Silver Linings

So I've decided not to spin tonight. It's occurred to me that the maybe the best training I could do right now is no training. The more I poke at this thing with my knee, even as it seems to be getting gradually better, the more I could set myself back. It's early. I should just shut up and heal.

But as we know, that is really hard. Seven or eight years ago, I was a very serious swimmer. 3500 yards per day, six times per week was the norm. I lived for every chlorinated second of it. And then my rotator cuff started getting snarly, and about 6 months of PT ensued. I remember thinking that my injury was like being in an unbalanced relationship, when the thing you love very much hurts you. The pain is your protection from it. And yet, you keep going humbly back, only to feel the pain again and prolong the healing process.

The silver lining in the rotator cuff story is this: I didn't swim "for real" for about six months, but in that time, I became a rocket breast stroker because it was the one stroke that didn't hurt my shoulder. I swam hours and hours of it. These days, I still can hammer the breastroke and I am always smug when the third 50 of the 200 IM kicks in, appreciating, in the end, the rotator cuff drama. Silver linings.

I believe in the notion that good can, and often does, emerge from bad in the end. When I bought my Kestrel, I named it Silver Lining. But that is a story for another day.

Today I swam 6 x 500 (evens pull) with 1 x 100 back on after each 1000. I shared a lane with Sam who is super gracious and also incredibly fast (he swam 650s to my 500s @ 7' and just grinned as he gracefully lapped me). No pressure. I asked him what he was training for and I loved his answer.

"Nothing really. I just swim because I like it."

I spun reasonably well for a half hour on Sunday, but I am going to let wisdom prevail and swim only for the rest of the week. BTW the best Superbowl ad is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBl3FOKgs1A