Aqua Jogging - not easy my friends.

My recovery has been going really well, sufficed to say that this morning for the first time I have zero pain. I keep waiting for the twinge in my groin to grab me or the the pain in my butt cheeks to come back but so far so good. It is such a welcomed start to my day and I can't help wondering that if I feel this good now then in 3 weeks when the kids go back to school I should feel awesome and ready to go again.

To add to my collection of rehabilitation exercises I went Aqua jogging yesterday, harder than it looks. Reading an article yesterday morning in "Triathlete" April 2010, it stated that deep water running was an effective way to recruit all your running muscles in a non-impact way but still effective in eliciting a good VO2 response. Although this intrigued me what really got me was the part where it stated that this one women "Kathy Winkler" crossed the finish line second in an Ultra Marathon last year and ranked Top 10 with the fastest splits and had done most of her longer runs in deep water due to chronic hip issues. Now I was really intrigued. So I packed my sports bag and my Aqua Belt - not the one pictured above, mine is slightly different and off I went.

I must admit, I felt slightly awkward at first, I felt like an big kid with my oversized floatie but this awkwardness was shortlived when I got going. It is quite a challenging activity to run and not have any point of impact to gauge where your feet should be. Your body also wants to instinctively lean forward and start pulling water with the hands to help. I found I really had a need to want to see myself move forward and make some ground, but the aim of Aqua jogging is to mimic form not propulsion. So I set myself the task to complete 4 sets of 120m. The length of the pool was 20m so I ran 20m nice and slow and 20m at race pace (or the equivalent) in stride tempo.

My heart was absolutely pounding after each set, I didn't care anymore what I looked like. I set set myself a goal to accomplish and I was determined as hell to finish it. I am sure to everyone else I looked like a tiny head just slowly gliding along the waters surface, but underneath it was a flurry of activity - much like a duck I would think. Good thing was nothing hurt in my hip, groin or butt during this activity but I did have soreness just due to the drag effect of the water on my muscles. It is an awesome activity, I would suggest this to anyone - injured or not.

After finishing my sets of 480m in total which took me about 30mins to complete, I did my spa/sauna combo again with the cold showers inbetween. Absolutely the best way to finish off any activity I would think. My muscles felt relaxed and invigorated, ready to tackle another day. Life is good.

"Challenges are what make life interesting;
overcoming them is what makes life meaningful".

The numbers keep rising.

Last night I went through alot of my Triathlon magazines to try and get some fresh ideas for my swim sessions. Turns out some of what I am doing is pretty much what is written, apart from the fact that I haven't done any open water swimming. I need to invest in a wetsuit for one, and gain a little courage to get out into the ocean. As I child I would, but age has made me very cautious about what is lurking below when I am the only one in the water. I also need to for the time being maybe do a couple of long distance interval type stuff - just to increase cardiovascular fitness. Doing the shorter interval stuff helps, but I need to be spitting out longer distances.

During my search I also wrote up two more sessions, one for Sharon who session is now on the 2km mark and also one for Natalie. My swim group is getting bigger - word of mouth is a wonderful thing. I had met Natalie a couple of times through bootcamp and am delighted that she is joining this group of fine swimmers. Natalie also surprised me with another welcome addition, her friend Tracy (green cap) below.

(Mel, Tracy, Tracy, Natalie, Susan [purple cap], Sharon and Me)

Michelle turned up later in the session and I will be posting another photo in the not too distant future. Everyone is finishing every session really happy, they each have their own session which I make up depending on their swimming ability and how they finish. If they finish feeling really good and not at all too tired then I up their session ever so slightly and vary it up as well. However if they are feeling that they are slightly pushing to complete then they stay on it till it becomes a easier. Finishing on a high note makes you want to come back and keep giving it a go, and so far so good. Everyone is going ahead in leaps and bounds.

Funny thing is I get so caught up with writing everyone else's session I turned up to the pool without one written up for me. So I altered last week's one a bit and did a 2.8km session.

• 500m Fr/s warm.
• 10 x 50m kick with flippers. Fr/s up, Bk/s back.
• 2 x 400m Br/s up, Fr/s back.
• 8 x 50m lateral kick.
• 4 x 100 Bk/s.
• 200m cooldown.
  

I came out of the water feeling energised and not sore in my legs. My hip/groin today feels really good and my ischial/gluteal tenderness is settling. Finally, I was starting to think I had done something really bad in my past life for which I needed to pay penance. I am still doing my regular stretching and strengthening exercises and have added some added upper body strengthening activities. I am starting to feel a move in the right direction again.

Awesome video. Bart vs Comrades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfGkrq2VY78

I just found these

I was just skimming through the Hills Triathlon Club Website and lo and behold - look what I found. How cool. This brought a smile to my face.

Questionable activity.

So I got out cycling yesterday. Boy did it feel good to get some wheels under me and just go out for a leisurely ride. An hour was all I allowed myself as I didn't want to push the hip and groin too far. And I must admit, the cycling in and of itself did not bother my hip one bit. I dropped the gears to a nice easy spin so I wasn't pushing too hard and I made light work of a 20km ride.

