Monday, October 3, 2011

Back to the pool...

So my big plan to alleviate my plantar fasciitis is in motion, and I'm feeling good about it.  It is HARD to take a step back and not run as much.  I so so so miss the long runs of marathon training.  I want to be out there on the road.  But, if I want to "just keep running" for the long haul, I guess I have to be patient and smart about things in the short term....sigh.

This morning I went to the pool for an hour of pool running.  This injury first developed after I ran the Vancouver Marathon and I had been going to the pool twice a week while it was healing.  I quit going when my training ramped up to get ready for Hood to Coast.  So today I got to see all my old pool buddies again.  They go to the pool to "workout" taking the water exercise classes.  I say that with quotes because from what I can tell it is really just a social hour...they just tread water and chat - they don't even bother to look at the poor instructor standing on the side of the pool giving them instructions!  I got a few "oh, we haven't seen you in a while", and "you run faster than I swim!", and my favorite that I hear over and over, "aren't you tired yet?".  Everyone is always very friendly and hey, they make me feel like a youngster, so I'll take it!

I get my pool workouts from this training plan by Pete Pfitzinger.  This is what I did today: 
5 min warm-up
3 sets of 7x1:30 hard
(30 sec easy recovery)
(2 min easy btwn sets)
5 min cooldown

Total workout = 56 min

Pool running is hard for two reasons - first, you REALLY have to concentrate to get a good workout, and second, it's really boring - back and forth in the same section of the pool over and over...oy.  You can't just coast or zone out, you really have to push it to feel like it's working.  It's very effective though if you work hard at it.  At one point I felt a twinge in my hamstring and I thought how embarrassing it would be to pull a muscle running in the pool! 

Anyway, by replacing my Monday run with the pool run I give my foot 3 days (Sunday -Tuesday) to recover from the longer run on Saturday.  I think this will help...or I hope it will...fingers crossed.

On a totally unrelated note - this goes in the WTF category...



A Footloose remake? Why? Why? Why? Is nothing sacred?

1 comments:

Teamarcia said...

I pool to rehab a strained achilles during my Boston training cycle last year. It was the bomb and I swore I'd incorporate it into my training as a way to get more miles with less impact. Sadly we changed gyms and the water is no longer deep enough. It's a great training tool though and I'm glad you're doing it. Hope your PF clears up soon!

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