My Toes Cramp In The Pool!!!

This is one of life's mysteries for me. I hate getting a toe or foot cramp while swimming. It usually happens about 800 yards into a swim. I feel the toes tightening up, then its the arch of my foot. Usually it is only one foot at a time. I can ease the tightness somewhat whenever I get to the wall and push off, but it never subsides. I also tend to get toe/foot cramps at night in bed, and the only way I know to get rid of them is to stand up. Which is not practical when I am already in bed and it's 1:30 AM. So why do you get cramps in your toes while swimming? Let's turn to Google...

First thing you should know is my search parameter was this: Why do toes cramp while swimming. Results, 2,020,000 results. So I guess I am not the only one with this issue! Here are the following answers I got:

• I am not stretching enough. "swimmer" says I should stretch out all my muscles and not just the ones that are stretching every night.
• Blonde tornado says it is because I am dehydrated
• Others say to eat bananas (typical cramping answer)
• Jim T says it is because the water is cold and the blood gets pushed away from the extremities.
• The rest are more of the same

I really don't know why it happens, but it can kill a workout. I can be cruising along at 800 yards into a 1200 yard swim (remember, sprint tri training plan) and BOOM, toe cramp with 4 laps left! You can push through it, but it ain't fun.

I think I finally found an answer on swimming.org that totally makes sense to me. It is the most common complaints from triathletes, which proves that I am one!  Wahooo!!!

Anatomy of a kick

“Cramp occurs when a muscle is fatigued and overused, when a swimmer is dehydrated and has a electrolyte deficit or if the muscle is tight from a previous session,” said Butler.
“The plantar fascia is a fibrous, connective tissue which surrounds the muscles in the sole of foot.
“It’s stretches from the toes to the heel and works closely with the main calf muscles in the back of the lower leg – the gastrocnemius, soleus and the tibalis posterior.
“These are the main muscles involved in pointing the foot and toes during streamlining and kicking. Cramp in any of them will be felt in the back of the lower leg or the sole of the foot.”

Prevention

“The first thing to remember is to stay hydrated, not just with water but with electrolytes, and to eat the right things to help your body before and after training,” added Butler.
“Secondly, stretching is vital for maintaining flexibility in your muscles and should be included in your warm-up and warm-down for pool and land-based sessions.”

Specific muscle stretches

Try these stretches for the individual muscles on the calf and foot – hold each stretch for two minutes in 10, 20 or 30 second intervals.

1. Gastrocnemius stretch – stand with one leg in front of the other and lean against a wall. Bend your front leg and keep your back leg straight with your heel on the floor until you feel the muscle stretch in the back of the lower leg between your heel and knee.
2. Soleus stretch – stand with one leg in front of the other and lean against a wall. Bend both knees and transfer your weight to your back leg, ensuring you keep the heel of your back leg on the floor. You should feel the muscle stretch in the back of the lower leg.
3. Plantar Fascia stretch – stand with one leg in front of the other with the toes of your front foot on or up against a raised platform (such as a step or a wall). Bend both knees until you feel the stretch in the sole of your front foot.
4. Alternative plantar fascia relief – roll your foot over a golf or hockey ball. If you find this too painful, try it in warm water to help the muscles relax more.

So maybe, just maybe, that chocolate milk and Snickers bar I had before I swam wasn't the right fuel for me. Hmmmm.

Anyways, let me hear your thoughts on how to deal with them and more importantly how to not have this as an issue!

1st Open Water Swim- Ocean Style



This is what it felt like...

 Today I did a first for me, I did my first open water swim in the ocean, and I loved it. This was always a reason I said I did not want to do an Ironman where there was an ocean swim. I was afraid of swimming in the ocean becasue...I live in TN. We have zero ocean front property! and I do not want ot be eaten by anything.

The Atlantic Ocean was very calm yesterday evening, so my wife said, "Honey, we should open water swim out there tomorrow if it stays this calm."  I admit, part of me wanted it to be choppy and not swimable today. But when I woke up and looked out the window, I saw calm waters with gentle waves breaking close to the beach, which meant we did not have to go to far out to get to a good place to swim. So I decided, today was the day to conquer that fear.



