March has been a great month for training progress. I'm a genuine swimmer now, my jogging is improving, my feet are tolerating more advanced exercises, and I had an excellent Spring Break, leaps and bounds better than the Spring Broken from last year.
Swim
I have cut oodles of time off of my swims. At the beginning of the month we did some timed swims.
6 min swim: 300m in 6:38
4 min swim: 200m in 4:25
2 min swim: 100m in 1:55
Before my surgeries, I swam 50s in 1:15, 100s in 3:00. My current goal is to average around 1 min per 50, so 2 mins every 100. My 300 and 200m swims are just over my goal, and my 100m swim is under. At the end of this particular practice, I told my coach my goal, and he made me swim 6 x 50m on 1:15, meaning that I had 1 min to swim the 50s in and 15 seconds to recover before swimming the next one. I did it! I came in sub 1 min in every single 50!
Other accomplishments:
-swam my first 25m with no breaths (I've been trying for weeks to do this)
-learned how to swim breaststroke
-can swim across the pool kicking with no fins! (My ankle flexibility has held back my kicking skills considerably, so I have previously had to use fins for all kicking drills)
-can consistently swim sub 30 secs for 25s, sub 1 min for 50s, and sub 2 mins for 100s
-swam with a parachute attached to my waist for extra resistance
-not fighting my alarm clock at 5 am anymore to wake up for swim practice
Jog Progress
Intervals are at 3.5 and 4.6 now (3.5, 3.7, 4.3, 4.6). I'm still walking 1 min and jogging 1 min for about 30 mins. I have also mixed in walking hill programs every now and then.
High Impact Tolerance
In addition to jogging better, I can do the stair machine (climbing flights on top of flights on top of flights), planks with my feet supporting me, jumping plyometrics, and even boxing! My feet are responding well to everything I am doing and I am starting to really enjoy exercise again. I actually have a variety of things I can do now.
Spring Break
Due to my career choice, I get to stay on the college schedule (muahhahahahaha)...meaning I had a week off for spring break. Two spring breaks ago I ran my first marathon, last spring break, I had a meltdown because I couldn't do anything, being just a few months post my first surgery. This spring break, I got to cheer on and support a friend running her first half marathon (she was my original running buddy from college), and I also leisurely made the hour and a half drive home to spend the week with my family. Cheering my buddy on was bittersweet because every cell in my body wanted to be able to run the race with her. It was excruciating to watch all the runners check in and wait in anticipation for the race to start, and even worse hearing the start gun and the runners race off, knowing I can't run. I couldn't help but be jealous of them. I have watched my running dreams get blasted to pieces. I have slowly and ever so carefully been picking them up over the last year and building a new dream. Other than that short-lived down moment, I really enjoyed relaxing at my house with my family. I also submitted an abstract to an international conference. If it gets accepted, it will be my first international presentation.
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Reflection
The way I feel being able to accomplish physical goals again is so wonderful that it is indescribable. I have been disabled/barely abled for the last two years. My confidence and spirit broke with my body. With every day that passes, I feel ME coming back; I feel strong again. I am so grateful for my swim coach and my Masters swim team for pushing me to become a better swimmer and supporting and encouraging me along the way. As my swims have improved, my body has gotten stronger, which has translated into improvements in my other workouts. My feet are feeling so good that I almost forget that they have been through reconstruction surgeries. My life is feeling really normal again, with barely any limitations. I am continuing to make strides professionally and personally as well. Simply put, right now, LIFE IS GOOD.
