Seattle Triathlon TEAM

Shoulder injuries stink.  At the beginning of the year, after a major work push and a ton of time at my desk, I noticed my right shoulder hurting.  I pushed through it, working and swimming as normal.  It did not get better. 

After about a month I realized it was caused by a non-ergonomic mouse position.  I adjusted my desk, sat up straighter, positioned my mouse closer, and continued on swimming and working. 

After two months I realized this was not going to heal it, and cut way back on my swimming. 

After three months it still hurt, and I took drastic measures - I moved my mouse to my left hand.  What a mental and physical challenge that turned out to be!  The lack of coordination in your non-dominant hand is staggering.  It took me twice as long to do anything and my work productivity slowed.  But since I could not file workers comp, I forget ahead, training my left hand to go in tiny little circles.  Sometimes it was so hard my brain would hurt - especially working on spreadsheets.  I hoped that somehow this new skill would benefit me in the long run beyond the healing shoulder.

Four months - still hurt.  Time to quit swimming.  I wanted to try quitting housework tool especially vacuuming, but that did not fly in my house.  I sucked it up and started doing it left-handed.  Wow - that is hard!  At least I got a workout out of it.

Five months - still hurt.  I was worried that it was perhaps more serious than I was giving it credit for.  Time to see a physical therapist.  He said I had “Bicep Tendonitis” and that it can be really difficult to heal.  No kidding!  So I got lots of exercises to do.

And today, on July 1st, I had my first pain free swim in six months!  How I missed the smell of chlorine, walking around in my bathing suit, hairballs in the shower drain, and the swimming itself.  Swimming has been a part of my life every week since I started doing triathlons 13 years ago.  How did I go from not swimming, to hating swimming, to loving swimming in a decade? 

Lessons you can learn from this:
1.  Don’t give up on swimming if you hate it right now!
2.  Don’t try and heal a chronic injury yourself, seek a professionals help!
3.  Don’t work to much!