This is what I expected to happen...

 My other thought was this, and it is a stupid one, but I was worried about what to wear. Do I wear my jammers and be "that guy" on the beach in a speedo tight suit (no, not a speedo-speedo) or do I wear my normal beach bathing suit?? I really struggled with this decision, but I decided to wear my normal bathing suit. It was totally a different feeling than normal when swimming and I felt like I was going to lose my suit several times, but I felt better knowing that I could then hang there on the beach.

So, my wife and I went out and swam. we swam about 250 yards one way, then stopped and turned around, so about 500 yards in total. I can't say that it was much different than any other OWS I have done, except for the saltwater taste I had in my mouth. Other than that, it was great, and I will most likely do it again this week.

Thanks for reading!

One Week Left...

I am one week out from the Rematch. I am calling it that because that is exactly how I am looking at it. Not worrying about time, not worrying about place, I am just out to finish this course. I am in that phase of my training where I start to wonder, "did I do enough?" I always get these thoughts in my head when it gets close to race time for some reason.

Today I already completed my wetsuit OWS. It felt good to get the wetsuit on again, I always feel like a superhero in that wetsuit! LOL. I really wanted to get in 1500 yds and just swim, turns out I averaged a 1:51 per 100 yards today and I didn't feel like I was pushing it, that is how much the wetsuit helps me!

I have a 4-5 mile run planned today and then I am doing a 10k tomorrow and then I officially go into taper mode.

I guess the one thing I am concerned about is the run. Typically, I am not a strong runner. I have really been focusing on letting the run come to me, not concentrating on my speed, and relaxing while running. None of these things are easy for me. In the past, I think I have been so concerned with starting off fast (fast for me), and when I could not hit the level I felt I should be at, it just frustrated me. I have also gone from speed to distance, so I am not as concerned with my pace as I am with my endurance.

I really want to run the entire 13.1 in Branson, but that may not happen. If I do not feel like it is going to work, then I will go to a 10 minute run, 1 minute walk type of pace for as long as I can, but I will definately be running when I run by my family!  LOL

I Have Missed the Pool

Saturday I ran the Mighty Mite Sprint Triathlon in Forrest City, AR. One thing that I had been doing was cutting back on my swim time and trying to refocus that time to the run or bike. I also have been not hitting the pool as often because I have been swimming in the lake. I think this approach has been all wrong, and I will tell you why.

The lake water has been almost 90 degrees, it is like swimming in a bathtub, which cuts the amount of swim training I have been doing. No one likes swimming in that hot of water, it wears you down.

So today, I decided to go back to the pool, and I am glad I did. Instead of swimming 500 yards, I was able to get in a designed workout. 100yd warmup, 5x200 (50 easy, 50 build, 50 easy, 50 hard) followed by a 200 cooldown. I felt like I got a better workout.

I used to think it was important to do as many OWS as possible, but I am not worried about doing OWS anymore. I have done enough races that the swim is nothing I worry about anymore, so my focus is back to the pool with organized workouts.

Next up is the Sharpshooter Super Sprint on the 29th. 400 yd swim, 11 mile bike and 2 mile run. Time to redline it!!

James Day Festivities

Yesterday was James Day! I hope you all had a great day, cause I sure did. James Day is nothing more than a personal day off from work, but it involves no "honey do" lists, it only involves things I want to do, which is what makes it my day.

James Day actually started Thursday evening after work, when I completed my first OWS of the season. Greg, Dave and I met at Dave's house to take advantage of the beautiful lake he lives on. I admit, I was looking forward to it all day. I had almost forgotten the feel of OW and the feel of my wetsuit, so it was great to get back out there and swim. I was a little worried about water temps because we have had so much rain in the past few days, and I had good reason to be concerned. The thermometer read a brisk 64 degrees, not sure if you can see it in this picture.
The water really slapped you in the face once you first jumped in, but after about 10 minutes in the water, it actually felt really nice. We hit a couple of really cold pockets of water in the middle of the lake, but other than that, it felt great! Anyways, I was happy to get that first OWS out of the way, we did 1000yd swim and it felt really easy. I noticed that my swim stroke is a little bit different in OW than it is in the pool for some reason. I feel like in OW I stretch out more and glide more than I do in the pool, and this is something I will have to look at further.

