Pain

Swimming has been causing me both emotional and physical pain the last couple of weeks.  Not surprisingly my arms are a little shocked at the amount of effort I now expect them to put out.  I have been dealing with arm and shoulder pain which caused me to miss a class add Thanksgiving in there and it was about a week off.  

After my little break I headed back to class wondering how my arms would respond.  I swam and was feeling out of sorts.  My arms hurt.  I was swallowing more pool water than I would like.  I was moving slowly (no surprise there).  That is where the emotional pain came in.  Add all of my experiences together and I was feeling beat up.  I stopped to talk to my coach about my arms and ended up crying (much to the surprise of my coach I'm sure).

So, what next?  My coach recommended some stretches to me and I actually went home and did them.  Surprise surprise they made a difference!  The next day I had much less arm pain.  I missed class today due to a power outage but am committed to keep working and improving.  I have to remember that I am a better swimmer now than I was a month ago. I will add the predictable quote from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming."