Water Running - September 1st

I was listening to the Running Ramblings podcasts. Martin(the podcaster) introduced me to water running. Water running is (as you would expect) when you run while in the water. There are a couple of ways that you can do this. One way is that you can actually run through the water across the pool. You can also run in place. Typically when you would run in place you would also use a flotation belt. With the belt on you would go to the deep end of the pool and move your legs in the motion that you would while running.

This may sound interesting to some but just plain weird to others. Some of you are probably asking why would anyone want to do this? One of the problem that runners have (from what I read) is that impact from running makes them very injury prone. Most injuries are healed by reducing or discontinuing running. The problem is that when you stop running you rapidly lose your fitness level. I have read that some athletes have turned to water running to continue their training while injured. One story I read told how this one lady went on to set a personal record after she trained with water running.

Any how I thought that is may be a good idea if I try to replace one of my runs with water running, which would reduce some of the impact and hopefully reduce the chance or severity of any injuries. Any additional fitness gains would be a bonus.

Today was my first attempt at water running. I started out by running across the pool. Although this worked okay it was kind of a pain. Since I didn't have flotation device I tried a couple of different attempts of running in place and actually found that if I lean back a little into the water and put my legs out in front a little bit, I can kind of simulate the running movement in my legs.

I did this for about 45 minutes and overall I thought this was pretty good workout. Even though this is a pretty boring exercise I think I will try to replace one of my runs each week with water running.

May the Force be with you!!!

Chad