Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Lovely Soreness

After Saturday's great workout, tiredness Sunday and Schoolness monday kept me from a repeat effort. But tuesday I got myself ready for a full 12 hours away from home, and had a wonderful packed day. School and then class took me to 2pm, where I then headed to the gym for 1/2 an hour on the stairmaster (which somehow doesn't too badly aggrevate my calf) 15 minutes on the Elliptical (suprisingly, this is harder on it) and 20 minutes of fast walking (wohoo...I so wanted to run, but didn't). Lots of stretching then, and I got to try out a foam roller b/c one was at the gym. Wow!!! Those are cool! Plus I got a bit of an arm workout holding myself up, with the way I was using it (need to look up some directions online to see how far off I was). It did help, but made me more cognicant of the specific spot on my calf that is sore. I've put off calling a PT, hoping it'll just heal on its own, but I'm not sure how effective that strategy is. Thursday will be exactly 2 weeks since my last run. I might try something short this thursday to see how things are going and, if they still aren't better, then I'll call a PT.

I then went to 2 more hours of class, and to end the long day, jumped in the pool for a 40 minute evening swim (pool closed 1 hour after class ended, which put some serious limits on my time). Did 50 laps, which felt great. I did more freestyle and less breaststroke, since I'm so slow at the breaststroke. One of the things I really love about swimming is it works your whole body! I'm really not a huge fan of doing weights, but want a strong upper body, and this seems to be a good solution. I already feel like my arms are stronger :).

Still deciding if I am going to work out tonight, as I have a busy day with work, followed by the US Constitution test (anybody, ask me an ammendment! I know lots of random ones now, including the 16th ammendment which established Federal Income Tax and the 21st, which, ironically, repealed the 18th ammendment's prohibition of alcohol) that I have to pass to be allowed to teach. Then, a party with teaching people to celebrate taking this test. So, we'll see if working out after the party is a good idea. My calf is still a bit sore today, so it's possible I should take a break...

On the plus side, I've been having fun with online shopping, and got myself a swimsuit (the "learn to swim speedo swimsuit" - that's seriously what it's called- for those cheap swimmers who don't want to invest in a $80 suit!) for $35 including shipping, and new running shoes! ($95 and they gave me free shipping!). No stores around here carry my running shoes or I would have gone local, but it seems online is where I'll be getting my shoes for a while. They seem to have changed my running shoes back to the older design from the pictures, and they are cute! I'm excited :) Now I just need to be able to run again...

4 comments:

Rick Gaston said...

Nice going on the swimming. I like how you didn't want to spend $80 on a swim suit but spent $95 on a pair of shoes. Got your priorities right! Can't go cheaply on them shoes, especially if you've found what works for you.

I hope that calf comes around soon.

Dave - Atlanta Trails said...

What online store do you use, Addy?

Sarah said...

You are busy, busy, busy! Cool that you are still getting in your training. I use my foam roller nightly and sometimes it does seem like a core or upper body workout too. Hope you get some relief for you calf soon!

Soapin' Cindy said...

I love foam rollers! They really do work. Unfortunately, my children have warped it to total dysfunction from standing on it!