It seems that a lot of the ones on the market have a big thick part in the middle like this:
But I don't like that, it feels like it forces me forwards as it tries to levitate my back end. I like the ones that are totally straight like this:
Unfortunately, they are not quite as buoyant, and I sink pretty badly, so the one downside is that my head is pretty close to the surface of the water, instead of way above. Fortunately, my pool has a bunch of these (and the other kind) available to use, so I didn't have to buy one for this (hopefully!) temporary condition!!!
@Steve: Interesting, thanks for the insight! And that's amazing that you managed to push through that to snatch a BQ. Can't say that I'd want to do it the same way, but wow way to go!!!
@ Robin: The pool which I frequent has the first flotation belt you mention, and I have similar problems. In fact, I have a lot of difficulty getting it to stay on because the back end is so buoyant that it keeps slipping off. Maybe it's just too big for me, or I'm just too skinny? I'll have to experiment with other ones if I can.
Legs have felt pretty good all weekend and the plan called for a run today, so after my swim this morning I set out for my first land run in 6 weeks to see how the leg did. Run was SLOW (Z1+:50") but felt pretty good. About mid-afternoon I started to notice my leg a bit. So it's back to pool running for tomorrrows scheduled run. Think I will take it slow for the next couple weeks and see if I can baby step it back to full time land running. Hope to be doing all the scheduled runs on land by July 1. Thats 8 weeks until IM Canada. How much fitness can I make up in 8 weeks?
Steve - just been diagnosed with posterior tibialis tendiopathy, so it is to the water I go for my running just like you. I have been instructed not to run while it is swollen, which is is each and every day. I have all my professionals lined up for treatment and am confident that I will be running before my next race which is 5 weeks away. I hope you do not mind, but I am using you as a motivator.
@ Steve, you can make up a lot of run fitness in 8 weeks IMO. Especially when your really trying to climb back up to you Easy Pace IM run fitness, if that's what your after I'm guessing.
@Brenda, Oh noooo....sorry to hear....get better fast...
@Anson, I had a stress fracture back in '98 (I think) and it felt a little different than shin splints and what Steve described. I'm guessing the sensation could be different based on the location. Mine was lower leg, smaller bone. My major symptom was Throbbing at night while I layed in bed. I could run on the thing just fine and I kept going out to "test" it which was not a good thing. At night it would keep me up throbbing but it never really bothered me while I was running. So basically a deep bone throb was my symptom which can be dangerous since it wasn't hurting me while I was running which probably caused me to ignore it for longer than I should have. Took 6 or 7 weeks off completely and it healed up just fine. I try to be really respectful of weird bone type pains to this day and try to never really run through anything that hurts in that type of way. Muscle pain is good, anything else is probably worth slowing down, walking, skipping the workout, etc...anything to avoid a 6-8 week stand down or pool running, eeek..
Been following your posts Steve- you are very motivating!! Unfortunately my pool cut back thier lane swim hours so I have a hard time even getting there for my swim sessions, nevermind water running, so I'll try to keep up my very slow but steady progress running outside- ran 3.5 (continuous instead of my walk/run method) kms yesterday with my 5 year old daughter on her bike, she kept my pace down and I was able to make it through with no pain. First continuous run since January, yea!!! I am racing the Chinook Half in Calgary Saturday, not sure what the game plan is to survive the run past the 5 km mark- but ultimately I am training for IMC in August, so no stupid moves in the race, if I have to walk (or, heaven forbid DNF :-(...) so be it. I've worked pretty hard to get to the point I"m at, don't want to blow it now. 10 weeks left, I too am praying for a rebound in my run fitness before August 26th, if the foot cooperates. Hope your leg continues to heal!!
Are you taking any extra supplementation to help your body heal your fracture? I came across this podcast a few months ago and I found it really valuable. The fellow doing the interview has a blog I subscribe to, and this John Berardi he interviews had some good supplementation advice for injured athletes. Not everyone is into the supplementation route, but this advice was pretty low cost, easy to implement and it makes sense from a biological standpoint.
