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After Saturday I not only got to celebrate my longest run ever, but I also got to celebrate taper time! For the next two weeks, until the Half Marathon, my training is cut back so my legs will be fresh … Continue reading
Life got REALLY REALLY crazy busy lately! I have still not started running again, but have been staying very active. I took on a new sport and have been trying to improve in it – swimming. I have not had a proper swimming lesson in YEARS. By YEARS I mean DECADES. By DECADES I mean not since I was a wee little kid and we all had to take lessons as a part of summer water safety at the Dallas Recreation Center. I am definitely rusty!
One evening a guy who was swimming a couple of lanes over from me approached me as I was about to grab my things to leave the pool area.
“Excuse me. May I make a suggestion?”
“Sure!”, I replied. I mean after flailing in the water trying to get my laps in, I was most appreciative of an offer of help.
“Try pressing your chin into your neck; that will help keep your legs afloat when you swim.”
I thanked him and have been focused on using his advice every time I hit the water. I have yet too have perfected this. Maybe it’s just the massive running muscles in my legs that are sinking me? Ha! I need to work on form. I did make a good purchase last week, that has helped me some; a pull buoy.
A pull buoy looks like an indented yoga block, that you hold between your legs as you swim. It keeps the lower body afloat, but also prevents you from kicking and also adds drag to the swimming. It makes for a great upper body workout!
So until I can run, this along with biking will be my endurance exercise. I actually am starting to really enjoy swimming; I just can’t wait until I can run again!
My bootie!
Thursday I was fitted for a walking boot. It is looking more and more like I have a stress fracture on my navicular bone, so to be safe the doctor and I both agreed that my foot needed to be immobilized.
This boot is MUCH lighter than the old one I ha, which was loaned to me a few years back. I’m guessing that it is at least seven pounds lighter! It is much easier to walk in, and I don’t rattle the floors and walls, nor do I startle my roommate or scare my pets when I walk around the house!!
I went and got an MRI on Friday, so I’m going to know more about what the issue is; unfortunately I won’t get the results until Tuesday. More waiting!
At least I can ride my bike. Saturday, I put in a substantial amount of miles on my mountain bike; a little over 37 miles. It felt great to be able to put in that kind of effort!
Later that day, I ended up buying a triathlon suit. I like the styling of it. I’ve never been much of a one-piece swimsuit kind of girl; I prefer bikinis. The look of the triathlon suits are freaking cool to me, and who knows, maybe I’ll participate in one a little down the road! Since it is looking more like I will have extended pool time, I am now looking to invest in a good underwater mp3 player. I can’t seem to put my full trust in a case, such as the H2O Amphibx armband to protect my iPhone; after all if that case fails I will have no working phone! I may have to get an iPod Shuffle and their Interval 3G case, or maybe the Speedo Aquabeat. I’m still shopping this.
Just got back from my Pedorthist, with my new altered running shoes. This is my second pair, and I am happy to have a different color of running shoe to wear! So yay Supershoes Part II! I just need a blue sharpie to blend that added middle wedge into the rest of the shoe. I plan on taking a good walk in these tomorrow, to make sure they land correctly before I use them on my long run on Saturday
Supershoes II in blue!
Supershoes I is showing signs of extreme wear. I scuff the crap out of the bottom big toe area of the sole when I run. Maybe I need to work on picking my foot up more?
Supershoes I is starting to blow out
Larry, my Pedorthist at CHT said to let Supershoe I go down to white, and then he will add some harder rubber to that area. The rate I am going, that will not take too much time at all!!
Just returned from my lunchtime training run. It was so insanely hot out there! The 3-miler felt like it just would not end. The temperature showed it to be 92° with a heat index of holy-crap-your-shoes-are-melting! I finished even though I did need to take a couple of walking breaks to re-hydrate.
I was so happy to finish this run. It makes me re-evaluate running in the midday sun. I’m going to either have to suck it up and get up at 5am to be out the door on my run by 5:15am, hit the treadmill at the gym, or run at night. The last thing I wanna do is get sick from the extreme Texas heat.
I normally run with an Iron man water bottle belt, which holds 16 oz of fluids and has a zipper pocket for lip balm, emergency cash and my work badge (if needed). This thing is a freaking life saver! In heat like today’s you have got to be able to hydrate during your run or walk. Also nothing is worse than dried up lips – so that accessory pocket comes in handy!
I also purchased some Nuun electrolyte tablets. Just drop one tablet in 16 oz of water and it dissolves to make an electrolyte rich drink, without added sugars.
Better to be over prepared when running in the extreme heat, even if that means NOT running in extreme heat!
If I Can U Can 