Thank you to everyone who sent me encouragement and words of wisdom over the last couple of weeks!
I’m still not feeling 100%, but I did get some really great tips about recovery (shout out to Judith and her recovery potion which I’ve been drinking non-stop)! And, yes, I did get back to some running.
One thing that really helped was moving part of this workout onto one of the RVC’s AMTs. An Adaptive Motion Trainer is kind of like an elliptical, a treadmill, and a stepper all rolled into one. And, best of all, it is low impact, which is kind of what my body needs right now.
Rebecca Mallary is RVC’s Events Coordinator and Assistant to the CEO. She is blogging for us weekly with tips, tricks, training, and survival tactics that will get her all the way to achieving her first half marathon on February 21, 2016.
Cast your vote for Becca’s Disney ensemble! Voting closes in Feb.
So, was it classic running? No. Was it cardio exercise and did it help to prepare my body for the half-marathon without exacerbating my injury? Yes!
Yes, I am training for a half-marathon, I’ve worked hard, and I want to run as much of it as possible on February 21st. None of that is disputable. But I also need to take care of and listen to my body, otherwise I might not make it through the race at all! Lucky for me, I work in a place full of people with great ideas about how to recover from an injury like this and still get as much of my race done as possible! And one of those incredibly smart people is my own trainer, JK!
So, while my current situation as its frustrations, I’m glad to be in the best hands possible. And I’m still determined to look cute, have fun, and rock that Disney Half-Marathon!
In the meantime, let’s chat about some other low-impact exercises I can do to help condition me for my race without hurting myself.
1) Swimming & Water Aerobics Being in the pool is a seriously awesome low-impact workout with a ton of benefits from strengthening your shoulders to improving your lung function. And if there is one thing you want when running a half-marathon? It is functioning lungs!
2) Cycling As long as your injury can handle it, hit up a spinning class! It’s a great cardio-conditioning workout with little to no impact! If you’re not sure you’re ready for a spin class (though, seriously you should try it if you haven’t), there are lots of run cycling routines online that you can try on your own. Such as this one!
3) Yoga & Pilates One of the most consistent things suggested to me for recovery, is yoga. Sure, you have to be careful not to stretch or twist in the wrong way and tweak your injury, but there are lots of benefits to these low-impact activities! For instance, core strength! Core strength, core strength, core strength. Your body will thank you once you start running again and your core is helping to reinforce the way your abs, hips, lower back, and pelvis work together!
4) TRX The TRX (or, as I like to affectionately call it, the t-rex), is that strap suspension system attached to the wall that you often see people using on the fitness floor or in the GTS. There are a ton of different movements and exercises you can perform with these bad boys – no matter how you might be injured, there will still be exercises for you. Even better, RVC offers TRX classes, so if you’re new to them you can learn from someone who knows what they’re doing!
5) Water running Apparently this is a thing and I am pretty excited to give it a try! You can run in the water for as man miles as you would on land with no impact on your body! And the resistance of the water makes it an awesome workout. Sure, treading water can be monotonous, but that pales in the face of the benefits! So, if anyone sees me in the pool for hours this week, that’s why! I will definitely report back on my water running experience next week!
So, if you’re like me and you’re kind of benched from your training, but don’t want to give up on your half-marathon dreams, try a few of these. I’m definitely going to!
Countdown to Half-Marathon: 11 days!! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
Mood: Encouraged that I’ll finish even it might not be fast or pretty.
Longest Distance Run: 8 miles.
Number of Workouts Last Week: 3 (two “running”, one tennis)
Goal for This Week: Finalize my costume and just keep training!
