pull buoy

More than ever, my body has been looking me deep in the eyes and asking, “WTF?”

Here I am approaching 50, putting on mileage I’ve never dreamed possible, and clearly that doesn’t come without complications. Last night’s 3,000 meter swim was a great example.The workout included a warm up, followed by 40 x 50 meter combined set and a cool down. I felt fairly strong as I cooled down for 400 meters, but when I got to the end and jumped out of the pool, I was nearly brought to tears by a piercing cramp in my left calf.

As I was leaning against the wall screaming bloody murder in front of the lifeguard and festive aqua-bikers, the guy in my lane asked if I was ok. I said, “Yeah, I’m just cramping.” He calmly replied, “I used to get them all the time when I swam with the pull buoy.”

Aha!

Yes, I remember Robbie telling me that when I was dealing with MUCH smaller cramps in the pool. The logic is that when you immobilize your legs with the buoy, the blood circulation to your lower body slows and quick movements can launch a cramp attack. I did know and understand this, but how quickly we forget.

I’m not gonna lie, my night was filled with a bit of panic. I was having a hard time walking and the calf was very sore. I tried to imagine running and it did not go well. Could all of this training be derailed by a freak incident?

I vowed to get back in the water as quickly to start the mental healing process, and though I was 45 minutes late, I showed up at Open Water Swim to knock out 30 minutes in the lake. I took the usual ridicule about being late, then swam up and down the orange boom for 32 minutes without stopping. No pull buoy, no cramps, but tired arms.

Robbie and I talked for a bit after the swim (as we watched the next Pele run line drills in the sand) and he suggested the other reason for cramps in the pool can be from pushing off the wall. This makes a ton of sense, especially when blood flow to your legs is low, and you’re exploding off the balls of your feet which targets the calf muscles.

Aside from the pull buoy, I suspected there was another major reason for the cramping: dehydration.

I am just shocked by how much I am sweating these days, and I’m assured that’s a good thing, but I have certainly not been compensating like I should with hydration. I used to drink a lot of Coke (thankfully that habit has gone away) and my rule was always one glass of water immediately following a soda. Now I drink coffee, and on some days too much. It is painstakingly clear that, as mileage rises, I have to be careful and add more liquids.

I guess a third culprit could be sodium loss and last night, along with drinking a ton of water, I pulled out my homemade Gatorade recipe of 1/2 water, 1/2 orange juice, and a little bit of sea salt. It tasted like ass, but I’m doing what I can.

So, I sit here less than a month away with a very sore calf and hope I can get this under control. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Since I’m a new-ish triathlete, I’m still digging around to answer a million little questions and this article couldn’t have come a moment too soon. It’s a piece from the Ironman website by Sergio Borges and the first paragraph summed up the feeling I’ve been having for a couple weeks.

The pull buoy—that funny little piece of foam you stick between your legs when swimming—is a common point of contention among triathletes. Have you ever been told that swimming with one is addictive and bad for your swim? I’ve heard this far too often, from both athletes and swim coaches.

I was actually getting very concerned about this because swimming with the pull buoy has been much easier for the last month or two. On several occasions I’d swim without it just to make sure I was on pace and I was gassed after two or three laps. What gives?

This is what I think was happening:

Many athletes feel addicted to the buoy because of the better body position it creates, which leads to better glide in the water. When you glide, however, you reduce your stroke rate. A reduced stroke rate combined with a poorly honed body position won’t help you much in a race.

So, Wednesday night, after 1,000 meters WITH the buoy, I said enough is enough. I’m swimming the next 1,000 without it.

I was actually kinda pissed in my competitive sort of way and fought through the first few hundred meters, then suddenly, I found the groove I needed. I settled into a meditative state and suddenly, it was felt right again.

Fast forward to tonight after work.

I was excited to get back in the water and test this stroke. Sure enough, it felt great (other than the fact that I’m a little fatigued). Then, I decided to reverse the test and swim the back side WITH the buoy after 1,000 without. That’s when it got interesting.

With the better body position created by the buoys, the athlete can experience a proper catch not pulling water down first and also reducing many shoulder injuries.

Now, swimming with the buoy seemed harder! I concentrated on using the long stroke, the catch, and the pull. I could really feel it in my arms and my laps felt slower. It was actually a huge relief because I think it tells me, I was getting into a bad stroke while using it so much.

All of this is new and my opinion could easily change tomorrow, but for now I’m gonna believe that things are going as they should. We don’t use pull buoys at open water swims and I don’t seem to have a problem there, so like most stages of this training, I am simply gonna trust the process . . . and the coach.

Tag: pull buoy

A Painful Cramp

Swimming With the Pull Buoy