1 Week Down/ Conquering the Dreaded Aqua Jog

I'm proud to admit I've completed 7 whole days on crutches at the advise of my orthopedic surgeon (see previous post for explanation of hip injury).  I begrudgingly agreed after a long discussion about what actually constitutes "pain with weight bearing".  The first few days took a bit to get used to i.e. sore armpits, wrist pain, remembering how to stuff crutches into the passenger seat of my car, how to carry things in two fingers etc but it came back slowly.

Luckily work was great at accommodating my needs and I was able to sit in the office doing desk work instead of seeing patients.  I've never been one to sit behind a desk on the computer (my attention span is way too low and I applaud those who can do this) but I welcomed the change of pace and chance to heal properly.

After three days on crutches the pain in my right hip diminished significantly.  Its funny how perspective changes the minute you aren't constantly nagged by discomfort.  My mood elevated almost immediately, no longer did it feel like doomsday and I could come up with a plan for moving forward.  It's easy to talk about rehab and "ok, I can bike, swim blah blah" but when you are in pain you truly don't feel motivated to do it.  As soon as I felt good it was like a light switch…."ok, what's next, what's the plan".

I'm swimming 5 days this week and probably for the next couple of weeks.  My masters program is amazing and I feel so lucky to have this group.  Group is about 15 or so mixture of fitness enthusiasts, ex college swimmers, triathletes and those entering the sport later in life.  We are coached by Coast Guard Blue Dolphins Swim Team head coach, Steve Hennessy who is one of the best coaches I've had.  Not only has he coached olympic trials level swimmers but he has a unique way of understanding the needs of each swimmer and their needs.  We are blessed to have his expertise on deck.  We talked about me joining the high school group on saturdays yikes ;)  I'll definitely update a post on getting my *ss handed to me!

An update on aqua jogging:  success!  I've managed to turn red in the pool, anaerobic and exhausted.  Whoa! Coach Steve (as mentioned above) wrote a specific workout for me today as follows:  For those injured, this is a must save:

400 warm up as 100s, 200 kick/drill, 100 swim
800 skps (swim kick pull swim)

3x ( 100- 25drill/50swim build/25kick
     ( 100 descend

5min of aqua jogging w/ belt as 30sec sprint/ 30 easy

200 swim

3 sets of x   (3x   (40sec sprint aqua jog w/ belt/ 20 easy))

200 swim

10x 25 sprint aqua jog w/o belt on 1:00

200 swim easy

It was hard, cheeks were red.  I learned it is important to focus on high knees, toes up and working the core.  It also helps to have a coach on deck yelling out the intervals and screaming (encouraging) me to move faster!!

I'll keep the updates coming in case there is someone out there with a similar problem that may find this advice helpful!

Best
M