No Running–Week 4 Recap

Okay, this is no running business is starting to get hard….

I miss running. BUT, instead of being a negative Nancy, I got my butt in the gym last week to get my workout on in other ways.

Screen Shot 2015-12-27 at 8.12.46 PM

#igotthis

Monday was my first day of vacation (aka: no work and kids still in school) and I did some Christmas shopping, got in some good walking, and wondered why I didn’t wear a pedometer or something.

I met one of my running buddies at the gym Tuesday morning for my first official attempt at swimming . We were there for a good hour and I learned how to put on a water cap and goggles, swim without plugging my nose with my hand, and the 1-2-3 breathe method. I felt like a rockstar when I finished because I felt like I accomplished so much–and I had!

I abhor wearing bathing suits so getting in one is something huge for me; I went in knowing absolutely nothing about swimming and managed to freestyle swim without looking completely ridiculous; opening my eyes underwater and swimming without plugging my nose were things I just never did. It took a while for me to get used to trusting the goggles and practice not breathing/swallowing in water but after a while, I managed to somewhat get it down. I was SO thankful for my patient friend T–I would never have attempted the feat on my own.

12366418_1003677153029919_6746476693784032120_n

Wednesday I met up with the same friend at the gym. Technically I was supposed to wait for my check-up on Monday for bike clearance but I’m pretty confident I’ll get it so I went with her to spin promising myself I would take it easy–especially whenever I had to stand on the bike.

And I was completely fine. Still no pain and I def took it easy–so much so, I felt like the instructor was pointing me out when she yelled, “If you’re not dying then you’re not riding hard enough!” I wanted to tell her I was new (and injured), lol!

Sssh! My first time spinning!

Sssh! My first time spinning!

I was back in the pool Thursday and I felt like the honeymoon was over. I had left Tuesday feeling good about how I’d done with my swimming attempts but that morning, I felt like I had regressed. I wasn’t breathing correctly, my butt/hips were sinking, and my strokes were all over the place. We practiced a few things to help correct them and then jumped in the hot tub to recover. I was pooped!

12449239_10105764797047401_433927644_o

It was Christmas Eve and my kids left Santa cookies and carrots for his reindeer. My little guy wanted to eat Santa’s cookies sooooo bad.

12373212_10105753431454141_7104604463020589463_n

Pleeeeease Mommy!!??

Fridays are my usual rest days and I did just that. It was a nice relaxed Christmas and we hung out in our jammies all day. It was perfect.

10177852_10105754471479921_1456480989144836161_n

My Christmas present to Mom ❤ #adeletickets

And I did do a one minute plank before bed too 😀

My husband ran his 16 miler Saturday morning like the machine that he is–he’ll be running Phoenix Marathon–and I hung out with the kids all morning. I did a short arm/upper body workout before bed and called it a day. I’ve been looking at some good, short routines I could do at home to work my upper body. Any recs?

Sunday I was back at the pool. My friend T, and two other buddies joined me and we worked on a few things to help with my breathing and strokes. After a few tries, I felt improvement and that made me feel better. Swimming is hard. I like hard, but I also like feeling like I’m at least progressing and not wasting people’s time. My friends are amazing and would never feel that way, but you guys know what I mean.

My first check-up is Monday, today, and I’m nervous. I never felt any pain so it’s hard for me to gauge if my injury has been improving. I’m just hoping whatever he sees on the x-rays shows things are going the way they should. I want to run!

I’ll update on Instagram 🙂 Hope you all have a great week!!!

–How was your Christmas? (If you celebrate)

–Do you think swimming is hard? What tips can you offer me?