As Master Po would say to Caine, “Plenty of time to run on land, young grasshopper. Keep your butt in the pool and be patient..."
Well, I can’t say I’m not getting in enough cardio. Two more days down, 5 more sessions in the books. Full hour in the pool yesterday, took it up another little notch resistance/speed-wise, handled it no problem. Massage on the lower leg afterwards, shin still sore (unbelievable) but the achilles is not particularly tender. I know all this pool running is the best thing for me at this point, but it just isn’t the same as jumping on a local trail and going for an hour so I am trying to restrain myself. Plan is to keep it in the water at least through the weekend (pretty sure Hurricane Irene would have made that decision for me anyway), then maybe start some easy stuff on land next week. Patience young grasshopper…
Felt guilty about having all day off and not getting in another session, so I went out to cross country practice an hour early with my bike and put in 45 minutes on the roads around campus. Little under 14 miles, considering all the hills was pretty pleased with the effort. Kids had a track workout, so I got a bit of back and forth across the infield giving splits – the achilles is definitely still there, but fortunately it isn’t feeling any worse (knock on wood…).
Friday means spin class, up at 4:55 to get barked at by the instructor starting at 5:45. 45 minute class, I have been splitting immediately afterwards trying to catch a couple minutes with my new “middle-schooler” before the early bus pickup. Our district started school on Wednesday, and my oldest has been forced out of the bosom of elementary school and into the cruel world of middle school. Either it’s a girl thing or a whole new way of approaching teaching, but I never remember coming home from school and telling my dad that “I absolutely love all my teachers” – probably not the last relationship thing that will differ between us and me and my dad. Anyway, so far so good, hope it stays that way.
Back in the pool for workout #2, remembered feeling ‘blah’ the other day after this same double so I planned on an easy 45 minutes. Felt good as the ‘aqua-miles’ went by so I kept upping the speed – blew through 45 minutes, quit at 55 just because I had to get to practice. A million percent better than Wednesday – might have been the work I’ve been putting in, might have just been the day, who knows. A lot funner to have some spring in your step though…
At practice I ended up accompanying a young runner with some leg issues to our school’s cardio room for some time on the recumbent bicycle instead of the days mileage. I jumped on an elliptical for 20 minutes to kill some time, brought the day up to an even 2 hours. Will sleep well tonight.
All of this cross training and pool running doesn’t seem to aggravate the condition at all. “Very tight” would be the best way to describe how it feels now, from the heel all the way up to the bottom of my calf. Not having had this injury before I don’t know what the pain threshold is/should be, so I am proceeding cautiously. Even though I joked about really wanting to get outside, I know that when just logging miles I am better off in the water. I will probably try to save my land miles for the quality work – tempo miles, an occasional track workout, then back in the pool. I will also start some interval work in the HydroWorx next week to augment my outdoor track work. I know there is no “one size fits all” plan on how to proceed, so once again I am blazing my own trail. Tomorrow is one month to the 5th Avenue gun, the closer I get without blowing up the better I like my chances…