James Day festivities continued on Friday. I was able to wake up, take my older boys to school and then head to the pool for a 1000 yd swim. Afterwards, I was back hoe, changed and took my youngest to his Mother's Day Out class and then I headed out for 6 mile run. Next on the agenda was lunch with my bride. My wife and oldest boy were heading out for a Mother/Son camping trip this weekend, so I was left with my middle and youngest. So we had to go grocery shopping and load up on manfood! Dinner consisted of Mac N cheese for the little guy, a fish dinner for middle son and a nice grilled steak for dad! I ate and watched my MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES beat the San Antonio Floppers, I mean Spurs!

During the second half of the game, I was on my bike on the trainer. I rode fairly hard and felt really good, even after a busy day.

Overall, James Day was a huge success, and I think I need to get another one on the schedule pretty quick!

4 Days and Some Change...

I am really excited about doing Ironman Branson 70.3 soon. It seems to me that the journey I have been on is finally coming to a close for this race. I can remember starting my training plan some 20 weeks ago in anticipation for this race, and I have to say, I feel pretty confident. Not confident like I will win it, but confident that I can do it.

It seems much different to me than the week of a smaller race. My finishing time does not seem to matter to me as much as if I was doing a sprint race. I want to enjoy this experience, but do not worry, I will no linger on the course. I will try to finish it as fast as I can, but I also want to finish it smartly.

Things are ready. I have done the distance. I have rode, ran and swam more than last year. My bike has new rubber and has been tuned up perfectly, it is comfortable. I hate the waiting.

Saturday, I went with a few friends and did the 1.2 mile swim in OWS with a wetsuit. That was a huge confidence builder for me. I have done the distance in a pool, but doing it in open water felt great. I even got kicked in the face once, so it simulated race conditions! Here is where we swam.


I may have one more post before race day when I get my bib number. If not, I will provide a detailed report on my blog after it is over. Thanks to all the ones who have supported me and left great comments! It's going to be fun!

Let's Talk About OWS!

I used to hate the swim portion of a race. I hated the mass starts. I hated people bumping me in the water. I hated it all, until I started being more aggressive on the swim. Not aggressive like dirty, but aggressive like I am powering through all this. The swim is now one of my favorite parts of the race, I only wish I was faster at it.

I say all the that with this in mind. I have never been in such a mix as the video I am posting. This video is taken from the the "2010 USA Men's Open Water Championships, which as you can see was a battle. It was a 400 meter sprint for position going into this first turn! This turn is sure to get your blood pumping (The video is at 50% speed)"



Crazy huh? Another reason to remember to swim wide at the buoy!

This next video is just raw awesomeness! "With 200 meters to go, 2005 world 10K champion Chip (do not know last name) took about 30 sightings to get his bearings straight and then took off. His trademark 8-beat kick boosted him into the lead as the 6-wide went down to a 5-wide. But his strategy played right into the hands of Fran (do not know his last name either), the fastest-closer-in-the-business. Fran swimming immediately to his right took off after Chip once he realized that the final all-out sprint was on.

Fran chased Chip right off his hip perfectly catching his draft and gaining the extra boost that he needed. As he moved up the torso of Chip, he moved ever so expertly to the right giving him so extra separation. Now parallel with Chip but with momentum on his side, Fran had the advantage that he needed."


A couple of "takeaways" from these videos (Yes, I am sounding all Corporate today)

1. I have never swam in this type chaos
2. This was a 10K OWS race- not ever going to be on my schedule of races
3. Those guys were flying!
4. Did not see much of the gliding though the water
5. I can only wish I could swim like that after 6 miles of swimming!!!

Lake Swimmin...

AD, John and I swimming

One of the cool things about people reading my blog is that you can find people that are training for the same races you are doing. I got an email the other day from John, a guy that is also doing Ironman Branson 70.3. Since there is safety in numbers, we decided it'd be a good idea to look into doing some training rides and swims. He was looking for some OWS practice, and it just happens that I have an area where I OWS!


