Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The post-swim sniffles

I have been trying to figure out exactly what swimming yardage line you need to cross before you get stuck with a runny nose for the rest of the day. 2500 yards? Nope, free and clear. 3500 yards? Not sure, haven't swum that distance in a while. 4200 yards? You're in trouble. For some reason, in spite of otherwise moderate swim yardage totals, today I found myself staring at a 2.4 mile swim workout, 10 days into training and months and months removed from my races. I wasn't so thrilled about it. I think I have this workout since I get to avoid the pool on Thanksgiving morning, which now makes it worthwhile. The pool is open tomorrow, but I'm glad that I won't have to worry about fighting for a lane between the regular swimmers and the swim team practice which for some reason will be in there tomorrow morning. I hate crowded pools. Fortunately, I don't often have to deal with them. Except today, but I had a feeling it might be crowded so I made sure to get in the water at 5am, when I was sure to get my pick of lanes. Only when I was done was it crowded.

Anyway, after that 4200 yards of drills, some breath control sets and some painfully slow 800's since I was finishing up about twice the distance I've been swimming lately, I was out of the water and into the shower to rid myself of the chlorine as best I could. The sniffling was almost immediate. Why does that happen? I can't stand it. And there is nothing that can be done. It won't be gone until I wake up tomorrow morning. It is also accompanied by excessive sneezing. I once tried using nasal spray to remedy the issue, but I only succeeded in watering things down enough that my nose was just running uncontrollably. As if I need anything to make me less attractive. I've heard rumors of salt water pools that are quite nice on the skin. Too bad mine isn't one of them.

Anyway, that was enough pointless rambling for today, don't you think? And please, nobody suggest that I get myself some nose plugs for my swim workouts.

4 comments:

  1. Molly, I think you need some nose plugs.
    jk.
    I get uncontrollably itchy if I stay in longer than a 1/2 hour, and when the hell do we stay in less than a 1/2 hour?

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  2. I get runny noses all the time and usually after about an hour of swimming. I think this is coming from the increased chemicals they are using in the pool, I can't say I experience this when I swim outdoors. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  3. Hah, less than 30 minutes in the water? What's that like? I can usually combat the itchiness by sitting in the sauna and sweating for a good 15 minutes. Not perfect, but makes it a bit better.

    Donna: Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!

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  4. I get the pool sniffles sometimes, and it's usually several hours after getting out of the water. Drives me crazy. No idea how to deal with it, but I'm out looking. There are days I want to slather a q tip with something soothing, and swoosh it around the nostrils as far up as it will go. Sorry if that's a little graphic.

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