Now I'm a water runner

Upon completion of the shortest run ever, it has now been decided that there will be no more actual running until I exit T2 on October 10th. Nobody has any idea why my foot still hurts this much, and my consistent denial doesn't seem to be speeding up the healing process. You know, my typical approach to things: if I ignore it long enough, maybe it will just go away. Well, so far, that hasn't worked out so well. Friday was set to be a non-running day anyway although I wound up quite sore that evening due to a massage with a woman I hadn't been to before. I found it somewhat ironic that a woman with almost zero grip in a handshake gave me the deepest, most painful massage I had ever received. In a good way, though. She was particularly fond of this one spot around my left shoulderblade which she just kept going back to and digging into again and again and again to the point where it hurt until the next morning. She also loved destroying my incredibly tight calf muscles.

But anyway, this was supposed to be about water running. The adventure began with a trip to Sports Authority to pick up one of those flotation devices embarrassingly referred to as the "Aqua Jogger". I had been told I'd be water running, not aqua jogging. Fortunately, they had a few there and I was able to at least have the right equipment. The only downside was that when I finally took it out of the box I saw that it was marked with a L/XL on it. Wait, these things come in different sizes? Admittedly, I am not the smallest person, but considering the types of people you'd probably be most likely to find "aqua jogging" it seemed a tad unlikely that I'd be considered an XL among them. Fortunately, I was able to pull the belt tight enough to get it around my waist, there just happens to be an awful lot of extra slack.

Yesterday, Saturday, was the first day I'd have to try it. It was set to be a somewhat interesting day. Saturday of course is usually long ride day, but this being a lower volume week I "only" had to ride for 3:30, then "run" for 1:15. It was also set to be an incredibly cold morning, in the 30's with possibilities of frost. My sister and some of my friends were running a local half marathon that I wanted to go watch. So what I decided to do was to start really early on the trainer, so I could start while it was still dark and stay much warmer since it is unlikely that it will be in the 30's in Kona in 2 weeks. Then I'd grab my water running gear and head over to Silver Lake to get my water run in. The convenient thing about this plan was that the Silver Lake parking lot also happened to be the parking area used for the race.

After my first long trainer ride in a while, during which time I thought a lot about how much of that I'll have to do when training for IM Utah, I grabbed my stuff and headed over to the lake. I was convinced that I'd spend an hour and fifteen minutes shivering. I parked the car about 45 minutes before the race start and headed over to the water. It was definitely still chilly, but there was not a cloud in the sky, so that helped. Silver Lake is only maybe a half-mile across, if that, so it's not the kind of place I'd have to worry about boat traffic. On went the belt and off I went into the water.

The water was a lot warmer than the air and I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was. I waded out until I couldn't touch the bottom anymore, and I started "running". Ok, it was weird. I'm not sure I ever really got used to it. It felt almost more like faking a biking motion than a running motion. There were two things that I kept thinking about: how hard it was to get my heart rate up, and how legitimately hot I was. Oh, and I guess I was also hoping that not too many people would see me out there and wonder what the heck I was doing. I pumped my legs and arms wildly trying to hit my newly determined water running heart rate zones. My quads were burning and it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Sweat was pouring down my face and I found myself dunking my head in the water rather than trying not to get my face wet as I figured I'd be doing on that chilly morning.

It went by a whole lot faster than I thought it would. The best part was that the half marathon course actually went right by the lake. I was somewhere around mile 4 and spent close to an hour without anything to look at, but eventually got to see the racers come by and even got to say hi to my friends who knew to look for me there since I told them my plans. Of course when it was time to get out there was a woman playing with her dog on the beach, when for almost the entire time there was nobody. I really didn't want anyone to see me exiting the water with a wetsuit and this stupid floatie belt on. I'm 30, not 90. But anyway, I got my stuff together and got on my bike to ride just the mile and a half or so up to the high school to watch the finishers come in. This was the Applefest half marathon that I've run once before. It's really a great race if you can work it into your schedule. Unfortunately for me lately, it just hasn't worked. The best part of the whole thing aside from the fact that the weather is usually absolutely perfect is that they serve apple crisp at the finish line. I can't tell you how badly I wanted some yesterday. I tried to remind myself that at least it wasn't warm apple crisp, otherwise I would've been in real trouble. Apple crisp is definitely on "the list" for after Kona.

I ran into my brother-in-law and my niece and we got a nice spot to watch the finishers come in and wait for my sister. She was a bit slower than last year, but she said she felt good and seemed in good spirits, so congratulations, Katy, on another half marathon! Now you just have to find another one to run and do even better.

So the first water run was a success, I guess, except for a too-low heart rate. Attempt #2 was today. First up this morning was a 90-minute easy spin which I again opted to do on the trainer because it was raining and cold outside. I only had to "run" for 20 minutes. Now, to water run apparently you need to not be able to touch the bottom. The pool I swim in for workouts is I think 5' at its deepest, which certainly doesn't do it for me. So lakes are going to be my go-to, even though it's almost October and I am running out of time. However, I happened to notice that my grandmother's backyard pool is for some reason actually still open. I'm not sure it's ever been open this late in the season, but given its convenient location, right next door, I'm glad it is.

After my ride that was spent watching the poignant MTV documentary Return to Fat Camp, I put on my swimsuit and walked over in the rain and temps right around 50. I decided to forgo the wetsuit since it probably would've taken me at least 20 minutes to get it on after being so sweaty from the trainer and I thought I'd be fine for just a 20-minute water run. Again, I don't like to be seen when doing stupid stuff like this, and figured at 8am on a rainy Sunday morning I'd be safe. Even Nana might still be in bed and doesn't make much of a habit of looking out the back window. But of course I ran into one of my uncles who was headed over to get something at Dunkin' Donuts. He offered to get me something, and of course I had to decline. I think the only thing I'd be able to get from there aside from the bottled water is green tea with nothing in it, and frankly, at this point, I'd rather have nothing.

I had thought that given that the water was warmer than the air it might actually feel pretty good. I was wrong. The thermometer read 66 and even though the air was colder, the water felt no better. I immediately regretted my decision not to wear the wetsuit, but I wasn't going back to get it now, so I just got in and started moving. Yep, it was cold. And I found myself doing these sort of small circular laps in the deep end, feeling a lot like a hampster on one of those wheels. But of course I survived all 20 minutes again at too low of a heart rate, and thankfully realized that I only have to water run in the cold northeast 4 more times before I head to the warmth of Hawaii.

Hot shower, built a fire in the wood stove and now I plan on soaking up the last day of my "rest" week. I'm still trying not to think about my foot too much, because if I do I just get increasingly frustrated with its refusal to get better. I'm going to see another doctor on Wednesday who is apparently a world-renowned podiatrist who just happens to practice in my home town. We'll see if he has any good news for me. If he doesn't, well, I still will only have to get through that second weekend in October. The time off is inevitable either way. The news will likely just determine if I'll be finishing in daylight or not.