Pool Running

My PT told me last night that I have to lay off the running for a little while because my knee is still tightening up at the 15-20 minute mark. She said I can do pretty much everything else but run (since this is the only exercise that seems to bother my knee). Last night, I worked out on the elliptical machine for 20 mins, stretched for 15 mins and then into the pool I went for 30 mins. I tried something new in the pool. I had read about and watched on television injured athletes using the pool to help them stay fit while trying to heal properly. I had seen aquatic treadmills and how they helped injured runners. Since my pool does not have one of these nifty treadmills in it, I thought “why don’t I just try running laps in the pool?”. My pool is 24 meters long so I figured a few times running back and forth would be good. After I swam a couple of laps, I took my goggles off and proceeded to run to the other end of the pool. At first I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere. The resistance from the water is pretty strong. I also started in the deeper end of the pool which made it harder. Once I got the hang of it, I began to feel the workout. It was pretty neat. I barely felt any impact on my knee but I could feel the muscles in my legs burn as I ran laps. My arms got an amazing workout because I had to really pump them through the water. I made sure to really use my arms in these runs because I knew the water resistance would make them work. I noticed how much more I was focusing on my posture. My running posture is terrible. I always try to relax my shoulders and keep my back straight but then I forget and before I know it, I’m hunched over, which makes for awful looking race photos! In the pool, I kept my back straight and shoulders relaxed. After a couple of pool running laps, I felt the fatigue which meant my muscles were working. I switched up the pool workout and alternated between swimming and running. I did not have any knee pain (thanks to the lack of pounding). My PT said I can pool run as long as it does not give me pain so I’m definitely going to incorporate pool runs into my workouts. Oh how I love trying something new.


Funny story: A couple of days ago, I was home running on my treadmill (this was before the PT cut me off from running). My cat, Duvel (aka “Duvey” who is named after the Belgian beer), likes to hang around when I’m on the treadmill. He usually lays in front staring up at me with his tail going back and forth slapping the ground. I didn’t realize that he had gotten up during my run and walked to the side of the treadmill. All of a sudden, I heard a couple of “thumps” and then a nail scratching sound and then a “smack”. Then I saw Duvey bolt across the room. The poor kitty had tried to get up on the treadmill with me and didn’t realize it was moving, so off he was thrown into the wall behind me. I think he was shaking up a little after that because he laid far from the treadmill afterwards and began to groom himself. He was cleaning himself up after his nasty fall. In the end, he was completely fine. Cats really do have nine lives…maybe more.


Well I hope everyone has a happy holiday full of good food, good wine and good cheer! I’m off to make some eggplant rolatini and tiramisu cake..yummmm. (I know I don’t look it, but I’m a quarter Italian)