A New Kind of Soreness

Friday afternoon, I worked out with my trainer for the first time. I suppose I wanted to make a good impression so I really pushed myself to do as many reps as I could of every exercise he wanted me to do. From our initial consult, he knew that my biggest goal is to qualify to run Boston. To do that, first and foremost, I need to build a stronger core.

I did a 1/2 mile easy run on the treadmill to warm-up as Kyle finished up with another client. He then had me start out doing some lateral movements, jumping in and out of a series of hoops on the ground. We then moved on to a variety of exercises that alternated the use of the kettle ball, medicine ball or body weight (squats, lunges, etc.). I used a machine for only 2 exercises, one of which simulated the motion of cross-country skiing. Balance was also a key to many of the exercises so I was either on one leg or on a balance ball. Fun stuff!

The best part, for me at least, is that the space is very open - not much equipment - and they are very accepting of children. In fact, he has twins the same age as my little guy. As I was not able to find a sitter - he was cool with allowing the kids to play with much of the same equipment that I was using. It was fun to strength train right along side them.

That evening, though I hadn't really run in nearly 4 weeks, my right heel really flared up. I massaged & iced it periodically throughout the evening. By morning it was still tender but I could walk. By Saturday evening, however, I started to hobble and moan with pain - not from my heel (that remained the same - about a 1-2 on the pain scale) but from the rest of my body. I got so sore!

I stretched as often as I could - though I am certain, not enough. I rested. By Sunday, I was able to go for our usual family walk but not comfortable enough to do a strength training workout as Kyle had suggested. I told myself, tomorrow.

Tomorrow came. Still quite sore. I went to the pool for my usual Masters swim and it felt great! The aerobic workout really helped to get movement back and get the blood flowing. I had hoped to find time in the evening to do some strength training, but a las, it didn't happen again.

Today, I plan to go for a run with Buddy in the jogger while Sweetie is in Mandarin class. The other mommies will be joining me - I'm hoping we make it a regular thing as their class meets 2x a week (TR) for 90 minutes right now. Come June, the class will be 3 hours so we'll be able to get in a solid, moderate to long run. I even borrowed a single jogger from a friend and will be selling my double, as Sweetie prefers to accompany me on her bike now and occasionally (depending on the length of the run) in her own running shoes!

OSN: The pool was set-up on long course - always intimidating at first glance but I actually prefer it this way, particularly for long sets. 400 m warm-up, 400 m w/ fins, 4 x 50 m backstroke drill, 3 x 300 m free descending, 100 m backstroke cool-down ==> 2000 m total