Thursday, May 19, 2011

Good News and Bad News

Bad News: Last night after shredding, I felt a new, stabbing pain in my heel. Neat. I think I need to lay off the cardio portion of the 30-Day Shred, which generally involves lots of bouncing on your feet. Maybe I can just do the weight and abs sections of all 3 workout levels at once and count that as my strength training. Today I'm totally limping around which, you know, is awesome.

Good News: Generally when I ease up on my heel during the day, wear my splint at night, and ice my heel in the evenings, it actually seems to improve. I guess I just need to let it improve, and not be so impatient. Since I sit for most of the day, I brought my splint to work and am wearing it while I'm seated. Maybe if I keep my foot in the right position for longer, those fascia will get a chance to heal.

Bad News: Today is Day 25 of my challenge and I decided to measure myself. Not officially - that will come after the challenge - but just to see if maybe there was some improvement there since the scale obviously isn't going down. The verdict: nope. Well, I might have lost a quarter inch in my waist, but I also might have just been pulling the tape tight. My calves are a tad smaller, and that's one measurement I can't fake because they are solid rocks and there's no pulling the tape tight on those. (They are also the reason I can't wear knee-high boots.) But the hips, the arms, the thighs, are all exactly what they were 25 days ago when I started this challenge. Frustrating!

Good News: I rocked my swim this morning. On Tuesday, a lady in my Masters group asked if I wanted to meet up to swim our emailed workout together. We got together this morning and discovered that she has been doing the D-level workouts, while I've been doing the C-level workout. She decided to challenge herself and do the C workout with me, and she couldn't stop gushing (to me and to one of her buddies in the locker room) about what a great workout it was and how I pushed her because I'm such a good swimmer. The thing is, she pushed me too in a way. For instance, we swam a 400 right in the middle of the set, and once I set the pace and realized she was right there with me, I felt pressured (in a good way) to keep up the pace.

So when the scale and the measuring tape aren't improving, at least I know someone thinks I'm an awesome swimmer. That was a nice ego boost.

2 comments:

Joe and Joanne said...

I do the 30-day shred too and those things kick my butt. I've noticed the "bouncy-ness" of many of her exercises and asked myself a time or two as well, if it's entirely necessary to bounce that much. I don't have an answer to that unfortunately. I think it may be in the bouncing that the energy is spent. Have you ever been fitted for exercise shoes? I know there are places that will actually design a shoe specifically for the person (to help with knees and feet alike). They are a little more pricy but I think may be worth the spend...

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

Sorry about the heel pain. Sounds like you need to let it rest... Hope it'll be all healed soon!

Glad you found a swimming partner! It can be so motivating to exercise with someone else!