I posted the above videos to Marathon Nation and one of the gals responded with this:
I broke my foot and was out of the 2010 season. I Aqua Jogged not only in the pool but outside in the lake which was very peaceful. It definitely helped me think about form and kept me in running shape. I came back in 2011 season and had a PR at every race I did primarily because of improved running, FWIW. I would def do it again if I could not run.
There were three runs scheduled this week in the IM plan, I did two of them on land. Albeit a lot slower than I would have had I been healthy. Yesterday was a 110' long run and I made it 12.5 miles. 8 weeks ago I would have been ashamed to admit that, this week I am thrilled with a 8:50 pace. Later in the day I was stiff and a little sore but the stress fracture was fine, I am having more issue with the right Achilles right now. I think that I may have antagonized it while I was compensating for the stress fracture in the left leg. There was no run scheduled today, but I got in a 20' pool run after the scheduled swim just to get so e range of motion work in. The plan right now is to get at least two land runs in a week until I am healed and at least two pool swims a week for the therapeutic properties.
Great job Steve. I will start my water running plan next week. I have three intervals runs scheduled in the water. I will wait 3 weeks and then test out the ankle to see if the tendinitis can handle a 30 minute run. If I can not run long before my race I will just switch over to the swim/bike race and then continue to work on getting better for my next race in September.
Brenda- my thought process was, water run with NO land runs until i had no more pain in the injury area and then wait ONE more week to try it out. Even then that first run had quuite a bit of discomfort but by taking it slow I didn't antagonize it.
Running Update- I have left the pool running behind and am now full time outside running. The leg with the stress fracture is 90% but now I am suffering from an Achilles/Heal problem on the right foot. Probably from favoring the left leg for so many weeks. It's stiff without much range of motion and it a little painful for the first few miles of each run. I retested my Vdot last weekend and found it went from a 52 to a 41. (if my iPad could do emoticons I would insert a sad face here). So it looks like I start over with the run fitness, 8 weeks until IM Canada and I will test my run again on August 4th with the hopes that I can rebuild some of that pre-injury fitness. Goal for IMC is to run 4 hour run split. Secondary goal is to finish the damn thing.
Running Update- Plan called for a 60 min run, the old me would have probably covered 8 hilly miles in that time. The new me can only hope to cover 6-7 flat miles. But today after my first "warm up" mile I was able to hit 4 sub 8' miles. First time in 9 weeks that I have been able to run that fast. They weren't comfortable but they weren't horrible either. So I can see some light at the end of this long tunnel.
Well this sucks but looks like I'm joining the Aqua Running Camp! I was just diagnosed with a upper Gastroc tear and am not able to run for several weeks. With a HIM on Sept 30th, I have to try and build some run fitness. I had just started a 12 week plan prior to the injury, so longest I had ran was 5 miles :-0. Looks like this is going to be an interesting HIM!
Don't depair- it totally sucks, but take some of the advice in the column. Accept that this is not going to be the breakthrough seson maybe in terms of race times, but you can develop other things while you are healing, and work on a different weakness. I have been suffering from PF since January, and I've sort of come to realize it's been a mixed blessing- my bike has really improved this summer and I never would have focused on it so much if I was still running a lot. Water running is at least an option- good luck!!
@Scott- welcome to the water running club, although I have graduated to the land lovers club. I was in the water for 5 weeks while a stress fracture healed. It's boring but benefitial. Brenda Ross has a couple videos posted in this string, if you have questions about technique, watch those videos and then get going with it. I am running all on land now, but my pace is not back to normal, lost 11 Vdot points in the 9 weeks I was laid up, without water running it could have been worse.
Well 13 weeks post injury and I am running again. Did my 150 minutes run in prep for IM Canada, it wasn't as fast as I could have done in April but it felt good. I haven't been able to say that for a long time. Typically I would have done that run at a 8:00/mile pace but this run was done in a 8:50/ mile pace, I still have 5 weeks before Canada to get a little more fitness back. I will decide on the appropriate pace 2 weeks out.
