Lately the NY Times has showed an unprecedented interest in marathon running publishing features, columns and blogs practically every day . I could understand that if the NYC Marathon were happening in the next week or so,  but it’s five months off. Maybe they think huge numbers of readers are suddenly contemplating running 26.2 miles. 
 
But I also find considerable irony in the fact that most of this stuff has been published in the Health section, rather than Sports. Particularly after reading the frankly scary stuff in two recent articles which help persuade me that marathon running is inherently "insalubrious."
 
In today’s Times health writer Gina Kolata (a runner, what else) writes about how to "feel" running injuries as they’re happening – nothing about making them disappear.
 
And last week, there was this sobering blog about the pressure felt by runners to finish — while ignoring the signals their body is sending that say keeping this up is not a good idea.
 
Jonathan Cluett MD, is a board certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine, and was team physician to the United States men’s and women’s national soccer teams. So when he writes about sports injuries, we’d do well to listen.

It’s eye-opening to read these words, with which he begins an article on running injuries: "Running is a sport of passion; why else would we torture our bodies with miles of punishment every day? Running injuries are an unfortunate, but all too common, occurrence."

And why am I writing about running in a swimming blog? Simply to point up how much more holistic it is to swim rather than run for distance, endurance or  a sense of accomplishment.

Are injuries unheard of in swimming? Well, unfortunately not in competitive swimming. There are far too many young (approx age 12 through 20+) and even a few older swimmers who need ice or ibuprofen for tender shoulders after a "workout." And a fair proportion of them who need rotator cuff surgery.
These shoulder injuries are due to the agressive stroking style common in the swimming mainstream.
An aggressive stroke, combined with poor balance, inflicts injurious strain on the small muscles and connective tissue of the shoulder when a fully extended arm — from an over-reaching recovery/entry — smacks down on the water and immediately applies pressure. At this point the arm is a "long lever" applying force to the shoulder while its in its least stable position.
 
The Mail Slot entry and Patient Catch — Lessons 4 and 5 of Easy Freestyle   — virtually eliminate the potential for shoulder strain.
 
In middle age I occasionally swim as much in one day as I did on my college team 40 years ago, yet never feel even the slightest post-practice soreness. And my races these days are much longer (5000m, 10,000m, and – twice – 28.5 miles) than in college when most of my races were 500 to 1000 yards. Yet I feel I recover more quickly from races these days than I did back then.
 
Here are screen shots, taken from Lesson Five of the Easy Freestyle DVD (discounted $10 thru July 4) which show what an "injury free" entry looks like.