#pool running

I’ve been emphasizing cross training a lot lately, not because I’m injured or anything but because I feel like I’ve really let that part of my overall routine slide the past couple of years. And I think I’ve paid the price with time on the sideline and diminished performances.

My running mileage has dropped drastically, down to about 15-20 miles per week as a result of this new focus, but when I have run lately, it has felt much better. Could it be because of reduced joint impacts? Or maybe because activities like swimming really work the core? Whatever the reason I’m enjoying the results so far. I feel stronger and more motivated. I will have to step the running back up in mid-January when I start training for spring races but think this is laying down a solid base.

In any case, I spent 50+ in the water today. First I did a 33-minute pool run with the aquajogger belt. Then I ditched the belt, put on the goggles and swam an 800 in 23 minutes. I know that’s slow, but for me it’s not bad.

So I started this week on doing some physical therapy for the knee, with my first visit to ACE Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Institute (www.ace-pt.org) this past Wednesday. I’ve had to cut back a little bit on the cross training I had been doing, if for no other reason than PT takes a lot of time - the average appointment lasts about two hours, not to mention it’s a bit of a workout itself.

That said, I did get some work in, even while jealously watching runners go by.

Monday - 1 hour yin yoga Tuesday - outdoor trail cycling, 12 miles Wednesday - 5k walk after PT Thursday - morning indoor spin, 38 min/12 miles Friday - “rest” day (but still did PT) Saturday (today) - pool running for 65 minutes Sunday - ?? Probably another spin

Second straight day of pool running. I had planned to do a quick trainer spin, in keeping with my alternating days plan, but that idea got messed up by circumstances so I went to Plan B and headed over to Providence ReCenter to do tomorrow’s planned pool run of 55 minutes. It went OK, though I didn’t have as much energy as yesterday and I stuck to “easy pace” as a result. Back to biking to nowhere tomorrow.

So my order of an Aqua Jogger came in a couple of days ago, and that meant it’s time to try some running in the water. I was a little skeptical about pool running, almost wondered if I should just swim, but I decided to give it a chance. Because I MISS RUNNING!

It took a little practice. The key is staying tall and resisting the body’s urge to go horizonal and swim. Basically you want to use the same good running form you should be using on land. One thing though, you’re not going to log big miles. It takes about 4 minutes to do a lap! That’s 50 yards. But it’s all about the effort.

I felt the knee a little bit but that was mainly when my form started to get sloppy. So that was a good reminder to me to get it all back together.

Or maybe one mile? It takes forever to log distance in the water. It was a cross training day for me today, so I headed over to the nearby county rec center to do some pool running and a little swimming as well.

For the pool running, I didn't measure the distance, I just kept going until the time was up. I actually made a little more than the planned 45 minutes, with 47:50 total. Then I took off the aquajogger belt and put on the goggles for swimming. I didn't swim long, only 500 yards, which I did as a ladder: 25-50-75-100-100-75-50-25, for 500 yards total.

Last Week’s Workouts

The good news is that I did NOT hurt myself at all last week. Can we just take a moment to appreciate that since it seemed like I was on a never ending streak of bad luck? I hope that I’ve got all that out of the way and my accident prone ways are tamed. Last week’s workouts were good.  I got a lot of variety and even made it to the pool one day. I’m really missing yoga but my appointments that…