The cost of keeping going....

So I'm not progressing, but at least I've stopped the rot.

A 1:47 600-metre time trial is near enough the same time I clocked last time I did it -- back in April. But that's good: it's fast enough -- I just have to work on keeping that pace going for another 1009 metres - and more importantly my hamstring and butt muscles didn't seize up on me.

I've been stretching like an obsessive-compulsive athlete, trying to restore the range on my hamstrings and ease the block in my glutes...to not very much effect until yesterday, when one of my many therapists fixed my pelvis -- it had rotated and twisted, and as the hamstrings attach to the bottom of the thing, they were in a permanent tension on the troubled left side.

Yes, I have an unofficial support team of practitioners that I help to keep in business! Don't we all? I'm sure I wouldn't need regular repairs if I wasn't trying so hard to push the envelope of "speed". Which brings me to Olympic swimmer Dara Torres.
I'm sure you've heard about this lean and muscled hunkette of inspiration -- the 41-year-old has just qualified for Beijing 2008.

Torres spends more time training out of the pool than in it; a LOT more. One of her secret weapons is a massive programme of resistance stretching. She is stretched by Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney, proponents of Meridian Stretching guru Bob Cooley's system. This is a form of stretching where you actively resist, working the very muscles you are stretching. Dara has a new video out to show you how it's done.

Dara has competed in 4 Olympic Games in the last 16 years and targeted Beijing after getting back in the pool to keep the rough off while she was pregnant. Next thing you know, she was breaking masters records in world-class times. There are a stack of inspiring stories and videos on Steve and Anne's Innovate Body Solutions website, but here's a bit of information that grabbed me:

"The cost of being a middle-age champion can be steep, but she can afford it. Torres enlisted Bloomberg L.P., Toyota and Speedo as sponsors to help defray her training expenses. She estimated that she would spend about $100,000 this year on her support staff.

"In addition to Lohberg, Torres employs a sprint coach, Chris Jackson; a strength and conditioning coach, Andy O’Brien, who also oversees her diet; two full-time personal stretchers, Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney; a physical therapist; a masseuse; and a nanny. She also leans heavily on her boyfriend, David Hoffman, an obstetrician who is Tessa’s father." (New York Times story, 2007).

Now that's what I call a support team!