AD and I already had plans to swim on Sunday, so we made plans for JOhn to join us. I wanted to try out my new wetsuit I got at Gearhead Oufitters (Thanks Macca! Inside joke, real thanks goe to my boy Ted!) I got a new 2XU sleeveless wetsuit, it's AWESOME! I had wanted to try out a sleeveless suit since mine is a full sleeve suit. My shoulders always got tired really fast in the full sleeve suit and that worried me about doing 1.2 miles in it.

The new wetsuit slipped on very easy and I was able to zip it and close it myself. Everyone got suited up and jumped in the water. The water was cold at first but soon we all got used to it and it was very nice.
>

Water was not as cold as it looks!

Getting used to the water, which felt really good!

I swam across the lake the first time and felt really comfortable in the water. I usually get a little nervous anytime I jump in the lake, but this time I wasn't. I guess it is true that the more you do something, the more comfortable you feel. My breathing was good, sighting was alright and my pace could have been quicker. It was good going swimming with other people, because I felt the guys hitting my feet, which it made it more like a race type of swim, so it was good to get that out of my system.

My sighting is something I still need to work on!

Overall, we swam a little over a 1/4 mile. I got what I wanted out of the swim. I know I will need to get out there more often and really get some longer distances, which I am looking forward to. I have since found a bigger group for us to swim with, so I am really looking forward to the swim portion of Branson.

I look fat huh? What up with that?

***Hats off to my son Jacob for taking the pictures. Not bad for a 10 yr old photogrpaher! ***

OWS- First one this year!

I always get a little nervous on my first open water swim. I would not say I get scared, but I always tend to think back to my first Olympic race, and that swim did not go well. The water was freezing, and I started my race career with an Olympic size triathlon, which was my first mistake. Yesterday, I was more concerned about water temp. The temps had been in the mid to upper 60s in the water, but we had some nasty storms that came through during the weekend, and I knew it would drop the temperatures.

I had tried my wetsuit on the night before and I had forgotten how tight those suckers are! I blame The Pushup Challenge and the knew guns for the tightness... Ok, not really. I made sure I packed my suit, white swim cap (so I could be seen) earplugs, goggles (both tinted and clear), body glide, my towel and drove over to GH's house so we could jump in the lake.

We walked down to the bank of the lake and began the process of getting in the wetsuits. It did take a minute. I used plastic bags on my hands and feet to make it slide right on, then took the next few minutes to make the necessary adjustments. I sat on the edge on the bank and stuck my foot in the water. Whoooo, it was cold! So I had no other plan but to jump in feet first. Once I did, my feet were the only things that were cold, so I dove in and got the head under the water. Whoooo, it was cold! So I made the proper adjustments to the goggles and off we went. I got used to the water temp pretty fast, so it was not really an issue once we got going. We swam across the lake to the boat on the left in the picture I posted, which is about 1/4 mile to the boat and back.

The first time across the lake, my breathing was pretty labored, my chest felt really tight and it was hard to get a big breathe. I really focused on not getting to freaked about it because I knew it would eventually come to me, I just needed to relax and work it out. By the time I was almost back to where we started, I felt more normal while swimming. The only thing I noticed was that my shoulders were tired from the wetsuit. I swim in a full sleeve Zoot wetsuit and of course, it's tight, but the motion seemed more limited than I remember. It kind of had me concerned fro Ironman Branson 70.3 and the 1.2 mile swim. So it is something that I have time to work on this.

GH gave me the idea to not kick as much in the wetsuit. I guess all the Master Classes I have been doing lately has really got me focusing on my kicking. So I swam a little more and did not kick except only to balance myself. I thought of this as more like swimming with a swim buoy, and really focused on long strokes and my side to side motion and rotation. It felt better when I did not kick as much, so I can work on this more and work it out. I have time before September, I have access to a lake and a swim partner, so I should be able to figure it out by Sept!

Laughing at the Water????

About two weeks ago I received in the mail a copy of “The Essential Triathlon Swimming” DVD by Kevin Koskella. Koskella is the founder of http://triswimcoach.comand was also an accomplished swimmer at the college level. Koskella also currently teaches Masters swims classes in California. So, with my upcoming 1st Half Ironman on the horizon, I figured I would check out the DVD and see if I also could “laugh at the Water” also.

