The other day I was massaging my feet and realized that they haven’t hurt in a couple of weeks. I felt the familiar pang to go running, but I know better than that. So I thought about what I could possibly do to get back into exercising. Honestly, I have little desire to get on my road bike. I have not ridden it since Ironman and I’m sure that she’s kind of mad at me, but I just can’t do it yet. I thought about maybe going to a gym and trying out an elliptical machine, but I generally hate both the gym AND elliptical machines. Suddenly, it came to me… WALKING! Walking is a lower-impact form of running! I deemed myself brilliant at that moment and decided that I was going to get out into the cool, crisp, pre-winter air and go walking in the morning.
So this morning was my first walk and it felt really great. A friend was supposed to come with me, but after waiting for 10 minutes I decided to just go on my own. I have missed running along the river and just running in general. It felt so good to get outside. Here was my route:
For the past couple of weeks I have had a pretty nasty cold. My ear has gotten infected and it is taking quite a while to get better. It is because of this that I’m not in the pool. Pools + ear infections = bad news for me.
However, I hope to get back in the pool soon enough and with this walking stuff, I’m pretty excited to get back into training mode. That’s the beauty of taking time off – it really makes you want to get back into it. I am currently making goals for next season and planning out my off-season from January to April. I’m even starting to itch to get on the trainer, but I’m going to purchase some training DVDs so that I don’t get super bored right away. There’s plenty of time to get on the trainer… no need to rush it.
2 Responses to Back on the Wagon
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Walking is an excellent low impact exercise! A friend and I got up to about 15 miles weekly (one 10 mile and one 5 mile session) last year while I rehabed a hamstring injury. I remember the first day we went 5 miles. I was sore for about a week. So, just like running be sure to start slow and build up distance and pace gradually. Your running will be stronger for it, trust me.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that walking is so wonderful. I definitely love getting up to go walking in the morning. I will take your advice and start out slow. Thanks!