The weather was ideal, but once again a bit cold on the ears. Still haven't gotten a thin beanie that will fit under the helmet and I made up my own version of compression socks and wore my daughter's stripped knee highs under my cycling tights - stunning, but my legs were kept warm atleast. I have found a nice new loop to do which is 9km and although it is own a useable road the traffic is extremely tolerable. There are only a few hills but nothing major and the majority is flat even roads.

So after the cycling and testing out the old hip, I would say I felt pretty good that is until this morning. I am not quite sure if my pain is all bone related - I feel like it is muscle related as well. My hamstring, glute and abbductors are aching. Have to ring physio this morning and see what the go is. When I bend forward I get pain just under my right butt cheek and it goes straight into my inner right leg and down to my knee - like I can feel my muscles move and they don't like it.

What do you do, if life was all smooth sailing it would get boring.

Just chillin'

Physio told me to rest over the weekend, well that's what I did. Yesterday I went to the local Aquatic Centre and made use of their spa and sauna for well over an hour. I must admit though, I felt guilty as I am not used to doing this sort of self indulgent stuff when the kids and my husband are home. But, I needed this and I felt better for it - if only for a short time.

I started off in the spa for 15 minutes and felt so totally relaxed while all the jets belted my body around. It was such a nice change of pace to just sit and watch the world go by. I was making up little stories in my own mind about what each person was up to for the day. Some looked so stressed and in need of the therapy I was indulging in, while other's were revelling in the "just being", these were sitting beside me in the spa. I found myself just thinking about how we live our lives and how fast paced everything is. How little attention we actually pay to ourselves, not just physically but mentally as well. And how the only time we nurture ourselves is when things start to fall apart at the seams.

So with that in mind, I jumped out of the spa and straight into a cold shower for 1 minute of sheer bone chilling therapy. If there had of been not one person in the centre I think I may have screamed like an opera singer. Everything stood on end - holy cow it was cold. I stood there right till the last second of the minute being up, and then walked straight into the sauna for 15 mins of "oven baking".

Talk about taking your breath away. It was like opening up the oven door and then trying to take a big breath of air. My lungs shrivelled and it took a good minute before I felt comfortable in there. I made my way up to the back corner and tried to hide away from the fact that almost every seating position was taken up by men. Quite intimidating really - every eye made its way my way as I entered but I soon came to realise after some talk that they were all in here for pretty much the same reason as I was. Illness or injury - they each had their own story, journey and needed to gain solace in this inferno just as much as I did. They seemed quite surprised about how someone my age was dealing with issues that someone their age's were dealing with. It was nice to share war wounds.

15 mins up and back in the cold shower only to do it all again with the spa and sauna. And there I had just over and hour of hot/cold therapy. I walked out of the centre with not a single pain in my hip and felt quite flexible as I took advantage of the heat in the sauna for gentle stretching exercises. When I got home I took my 400mg Ibuprofen and felt relief right through the night.

This morning I woke up with only a slight twinge in my groin. It's like a little stitch every time I put my foot down and it grabs me right in my groin and slightly in my outer hip. So I took my Ibuprofen again and did all my stretches again which gave me relief right up till tonight. So I think I do feel somewhat better but not 100% even with all the rest I have had.

Tomorrow I look forward to some cycling but I wont be pushing it and trying to rock out some huge kilometres and I hope to follow it up with a back, shoulders and leg massage. Time to continue nurturing - I hope you all do the same and look after yourselves.

There is only one of you - TAKE CARE.

Physio report.

I have just come back from physio and it's a no go for running this weekend or any activity for that matter. I must rest and stretch - that is all as I still have pain in my groin. Then on Monday through to Wednesday I can swim and bike and I need to call her to let her know how I feel. If I feel okay I will then, and only then be allowed to do a light run on Friday as Thursday is my proposed swim day anyway. But, should the pain in my groin continue it's a no go for running for the remainder of next week. I also have an appointment booked with a Specialist Sports Medicine Doctor, but this is not till the 20th of July. That is so far away, feels like an eternity.

Anyway, the reason Lisa wants me to see the Sports Medicine Doc is because after lying on her table for my weekly stretch I tried to get up and my back got "caught" again. Exactly like it did after my Xray and exactly the way it always has for the last 14 years. I can't remember the last time I actually have fallen asleep on my back or stomach - it's just never been possible. And I always fear trying to move after being in this position as the pain is excruciating. So, before Lisa continues to manipulate my back too much she would like to have it checked out by a Doctor.

The last time I actually saw my rheumatologist was a year ago and I don't really want to go back unless I can hardly walk. I don't really want to go back on Prednisone again - even though it is a great drug, it really is only a bandaid fix. So, it will be interesting to see if another specialist has another take on what is happening to me. My diagnosis has always been Bilateral Sacroiliitis or Spondylosis of unknown origin. I can handle having this condition to a degree but not knowing its origin is annoying as hell.

Anyway, I hope you all have a totally wonderful weekend and I hope to enjoy my days off too. I look forward to spending tomorrow morning with the kids at their tennis and then just putting my feet up for the remainder of the weekend. Take care all and have a run for me.