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Pool Running

Several months ago as I was training for the St. Jude Marathon I started having knee pain when I would run. The pain would occur when my foot made impact with the road. I never went to the doctor to get it checked out but I learned it is tendinitis. The best way to handle tendinitis is rest. F- that! I don't want no stinking rest, I wanna run! But the more I tried to run through it the worse it got.

Then a friend at the gym told me I needed to try pool running. She hooked me up with her friend that does water aerobics and I learned how to run in the pool. There is no impact. You wear a belt that keeps you floating and you basically just simulate running.

At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy it. I am not a very good swimmer and it did seem like it would be kinda boring. I really love to workout to music. Actually I love to do everything to music. Right now I'm listening to music as I type. (I'm listening to 10 Years in case you were wondering) But I was introduced to H2O Audio and it changed everything. I can listen to my iPod while I'm in the pool and that is just freaking awesome!

Before my marathon I was pool running once or twice a week. It helped a ton. Leading up to and during the race I had no pain. I also wear straps that keep my knee stable when I run but the pool running kept my from putting too much pressure on my knee. After the marathon I stopped running in the pool and sure enough I have been having more pain.

Lately I have had to ice my knee everyday, even if I didn't run that day. This week I had two great workout days in a row that left my knee in a lot of pain. I knew I either had to take a day off........or I could run in the pool. Of course I took the pool idea. And now today I feel great. I didn't have to ice after my workout. I didn't have to ice before I went to work. I feel great!

Since you are running under water and there is no impact you are working against the resistance of the water. That is good for strengthening. An added bonus that you get from pool running is the core workout you get. You have to keep your body upright the whole time so your core is engaged and you really feel it the next day after your first workout.

So I have come to the conclusion that I really need to make sure to get at least one day of pool running in every week. I absolutely love running outside but I need to realize that sometimes I need to take care of my body and find ways to work more efficiently.
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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 3, 2012 at 1:45 AM

    First, you're not a good swimmer? Cmon now, I'll let you slide with that one. Tendinitis is a HUGE deal. This is gonna seriously test you're mental strength. If something you actively have control of is causing you pain, you're mind will urge you to stop, constantly. Sorta like when my body tells me, NOT ONE MORE SITUP! The difference, however, is the kind of pain. I've grown to LIKE the pain from a strenuous muscle workout. Tendinitis is a different animal. I'll be monitoring your progression and hopefully not your recession. Later

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