I am NOT out of shape! I swear!

Just when I think I am pretty darned fit (I ran a marathon, didn't I!?), I go and try a new sport (swimming) and am huffing and puffing after only one length!!! SHEESH! And I was really trying to swim SLOOOOWLY. I could actually FEEL my heart pounding in my chest after each lap. I had to stop and rest after almost every lap. I felt a little ridiculous - like everyone around me must be looking at me thinking, "she sure is out of shape." I should tape the words, "I can run a marathon" on my suit just for clarification. :-) Wow, that was really hard. I mean, my heart and lungs shouldn't have been working that hard. Now I'm thinking that if I can master the art of swimming, my running is going to improve by leaps and bounds!

I only ended up doing around 20 lengths. I had a hard time keeping track of lengths, so it could be as high as 24, I suppose. I did a mix of strokes - freestyle, breast, sidestroke and even "ran" a few laps. It may have been short, but it was a good workout. I'll get better at it!

I was finally excited to try swimming. I wanted to try it for a while now but was in desperate need of a new suit and goggles. My old one-piece was so old, it was nearly threadbare. The only other suits I had were bikinis and I would have felt really stupid swimming laps in a bikini. Then we found an ad for 25% off all suits at Sports Authority this week and figured this was my chance! Suits are so expensive!! Got a new Speedo one-piece (blue and black) and some TYR goggles. I am ready for the pool!

I also put air in my trusty comfort bike's tires and hit the bike trails yesterday with my man! That was a ton of fun! I think I'll have to get my bike out again today. It's super sunny and in the mid-70s. I can't stay inside much longer or I'll explode. That'd be messy.

So, cross-training is going well! I'm having some fun with it, trying new things and getting some great workouts. I still want to RUN. First run is planned for next Thursday. Shin is so-so at the moment. It's getting lots of ice and antiinflamatories. Wish me and my shin luck!

The Treadmills Have it in for Me!

I swear to god! It’s a plot!

Some may remember a few weeks ago when I reported about the treadmill that shut down on me after giving me a light electric shock. Well, today I had a similar experience, sans shock. This time I had no warning, it just shut down quickly and flashed “motor disabled” across my readout. Of course, the “motor disabled” indication came after the machine had already pitched me forward. I mean, I’m the one who usually stands up for the treadmill. I’ve sung its praises on posts and comments here on The Loop. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever…. oh, wait, yes I have referred to it as the “dreadmill.” Maybe just once. Shoot.

It’s a good thing warmer weather is just around the corner.

Today I put in a 5 mile run on the lovely treadmill, wonderful machine that it is. It was a so-so run for me. My achilles started acting up a few times during the run. Call me stupid, but I ran through it at a slower pace when it tightened up. Twice the discomfort/tightness (I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “pain”) went away after a few minutes. The third time I just couldn’t loosen up the tendon so I stopped and walked over to the stretching area to, well, stretch. It felt better after the stretching and it didn’t bother me the rest of the evening during my core and upper body workout.

I’m still not feeling very confident about my return to running since the achilles has bothered me almost every run, but I’ll keep plodding on and see how things go. Let’s hope for the best. My choices at this point are stop running again and forget about my Spring races (including my first marathon), or train despite the achilles discomfort and keep my fingers crossed that the tightness slowly improves. The achilles problems I had last summer DID get better with time, stretching and a cutback on speedwork and hillwork, so hopefully the same will be true this time.

I tried a new cross-training activity today – I swam!!! I didn’t swim for long, but it sure felt good. I could feel the heart a’pumping! Now to get some goggles… and a bottle of Visine.