Ask anyone who has done a triathlon and I guarantee they would say that the swim is the toughest portion on the race. The reason for this is simple. Humans were not made to swim (unless your last name is Phelps!) I know I struggled in the water and it took me a long time to figure it out without the help of a coach.

So I watched the video.

It was really a great video and I will tell you why. Koskella does an excellent job of explaining the whys of swimming and an even better job at showing you how to do drills. The first 20 minutes or so of the video are all about drills you can do in the pool. Drills for balance, drills for those of us that tend to slap the water and drills to work on how the hand enters the water. The best part is that you actually get to see how the drills are done from an above view and an underwater view. This to me made a huge difference. I have read about one armed swimming drills and swimming with your fists, but to actually see it really showed me what the technique was working on.

The rest of the video concentrates on workouts and OWS (open water swimming). Both of these things are hard to accomplish because when I started swimming a workout plan, I had no idea of what to do, how to design or how to read a swim plan! OWS is a different animal itself, and is very different than swimming in a pool and Koskella does a great job of describing the ins and outs of OWS.

So after watching the video, which really made me want to go out for an OWS, I went to my local pool and tried out a few of the drills he describes. I worked on the vertical kick (freaking hard), the fingertip drag (I am a water slapper), the corkscrew, the hip rotation drill and the sighting drills. All of these drills have already helped my swimming in the week I have been working on them. I am not sure that I am faster yet, but I know that I am becoming more balanced and efficient in the water. This has also helped me get better at bilateral breathing (I only breathe to my left for some reason), and the main reason for this is balance in the water. I have found out how very important it is to have balance.

I still have a lot of work to do in the pool, but now I have some specific drills to work on to help me become more efficient in the water and not come out of the water winded. I am attaching the links to Koskella’s website and how to get a copy of the DVD. Go check it out, it helped me and then we can all get together and laugh at the water!!


To purchase a copy of the Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD, click this link:
http://www.triswimcoach.com/
For more information and free stuff from Tri Swim Coach, click the following link: http://www.triswimcoachonline.com/

OWS= Open Water Swim Baby!

In order to get ready for Memphis in May Triathlon, it is important to get in a lot of swimming in my opinion. And a lot of swimming I have done, in a pool. Most triathlons are not swam in the pool, but in a lake, which is totally different.

So Sunday afternoon, me and two buddies headed out to Lakeland and jumped in Garner Lake for a swim. It was the first OWS for one of the guys, so it was good for him to experience it before the race.

The water was a nice 69 degrees, which was a little cold, but also felt really good after you got going. We all had wetsuits on which helped battle the temps. I also used ear plugs for the first time, which is suppose to help you battle cold water.

Last year at MIM, the water temp was 64 degrees and when my face went into the water, it kicked my butt. I honestly thought I was not going to make it out of the swim, my chest tightened up and I just could not get a breath. I honestly thought they were going to pull me out cause I was having such a hard time. So this year I am going to be ready.

The swim went great, I was able to get into a good rhythm early and really made me more confident about the race.

April Totals and other ramblings...

Well I am back at it, posting my monthly and yearly totals once again. I did not post March's totals because they were weak! I was battling foot issues and my running was embarrassingly low, so we will move on.

April's totals:
Bike: 4h 29m 21s - 78.88 Mi
Run: 6h 13m 37s - 40.07 Mi
Swim: 5h 55m 30s - 10.68 Mi

2009 totals
Bike: 23h 00m 08s - 420.14 Mi
Run: 16h 05m 15s - 107.81 Mi
Swim: 19h 02m 57s - 33.37 Mi

Overall it wasn't a bad month. My new orthotics are really helping me. I am still planning on going back for one more sets of shots (which I will try to get a picture of) only because i think it will help even more.

Sunday I am hoping to get my first OWS (open water swim) out of the way. It really helps to get a refresher because it is so much different than a pool. You really can't see a thing and the water is normally a lot colder. I have finally learned the trick of getting a wetsuit on easier. The lake water's temperature where we are going to swim measured at 71 degrees, which is still cold, but I need to work on getting used to it.