Yesterday’s Workout – Pool Running and Swimming

Total Time Pool Running: 01:00:51

Total Time Swimming: 20:05

October is going to be gone before I know it! I can’t believe how quickly it is flying by, probably has something to do with all the traveling we’ve been doing lately!

First off some good news, the Marine Corps Marathon is ON!!

They posted this on their Facebook page this morning. I am so happy for all the runners (Mine included)!

This really is one of our favorite marathons. It is called the “People’s Marathon” for a reason and is so well done. It is the only larger marathon I can go to the start line with my husband and stand with him until the gun goes off.

According to their website, next year there will be a lottery system to get into it since it has become so popular.

This weekend will be our first weekend at home in 2 weeks. I doubt there will be much going on since my husband has his medical board exam next week, but I am excited to relax!

Friday is here again – which means another installment of Five Things Friday!

Today I want to focus on something I just started – Pool Running. I did my first pool running workout yesterday, and call me crazy but I kind of loved it! It reminds me a lot of mentality you have to have to run on treadmills for a long period of time, and we know I have done that once or twice.

I think another reason I enjoyed it so much is because it is the closest I have been able to come to running and the longest workout I have been able to do in weeks since my femoral stress fracture injury.

Here are five tips I came up with for beginner pool runners.

1. Have the right gear.

The most important item for pool running is the Buoyancy Belt.

(source)

This helps to keep your head above water and works pretty much as a flotation device.  There are some people that pool run while touching the ground, however, since the goal of my pool running is to put little to no force on my leg I opted to use the belt to keep me off the ground.

My gym actually has many of these to use, but if yours doesn’t you can purchase one for around $25-$30.

2. Bring music along with you.

I didn’t have music on my first go at pool running, and next time I will be sure to do this!

The husband and I share a waterproof iPod Shuffle that we got from WaterFi.

We also have some waterproof headphones that I have yet to try out!

I am actually going to have a full review on this coming up hopefully very soon!

Just like with treadmill running, music helps the time go by so much quicker! I really didn’t think it was too bad today without it, but look forward to having this next time. I let the husband use it today.

3. Have a plan.

I spent most of last night reading up on pool running and looking at different workouts.

After I had read so many options I went into the pool and decided just to come up with the workout as I went along, but knew that I wanted to include intervals.

This was the final workout I went with:

The entire workout will take just over an hour. Of course you could shorten the warm up and cool down to make it shorter if you wanted.

The great thing about pool running is paces really don’t matter. Easy is simply a normal comfortable speed and hard is pretty much as fast as you can go.

The key is to make sure that the “hard” intervals are getting your heart rate up.

4. Break it up.

I went into my first pool running workout with the idea that I would break it up.

I was going to do 20 minutes pool running and then do 20 minutes of swimming (2x).  As I got into the workout I realized I actually was enjoying it so opted to do 1 hour of pool running followed by 20 minutes of swimming.

I wore my Polar FT4 simply to track the time while I was in the pool. The hour honestly flew by.

I took off my Aqua Belt and proceeded to swim for 20 minutes. I swear this seemed like it took longer than the hour of running.

The key with any workout is to be able to switch it up when you body needs it. If you just can’t get into a workout, then break it up. I have noticed that my body gets used to certain forms and types of training and gets bored. I always try to find new workouts or ways to switch it up to keep my body guessing.

5. Work on your form.

I am still working to get the right form but that keys when pool running are:

1. Keep your feet flat (aka don’t point your toes).

2. Try to mimic your running form as closely as possible.

I noticed that it felt kind of like I was pedaling a bike.  I tried to bring my knees up as much as I could and focused on pushing down with my feet. 

3. Use your arms.

Just like if you were running outside, continue to use the same arm movements in the water.

 

I look forward to learning a lot more about pool running as I continue, but I would highly recommend it to anyone coming back from injury or just looking for a great cross training exercise!

Have you ever tried pool running? Did you enjoy it?