My long "run"

I did my Wednesday long 'run' today since I was in Wellington yesterday. Half an hour after a five minute warm-up. I managed to do more than 925m! - I'm not the best at length counting! It was a reasonably hard slog and the water was a tad chilly today.

The usual promenaders were there...I reckon I travel more distance then I think getting around them.  There was also a grandmother and her grandson...between 4 and 6, I reckon.  She put an aquajogger belt on him and had him trying to swim up and down...in 4.4m deep water. I was worried he was going to slip out of the belt.  Initially he was terrified and crying.  He got a bit better but I think he felt much happier when she took him into the recreational swimmers lane which is 1.5m deep at the end. They were a chore to get round since they were side by side.

I'm getting slightly less tolerant of the people who are not really getting in the spirit of aqua-jogging....the ones who breast stroke slowly up and down.  I get whacked with their hands when I try to pass and the sign saying "Aqua-jogging lane - aqua-jogging only".  They should be in the slow swimming lane.  In fact I've only seen two other people actually doing anything resembling aqua-jogging.  One was a woman with no belt....huge kudos to her. The worse thing is when they wander in the middle of the lane because there is no room to pass on either side.  We need an aqua-jogging cop.  "Pull over swimmer!  Good morning madam, are you aware you are doing the breast stroke?  Did you see the sign back there?  Would you please accompany me to the slow swimmers' lane."

I'm having a mixed bag of experiences in the changing rooms. It is no fun juggling shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and crutches to the shower...there is a real danger of losing your towel.  Streaking from the locker to the shower is best performed by clients of the local plastic surgeons and is only then barely tolerated. If I don't take the crutches the crippled hobble is not much more dignified.  I also must remember to vet my underwear!  Appropriate underwear is essential in a Newmarket changing room.  Underwear that snuck in the washing machine with the new black jeans is not appropriate. It looks Bridget Jonesish!  All underwear should match,  it should have a requisite amount of lace and it should have intact elastic. 

Bad day!

Not running has made me a little bitter. Today was a rest day from pool running so I had little to work my anger out on. So it was a bad day for Simon to go to brunch and a) not tell me and b) not check why I wasn't there.

Finally at 1:30pm he arrived home. I was not a happy camper. It felt quite depressed....didn't even want to sneak off and do an extra DWR session.

Health and safety warning:

If someone is injured to the extent they can do very little, DO not do anything that might anger them.

On the bright side, I've found an intensive 9 week DWR (Deep Water Running) program. It has DWR 5 days a week and cross-training if able.....which I'm not. So now I'm happy-ish! At least I have a focus and feel like i'm not blindly treading water.

I've ordered a bouyancy belt so I won't have to hire the pool's ones which are always adjusted for huge abdomens. And so I penguin on....penguins fly in water, right!

Pool running!

Since I can't walk, can't run and can't bike and have a pathological fear of swimming I needed to find something to stop me from killing every runner I see.

The answer is pool running! Delicate petals refer to it as aqua jogging but I refuse to. I am going hard out so I'm running not jogging and I'm in a pool....pool running!

So what does my new sport involve? Basically I wear a bouyancy aid around my waist which by the miracle of science stops me sinking to the bottom of the 4.4m deep pool.....this is the woman with the pathological fear of deep water we're talking about! There is a lane for aqua jogging only so you don't have the annoyance issue. When I first tried it I spent 10 minutes in the Rec swimming lane so i could get used to rhe sendsation and still be able to touch the floor. Stepping into the unknown of the 4.4m deep pool ewas a real leap of faith! Once in the pool I move up and down in an exaggerated running motion. I managed 45 minutes today! I will get better. You can do most sorts of running workouts...apart from hills! It is quite boring going up and down up and down. There's no music playing in the pool and I have no waterproof ipod. Currently I use visualisation to keep me going but when I'm up to 2 hours or more I'll need something more!

You work really hard but your heart rate doesn't seem to get that high, you're cooler (no sweat!) and there's none of that impact! But you do end up feeling tired! Not muscle aching tired, just "Ooh it would be nice to curl up for a nap now" tired. You also seem to get a better upper body work out than with running due to the resistance of the water. Also if you pass close to a fast swimmer going in the opposite direction you get the added resistance of fighting their wake!

The people on the running machines in the gym overlooking the pool seem to find me very funny but as Lisa pointed out they are running and getting nowhere so who are they to laugh! at least I get to race elderly Asian ladies.

I'm planning to follow my Kepler training program in the pool so I'm going to spend a lot of time at the Olympic pool. I'll be there just about everyday up until my orthopod appointment and then see what happens. Either keep at it until I have surgery or if surgery is a no-go then I'll carry on! I guess I'll get used to the smell of chlorine which oozes out of your skin despite liberal use of body wash. I may have to invest in a waterproof mp3 player.

Long long runs will be fun! I guess I hop out of the pool every hour and hydrate (ha ha), eat something small, do a toilet stop and then back in. Currently I have to do two lengths every 8 with my arms tucked behind my back because they lose strength due to the fibromyalgia. But it means I concentrate on good technique while doing it so it's a win-win!