Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a great weekend. So I left off on Friday with my training update, my IT band issues and not knowing what was going to happen with my long run this weekend!
On Friday I decided I’d go for a 1 mile run to see how my IT band was feeling, and I also wanted to try out swimming as a way of cross-training. I’d been inspired by both Meghann and Lindsay, feeling jealous of their swimming! I swam laps once last year, and before that I haven’t swam since Spring of 2007 when I was getting my lifeguard certification. Lol, so I didn’t know what to expect other than I knew it would be fun because I love to swim!
I started off on the treadmill (yes, I ran in a swimsuit with a Tshirt and shorts over it…) and my mile went just fine! I kept changing incline and speeds to really test out my leg and see how it would go. It felt fine the whole run, so I was feeling good!
Then I headed to the pool and started swimming laps. I had a BLAST! I started off swimming 50m (down and back) and then upped it to 100m, with a few seconds break. But really I didn’t feel the need to rest too much, clearly running helped out my cardio. I wanted to go a mile (1600m) but Lindsay told me to take it easy if I was going to run the next day so I opted to end at 1200m.
I tried to take the laps easily, but, let’s be honest, I get a little competitive… Haha so clearly I had to beat the man in the lane next to me (and yes, I did, although I don’t think he caught on to my competition…).
I would also like to note that 1) I didn’t realize my goggles had stickers on the lenses until about halfway through my laps and 2) I tried to leave the pool but accidentally went into a maintenance closet and then looked like an idiot trying to find the door to the women’s locker room. Several men in the hot tub were laughing… I do what I can.
After texting back and forth with my cousin, I decided it would be best to wait one more day, until Sunday, for my long run. I had ended up walking about 3-4 miles on Friday running errands and I could tell my IT band was a little sore. My cousin was running Sunday too, so I promised her I’d take Saturday off and be smart!
One of those errands I ran was buying new shoes! I’d had a pair of Asics since May and was told it’s about time for some new shoes. When I went into Fleet Feet the guy who helped me said they looked pretty worn down, and that IT band issues often come up with worn down shoes. After trying a few different shoes I decided to get the same shoe, just the upgraded version: The GT 2170. I wanted to get this shoe because I felt the most comfortable in it, especially since it’s counterpart got me this far in training!
Yay!!!
**Added in this morning: I talked again with my cousin last night and decided to just skip this week’s 14 miler all together. My type-A stubborn personality is dying on the inside right now, I missed 28 miles this week. TWENTY EIGHT. That’s a lot of miles in my head, but it was less than a full week of training. Deep breaths. I’m trying to stay calm and cool because I know this is the right choice but I’m still freaking out on the inside. I’m hopefully meeting up with her early tomorrow morning to knock out 8 (she’s doing 10) so hopefully all will go well!
Do you ever swim laps?
What’s your favorite shoe?
If you’ve run a marathon, please reassure me that missing 1 cutback week is fine…