In the Swim Again

The photo shows me (on the left) when I placed in my age group in one of the many open water swim races I competed in in the Hudson River around Manhattan.  The race distances ranged from 1 kilometer to 5.85 miles.  I think this photo is from 2003, when I was 50 years old.

I stopped swimming in the winter of 2011-2012 when I was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  The workouts for my suburban swim team were the same nights that my occupational therapist had evening hours.  I stopped swimming completely and threw myself into occupational therapy, physical therapy, and gym workouts.  When I was correctly diagnosed with Parkinson’s I kept up my gym workouts and stupidly stayed away from the pool.

Until tonight.

I returned to the town pool for a workout with my former Masters team.  The coach said I could swim for free for two weeks, then decide if I want to continue (if I am able to continue) and start paying the team’s fees then.

How did I do?

It was almost as if I had never left.  (Thank you, gym workouts!)  The coach said I was looking “trim” and that my stroke was still smooth in the water.  My right arm worked as well as my left.  My legs cramped after 1000 meters, which they always did in the past, so I swam the rest of my workout with pull buoys between my thighs.  My times were slower than they used to be, but I can work to regain them.  I got out after 2000 meters and look forward to swimming 3000-4000 meters in the near future.

I’m sitting at my desk now, basking in the workout’s afterglow.  My leg muscles have this delightful twitching thing going on.  I’m munching on a bowl of sweet strawberries and feeling great.

The only weird thing was when I got out of the pool.  In the water I was weightless and I felt strong and smooth.  There was no Parkinson’s disease.  But when I got up on the deck suddenly I was limping again, an old guy who lurches.  “How did that happen?” I asked myself in surprise.  I felt bifurcated.  (Can you use the word bifurcated that way?  Oh well, I just did!)

However, overall I’m feeling positive, and I’m looking forward to open water swim races again.

Follow up 24 hours later:

I returned to the pool tonight and swam another 2000 meters, same as yesterday.  Felt great, feel great.

Follow up 1 month later:

I’ve been swimming frequently and swam 3000 meters (just under 2 miles) two days ago in a team workout.  I’m ready to compete in some open-water swims now – not to win, just to swim.  Although I am swimming in my Masters team’s fast lane….

Follow up August 25, 2015:

I’m swimming a lot now and also running.  A few weeks ago I ran a 5 kilometer race in Manhattan; now I’m training for the swim portion of two triathlon relays (a super sprint + an Olympic length) in late September.  Swim distance in the Olympic-length tri:  1.5 kilometers, or just under a mile.  All three events are fundraisers for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.  My two swim coaches keep saying my stroke is remarkably unchanged from when I swam years ago before I got PD.

Follow up September 5, 2015:

If you’ve read this far, please click here and support me as I enter a triathlon to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation!  Every dollar counts!

Pic below taken today!