Wednesday Workout Update

Thank you for the supportive comments on Monday's post.  It sounds like a lot of us are going through the same issues - not fun, but it's good to know I'm not alone in this.  And to answer a few questions that were brought up in the comments, no, I still can't run.  According to the latest orthopedist I went to, I'm not even supposed to WALK for exercise.  I swim for nearly an hour and a half 5 days a week and I wonder - am I really supposed to be doing more?  I thought swimming was the all-around workout!  Believe me, I'm tired afterward.  Not sure I could step on the elliptical - ah, who am I kidding, I detest the elliptical.  I wouldn't do it anyway.  I have been riding my bike, but pretty much at a leisurely pace - after all, it's a three-speed cruiser, and it's not exactly set up for much more than that.  Plus, it's one-hundred-freakin-degrees here - any kind of outdoor exercise is pretty challenging at this point.

Anyway, onto the update.

So the swimming has been going fine, except for the aqua jogging part.  Honestly?  That just bores me.  And I found that I was beginning to dread it, so about mid-week last week I remembered that I was in charge of me, and I didn't have to do that if I didn't want to.  Sheer brilliance, I know! ;)  I stopped with the aqua jogging, added five extra laps each to my back and side strokes, and did the rest in extra kick boarding.  Then, I got the idea to do "sprints" with the kick board - I remembered that my lap counter, Baby J, has features like "split times" and I decided to see how fast I could kick up and down the pool.  Then I decided to try and beat that time.  Then I tried to beat that time.  Then I had to take a break, because frankly, that just about killed me.  OK, not really, but it was hard!  And fun.  Which is what keeps me coming back - I know me, and if I don't like a certain kind of exercise, I'm just not going to do it.  Hey - it worked in getting me to 256 pounds!  Well that and a tad bit of overeating.  But I digress.

Speaking of swimming, one essential item is a swimsuit.  And I had one - the gorgeous purple Speedo that I bought while I was in California last April.  I loved it, but to my dismay, the lycra in it disintegrated really quick - like, after 9 swims (I know this because I was keeping track of my pool workouts in my running journal - got to make it work for SOMETHING, after all).  I was so upset - this was an expensive swim suit.  And I took great care of it, rinsing it off in cold water after every swim, hanging it to dry - I know that chlorine will eventually destroy a swim suit, but this was ridiculous.  Long story short, I took a chance and called the store, NorCal Swim Shop, where I bought it.  Would you believe that the manager, Larry, remembered Barbara and me???  This was about 6 weeks after we had shopped there!  Y'all, I swear, we are not that obnoxious when we shop.  We must have made quite the impression, though!  Anyway, he was able to find the record of my purchase (because of course I had thrown my copy away) and locate another suit for me - all I had to do was drop mine in the mail and a few days later, a brand new one arrived in my mailbox!  Now that is service, and I really appreciate it - just wish I could shop there in person more often.  Although they do have online sales, it's more fun to make a lasting impression in person.

By the way?  While I was dealing with the untimely demise of my purple suit, I bought three other suits (found some super-cheap deals at Sam's Club, of all places, and swimoutlet.com) so now I have a better rotation - I just hope they all don't wear down at the same time! 

This is as much of a swimsuit fashion show as I'm willing to show here!