20 Lengths & Exercise Intolerance

I keep trying to get decent pictures of the Nuthatch that's visiting the garden but these are the best I've managed so far. Not great quality but there we go. The poor light during winter isn't particularly good for photography at long focal lengths (and small apertures). Maybe in the Spring I'll get a better shot.

Ok, so this week, I reached what I realised was a very significant milestone, which I'll get to later. Generally, I was very tired during last weekend and even into the beginning of the week. I had physio on Monday and I asked her to take a look at the right upper thigh/groin problem. She concluded that the pain might be caused by some friction on the tendons and that loosening up the adductor muscle might help. She massaged the inner thigh muscle and showed me some suitable stretches. She also joked (half seriously) that I really need daily physio treatment [well, yup, tell me something I don't know]. Anyway, I also asked her about the possibility of starting to run. She suggested that I start off extremely carefully - 5 minutes walk, 30 seconds running, 5 mins walk, 30 seconds running etc - and just see how that feels.

Tuesday, I went out for my 45 mins walk and incorporated 2 bursts of running (30s and 1min). I was very pleasantly surprised to find that cardiovascularly, it was easy - it hardly raised my heart rate and I didn't feel puffed out at all. On the other hand, it did seem to aggravate the right upper thigh pain. Anyway, it was a start. I skipped table tennis in the evening - I was still tired and wanted to be as fresh as possible for the pool in the morning.

So, to the milestone: I hit the pool on Wednesday morning, as usual. I did 20 reps of each of the hydro exercises and then started to swim. My hope was to do 20 lengths (500 metres). Overall, the swimming felt good. I continue to be quite careful with the breaststroke leg kick - I did feel some twinges/pain through the pelvis/pelvic floor(?) muscles but nothing that felt 'injurious'. By, 10:15am, I had reached my milestone: 20 lengths (10 on my back, 10 breaststroke)! When I touched the end of the pool on the 20th length I literally cheered! I was so chuffed. I had no idea how significant it would feel but, I suppose, the fact that it has taken me 19 months to get to this point - where I have sufficient joint stability, range of motion and muscle strength to swim 500 metres, is reason enough.

Thursday, I was completely wiped out. Slept for over an hour on the sofa in the afternoon. Didn't do anything except eat and rest. Friday, I still felt pretty drained but I went to pottery and just about managed. Today, I have that exhaustion 'hangover'. I think it'll be another rest and telly day. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll feel better and get out for a little walk.

I've done a fair bit of reading on 'exercise intolerance' since Wednesday. There are a few interesting theories out there (mitochondrial dysfunction, neurally mediated hypotension, etc, see this thread:Link) but nothing that I'm going to try to pursue just yet. I think I simply need to keep going the way I am. Increasing muscle strength (and volume, if possible) and stretching my limits. The swimming obviously absolutely exhausts me for at least 2-3 days but I have to believe that ultimately, it's beneficial.

So, my next aim is to swim 32 lengths (0.5 miles). I guess, for me, I'm looking at a 6 month progression towards that. Incredibly, for 'normal people', it takes just 6 WEEKS to go from zero to swimming 1 mile (see:Link). How I wish that was the case for me! The human body and mind is indeed a complex and delicate bit of kit!!

Edit 15:30: I meant to note that my blood pressure has been doing all sorts of weird things again this week. It's mainly a problem of keeping enough pressure not to faint. I think it's exasperated by tiredness.