Setback

Last weekend I noticed some soreness in my right lat muscle.  It wasn't terrible, and I figured it was just a mild strain that would work itself out in a few days.  By the end of the weekend I'd forgotten about it, but then on Tuesday morning I did a gym session, and as I did a set of dumbbell rows chest-down on the stability ball, I felt discomfort in that area again.

After the gym session I went down to the river and got in the boat.  After a 10-minute warmup I intended to do three 8-stroke sprints, but on the very first stroke of the very first sprint I felt something pop right under my right armpit.  I think it's part of my lat muscle, and I either pulled it or tore it, I'm not sure which.  I knew right then that I couldn't do any more sprints, and the spot continued to hurt as I paddled easy back to the dock.

Whatever this injury is, it's clear that it's going to keep me out of the boat for a few days.  I'm not happy about it, but I'm trying my best to take it in stride and do some alternative workouts while I nurse it back to health.  Tuesday was a lovely warm day, so I wasted no time: that afternoon I rode my bike for about 90 minutes, doing the 34-kilometer course I often do.  Today isn't quite so nice--it's around 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff west-southwest wind--but I got back out and did sort of an interval workout on the bike.  I did three hard laps of a paved loop in Overton Park just west of my house, stopping to do some Hindu squats in between laps.

It's frustrating to have something like this happen, seeing as how just in my last post I was talking about how well things seemed to be going.  But this gives me a chance to incorporate some leg work that I hadn't been doing much of lately, and strong legs are an asset both for paddling and for good general fitness.  And hopefully this ailing muscle won't take too long to heal and I'll be able to paddle again soon.

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