Hit the Pool!

Last night I did an easy 4 miler with my roommate and for some reason, my legs were not feeling it. My shin splints flared up and the tendons behind my right knee were tweaking. I refuse to get bummed out by this though. After the run I did a soak with epsom salts and then slipped on my hot pink Recovery Socks. Today my legs felt fresher, but I have yet to run again. Since marathon no. 3 is in just 10 days (!), I'm taking it as easy as possible and pampering my legs as much as I can.

So after class today my friend and I hit the pool for a little cross-training. I haven't swum for a while, so it felt good to be back. Although as soon as I start swimming, I'm immediately reminded how hard it is for me and how quickly I get tired : / My friend Linda is an awesome swimmer and has offered to "coach" me a bit to improve my technique. It's not so much that I don't know how to swim...it's more like my technique is inefficient. Tonight, however, I wanted to focus on endurance. I tend to stop a lot when swimming laps because I get so out of breath and tired, so I worked on doing 500m with as few stops as possible. I really had to push myself, but I did much better than usual. Then I did 250m working on my kick and 250m with my arms while Linda gave me some tips to work on. Honestly, I was pretty darn exhausted by the end and SO ready to soak in the hot tub : )

From reading Born to Run I've really been swayed by the idea of barefoot running. I've been doing some research, and I've decided to start very very gradually incorporating it into my running routine. The first step: start walking around sans shoes. So today I channeled my inner child and ditched the shoes. Despite a few weird looks, it was great! After I get used to walking barefoot, I'm going to start doing short and easy runs at track. Hopefully when I have a little spare cash I can invest in some Vibrams, but I definitely want my next shoe to be more minimalist. I'm excited to see where this takes me : )