backstroke in the plan next, I got rid of the kick board. I actually like to get 500m with the kick board, but I was antsy to see if I could actually incorporate backstroke into my workout.
I pushed off the wall for backstroke, starting nice and easy. About a quarter the way across (I guessed), I got into a groove. The flutter kicks were at just the right effort, and I had my head tilted back comfortably. There was no shoulder pain. I was even getting a pretty good pull going. I could really feel the benefit this would add to my swim, and for a moment, I felt good. I realized that the addition of backstroke and a return to some "inverted" breaststroke (my own creation, it's breaststroke swimming with the back of the hands, very much utilizing the shoulders similarly to classic rehab movements for individuals with hypermobility) would probably be an ideal work out for the next several weeks as I build my endurance again.
That was when I crashed into the side of the pool.
For some reason, the flags that are usually above the water, 15 feet from the pool's edge, to let you know you are about to reach the wall, were not up on that side of the pool. They were up on the other side, the side I had left, of course.
They have not been up before (though not this yeear, as yet, until today), and I always look and make sure they are up before doing my backstroke flutter kicks with the kick board. Remember, the set I skipped out of excitement to do backstroke instead?
The lump on the crown of my head is substantial. I probably got a concussion, though nothing too serious. It hurt, but I did not see stars or anything like that. My forearm, however, took the brunt of the impact with the cement edge that circles the pool. I feared it fractured, given the crease-like raised bump at the point of impact, and that I could not put any pressure on the figures at all, though I did have at least 80% movement.
X-rays came back negative, a small victory. The issue now is that the forearm and wrist, needing to be elevated and stationary, wreak havoc on the rest of my body over time. I had gotten quite used to working out issues in the shoulders all the way down the arm and cracking my fingers. The doctor thinks I've got five to seven days of pretty good pain from a bone bruise to deal with before I can swim again. Good thing I have Vicodin. It's how I have typed this, mostly with the left hand.
No one to blame but myself for this one. There is no cure for stupid.
Duck. Duck. Motherduck. Duck. Motherduck.
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