The aqua-jogging voyeur

Aqua Jog

I haven't blogged in some time about my calf injury, mostly because at this point I am really bored by it. Suffice it to say that the company ski day followed immediately by a conference in San Francisco (walking up and down a lot of hills) didn't do it much good. I continue to have a lot of swelling, which, after another trip to the doctor I learned isn't completely unexpected even 8+ weeks after the injury. He recommended I not stuff my swollen ankle/calf into a ski boot and ski on it. So my ski season has been a bust.

I'm not back running yet either -- at least on the ground. I've been aqua jogging at the pool -- not quite as boring as I thought it might be -- other swimmers are proving to be at least mildly entertaining to watch. (I've been aqua-jogging at the far end of the slow lane during lap swim, with the guard's permission).

The pool is pretty well divided between people who stroke-wise are doing their own thing (in some cases really their own thing) and folks that are at least trying to follow some principles of form. In this latter category it's mostly:

a) former competitive swimmers (the most fun to watch) and

b) triathletes coming to the sport minus a competitive swimming background, but giving it their best shot.

I am in Category B and last fall/winter I spent months re-working my stroke using the Total Immersion (TI) method -- used by a lot of triathletes who don't have a previous background in swimming. Traditional swim coaches tend to discount TI (I won't get into the arguments here) but TI, when done properly, does results in a distinctive stroke style with a lot of glide.

Anyway, several months ago I had somebody at the pool complement me on my swim stroke! It may sound like a small thing, but given how much time I spent re-vamping it, the compliment completely made my day. Since aqua-jogging, I've noticed a guy (triathlete) in the next lane who has a beautiful TI stroke and I've been dying to give him a complement, but I have not been able to catch him. He wears a USTA swim cap and given his overall physique, I suspect he's training for longer distances. Just call me the aqua jogging voyeur!

The good news is that my calf tear has healed well -- the swelling is essentially some collateral damage due to the vascular nature of muscle. I am hoping by spring (and sandal weather) I won't still be walking around with one puffy ankle/calf. I tried on a knee-length skirt the other day -- let's just say it's not my best look right now.