I wrote yesterday about the pain I am experiencing from a case of insertional Achilles tendonitis. This pain at the back of my heel, stopped me from running yesterday.  It also stopped me from running today.

The beauty of being a triathlete however, is that during minor injuries, you often have options.  This is indeed the case, with my current minor injury.  It is not going to stop me from either biking or swimming.  So when I couldn’t complete my scheduled run workout today, I chose to keep moving forward and at least do something.  I chose to swim.

With this being an optional swim, I was free to do whatever I wanted.  I chose to swim 20 x 100 yards, with the sole aim of focusing on my swim form.  It was a very educational swim.  I took plenty of rest between each 100 yard swim, to ensure that I was in good shape to focus effectively on my form during the swim.

During each 100 yard interval, I focused on one aspect of my swim form.  For example, on one particular interval, I really focused on getting an early vertical forearm.  Within this particular interval, I noticed my triceps fatigued quite easily.  It also happened to be one of the faster intervals.  Clearly, I was pulling more water and producing a more efficient stroke.  I tried the same approach later in my swim and felt the same effect.

On another interval, I focused on kicking a little harder.  In this case, I found myself getting out of breath and noticed that my time improved by less than two seconds.  Clearly, the gain from my kick, was not worth the extra effort required to maintain it.  This may say something about my kick form, but it is just as likely, that using the large muscles in my legs like I did, simply required too much oxygen.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable swim.  I had no pain in my heel and I learned something that I can build on in future swims.  It pays to just keep moving forward.