Mile Markers: Out of the Boot

In terms of workouts, last week was a good week. My ortho cleared me for cross-training and I eagerly took advantage my first full week of exercise in over six weeks. It was a stressful week in other respects, which made me even more grateful I could cross-train. 

Monday: 30 min/1000 yd swim

I visited my orthopedist on Monday morning. After a disappointing experience with the first ortho, I found an ortho who specialized both in foot/ankle fractures and was affiliated with the local university’s D1 sports teams. This ortho treated me as an injured runner, rather than just treating my injury.

My x-rays showed a healthy callus forming. The ortho told me to spend two weeks cross-training – swimming and the bike – as I gradually transitioned out of the boot. Walking around the house with no boot is one of my primary forms of rehab right now. I am slowly reloading my foot and teaching the bone to handle impact again. I want to introduce load to teach the bone to handle impact.

After two weeks, I can start back with short run-walk intervals every other day, gradually increasing the run duration as I go. Once I can run pain-free, I can ski, snowshoe (walk and run) , lift lower body weights, and return to my normal training. My ortho did say I was the first person to ever ask him about snowshoeing as part of a recovery timeline. 

I swam in the evening, doing repeating 100ms. It was a sloppy, slow swim. My breathing was all out of whack and my form was horribly inefficient, but it felt good to move. 

Tuesday: 30 minutes spin & mobility work

I don’t really like the spin bike. I give huge props to anyone who does, because it feels uncomfortable and monotonous to me. I did 30 minutes worth of intervals followed by the mytrl routine.  

Wednesday: 40 min pool run & 10 min swim

Pool running sounded appealing on Wednesday, so that’s exactly what I did. This was my first full length pool running workout ever and I actually really enjoyed it. I pool ran easy for 10 minutes, did 10 x 1 min hard, 1 min easy, and cool downed with 10 minutes easy. After the pool ran, I swam laps for about 10 minutes. 

Pool running made me feel much better about my fitness level. Spinning and swimming had been slightly discouraging, although I have never been a skilled swimmer or adept cyclist. I felt strong during the pool runs, which made me feel more optimistic about my post-fracture fitness level. 

After the workout, I realized I had worn a the child size AquaJogger. The most embarrassing part was it fit me better than the classic size, so I wore it again for the rest of the week. 

Thursday: 45 min pool run

I returned to the pool for another deep water running workout. Since I ran hard intervals the day before, I kept this workout more moderate. I warmed up for 10 minutes, repeated 1 minute harder, 1 minute easy, and 3 minutes moderate for 25 minutes, and then cooled down for 10 minutes.

Friday: Rest day

I took the dogs on a boot-free walk to the dog park to play in the snow. 

Saturday: 55 min pool run

This was a really enjoyable and satisfying workout. I did a ladder workout. After 15 minutes of easy pool running to warm up, I ran 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 minutes hard, with 1 minute easy in between, and then cooled down until I reached 55 minutes. Hard intervals not only help keep my heart rate up enough for a good workout – they also make the pool running more fun. 

Sunday: 40 minutes strength training

I knew I needed to strength train at some point this week. I was so excited to do cardio that I neglected strength throughout most of the week. I can’t do any squats, lunges, or deadlifts until I am able to run (two weeks from getting out of the boot). Instead, I focused on core work, upper work, and glute/hip exercises.

Bicep curls to shoulder press
Reverse dumbbell flyes
Bent over rows
Banded lateral walks
Banded monster walks
Resistance band deadbugs
Side plank twists
Banded clamshells
Banded lying glute kickbacks
Mytrl routine

Linking up with Weekly Wrap! 

[Tweet “After six weeks in a boot, a full week of cross-training including pool running via @thisrunrecipes #crosstraining”]

Have you ever pool run?
What’s your go-to cross-training workout?
How was your week in running?