And Now for Something Completely Different...

This morning I started officially cross training because I have finally admitted to myself that I am injured and the way I've been training has not gotten me the results I'd like to see.

So this morning I went over to the pool and ran for an hour with my friend Connie. I got my butt out of bed at 6, groggy as hell, but I did it.

Connie and I did a bike ride together on Saturday and she mentioned the pool thing again. I know she does pool running regularly and I have never gotten off my lazy butt to go over to the pool and do it myself, thinking, since I wasn't injured, I didn't need to.

Connie, on the other hand, is still rehabbing a serious injury- last spring she was riding her bike and crashed, landing on her hip and shoulder, broke the top of her femur, and damaged tendons in her shoulder. She is doing well and is able to run a little, but she's on the bike, in the pool, and walking mostly. She gets all the hardware taken out next month.

I used to swim when I was in graduate school and I also used to run in the pool back in the days before I started doing ultras when I was always injured. But maybe I should have been doing it all along.

Yesterday I spent a while searching before I found my swim goggles and my swimsuit. The goggles were buried in an avalanche of Badwater gear. In the past twenty years I've only used swim goggles for sandstorms in the desert.

The swimsuit hasn't had much use, either. Fortunately I could still fit in it! I did not have a swim cap and I bought one this morning after our pool run. I ran with Connie in circles in the deep end for an hour and could have kept going but thought I might want to see how this feels on my hamstring before I start pushing it. So far, feels okay.

After the run, I felt incredible. I get such an endorphin high after being in the water. I remember that feeling after swimming, too. I decided I'm going back to it, even if only once a week for now. I didn't swim today, but I'd like to do some of that again, too.

I'm thinking maybe I can get more benefit out of the Tabata workouts if I do them in the pool or on the bike. I really think that's how I injured the hamstring, the Tabata sprints were too intense for my slow legs.

The flowers haven't slowed down, even with the slightly shorter days and cooler temperatures we've been having.

I'm stretching and strengthening the hamstring now and I need to figure out a training program, but it's all going to have to wait until September, I need to get through the next few weeks and then vacation, and then I'll be ready to stick to something. For now, I'm enjoying the buzz.