Body Checkup

I'm feeling great!

We'll take it from the top down...

Head/Neck - Nothing to report now.  I strain the muscles in my neck every so often.  I've learned this is because I don't stretch my neck before practice.  A dive or backstroke start will jolt this area and cause about a week of pain.  Everything is good right now

Spine - For almost a year I've been battling a mild shooting pain midway down my spine, I think I did it either shoveling snow or doing pushups.  I've felt it when I breath deep.  It's been annoying but clearly not debilitating.  Over the past few weeks I've REALLY been stretching it.  I've been holding a railing with one hand and pulling my entire body away from it to really stretch my back.  I think it's working!  I feel much less pain.  I hope I'm not speaking too soon but I think I'm cured!

Chest - Nothing to report, just sore

Abs - I'm a little torn up from Tuesday afternoon's ab workout, especially since I stayed after and did even more abs afterward.  15 mintues of dolphin kicking on Wednesday didn't help the situation but it's just soreness, no pain.

Legs - Nothing to report, just sore

Feet - This swim program is rough on the feet.  Some swimmers have cut their feet on the blocks (they're incredibly rough/sharp), I'm luckly enough to do backstroke starts most of the time.  The fins they recommend we use are called "T2" or "Tech 2" fins.  They allow maximum flex in your ankle.  This also means that they really strain the ankle.  My tops of my ankles and tops of my feet are almost always in pain from the constant use of these fins.  We do a lot of dryland barefoot so my feet are pretty sore most of the time.