Too many grains of sand.

If you've been reading my training blog at all lately, the last 4 weeks have been pretty much a bust. I've had some good training but mostly my workouts have been compromised, limited or hindered by my rib injury on some level. I've been feeling better and have been trying to psyche myself up through positive outlook but I don't think there is anything more frustrating than trying to get to the starting line of a so-called "b" level race when you're not 100%. By "b" level race I mean one that was not necessarily scheduled to coincide with the major build and peak phases of periodized training plan. Is that the only definition of a "b" race. I can think of some others.

This is the race, that if it was an exam, you only study hard enough to get a "B".
Lack of fitness will probably cause you to "B"low up or "B"onk.
It's only a "b" race so I can "B"low off this last interval.
What should I have for "B"runch after the race?
"B" is for beer that you drink for recovery.

By nature I don't believe any of the last definitions but I have visited their relevance in such a situation.

Then why the cynical outlook? My shoulder is injured now. I mentioned the shoulder problems from my last open water workout. Well, I went to the pool to do some speedwork, 10x100 all out. I warmed up well and felt the stress very early. I gave the shoulder some more time to warm up and payed very close attention to my technique as I normally do. Wide entry with the hand flat or slightly thumb up. Easy pressure on the catch and initiating with the elbow up on the pull straight back to the hip. Low, relaxed recovery. All checked out, but still I had pain. I did one 100 at race pace and shut it down, finishing with 200 very easy to see if the pain would subside. NO! What next? and What happened?

I was laughing when I re-read the baby in the arm theory, still plausible but not likely the source. More likely is that my stroke has been breaking down over time. I'm thinking early when I got back in the pool after the acute period of my rib injury had subsided. I still had some discomfort which may have caused some compensation. Shutting down the pec's or the abdominals could have caused the supporting shoulder muscles (rotator cuff) to work way too hard. This could easily lead to overuse syndrome and hopefully not complete tendinitis. Though I do have the signature clicking and popping in the shoulder. I have to believe the fact that this is the same side as the rib injury and is definitely related on some level.

At this point I'm still telling myself I'm on the line Sunday. I'm a little conflicted as a competitor,
honestly knowing that I won't be 100% unless a miracle happens between now and my next swim workout on Thursday. The only saving grace is that the cycling and running have been going pretty well.

Tuesday's
fifty minute run included 5x 2 minute efforts at sub 5k pace. Done as a fartlek I averaged 6:05 pace for these efforts and averaged 7:40 for the whole run. This was a tough workout but I was pretty happy how well I recovered and got back on pace. The only thing is that I even felt some pain in the shoulder during the later parts of the run.

I already talked about the swim so I'd rather not revisit that rant.

So at this point I am day to day, waiting to see, not digging it.