Comments
It seems that a lot of the ones on the market have a big thick part in the middle like this:
But I don't like that, it feels like it forces me forwards as it tries to levitate my back end. I like the ones that are totally straight like this:
Unfortunately, they are not quite as buoyant, and I sink pretty badly, so the one downside is that my head is pretty close to the surface of the water, instead of way above. Fortunately, my pool has a bunch of these (and the other kind) available to use, so I didn't have to buy one for this (hopefully!) temporary condition!!!
@Steve: Interesting, thanks for the insight! And that's amazing that you managed to push through that to snatch a BQ. Can't say that I'd want to do it the same way, but wow way to go!!!
@ Robin: The pool which I frequent has the first flotation belt you mention, and I have similar problems. In fact, I have a lot of difficulty getting it to stay on because the back end is so buoyant that it keeps slipping off. Maybe it's just too big for me, or I'm just too skinny? I'll have to experiment with other ones if I can.
@Anson- Yea, I had to really turn myself inside out to finish under the 3:25 deadline.
@ Steve, you can make up a lot of run fitness in 8 weeks IMO. Especially when your really trying to climb back up to you Easy Pace IM run fitness, if that's what your after I'm guessing.
@Brenda, Oh noooo....sorry to hear....get better fast...
@Anson, I had a stress fracture back in '98 (I think) and it felt a little different than shin splints and what Steve described. I'm guessing the sensation could be different based on the location. Mine was lower leg, smaller bone. My major symptom was Throbbing at night while I layed in bed. I could run on the thing just fine and I kept going out to "test" it which was not a good thing. At night it would keep me up throbbing but it never really bothered me while I was running. So basically a deep bone throb was my symptom which can be dangerous since it wasn't hurting me while I was running which probably caused me to ignore it for longer than I should have. Took 6 or 7 weeks off completely and it healed up just fine. I try to be really respectful of weird bone type pains to this day and try to never really run through anything that hurts in that type of way. Muscle pain is good, anything else is probably worth slowing down, walking, skipping the workout, etc...anything to avoid a 6-8 week stand down or pool running, eeek..
Been following your posts Steve- you are very motivating!! Unfortunately my pool cut back thier lane swim hours so I have a hard time even getting there for my swim sessions, nevermind water running, so I'll try to keep up my very slow but steady progress running outside- ran 3.5 (continuous instead of my walk/run method) kms yesterday with my 5 year old daughter on her bike, she kept my pace down and I was able to make it through with no pain. First continuous run since January, yea!!! I am racing the Chinook Half in Calgary Saturday, not sure what the game plan is to survive the run past the 5 km mark- but ultimately I am training for IMC in August, so no stupid moves in the race, if I have to walk (or, heaven forbid DNF :-(...) so be it. I've worked pretty hard to get to the point I"m at, don't want to blow it now. 10 weeks left, I too am praying for a rebound in my run fitness before August 26th, if the foot cooperates. Hope your leg continues to heal!!
Are you taking any extra supplementation to help your body heal your fracture? I came across this podcast a few months ago and I found it really valuable. The fellow doing the interview has a blog I subscribe to, and this John Berardi he interviews had some good supplementation advice for injured athletes. Not everyone is into the supplementation route, but this advice was pretty low cost, easy to implement and it makes sense from a biological standpoint.
http://exercisesforinjuries.com/wp-...Part-1.mp3
I posted the above videos to Marathon Nation and one of the gals responded with this:
I broke my foot and was out of the 2010 season. I Aqua Jogged not only in the pool but outside in the lake which was very peaceful. It definitely helped me think about form and kept me in running shape. I came back in 2011 season and had a PR at every race I did primarily because of improved running, FWIW. I would def do it again if I could not run.
The plan right now is to get at least two land runs in a week until I am healed and at least two pool swims a week for the therapeutic properties.
Brenda heal fast and take it slow. No need to push.
Both of you keep up the great work.
Don't depair- it totally sucks, but take some of the advice in the column. Accept that this is not going to be the breakthrough seson maybe in terms of race times, but you can develop other things while you are healing, and work on a different weakness. I have been suffering from PF since January, and I've sort of come to realize it's been a mixed blessing- my bike has really improved this summer and I never would have focused on it so much if I was still running a lot. Water running is at least an option- good luck!!