Slogging and an ugly 5 miler

Since my recent arthritis diagnosis, I am trying to cross train and put less strain on my back. Enter SLOGGING. My friend G SLOGGED her way to a 10k PR. What exactly is SLOGGING you might ask. Just google “aqua jogging” and you’ll figure it out pretty quickly. A few weeks ago, I took the plunge (pun intended) and bought myself a belt. Yesterday, I tried one of G’s SLOGGING/brick workouts and it was amazing! Boring as all get out, but purely amazing. If you know me very well, you know that I am not a swimmer. I can float, I can tread, I can even do an improvised version of the freestyle. I do not put my head in the water. I blame my mother’s fear of the water combined with wearing contacts. I never learned how to swim with my face in. Yesterday, I taught myself. It scared the poo out of me the first lap, but I started to get the hang of it and dare I say it, I even enjoyed it once I figured it out.

The SLOGGING/brick starts with a 5 minute warm up followed by a 200 m swim. Now that you’re warm, you SLOG for 15 minutes with a 1:1 interval (hard:easy). Follow up with a 400 m swim. SLOG for 10 minutes. Swim for 200 m. Cool down for 5 minutes. This brick rocked my world yesterday and I can’t wait to try another variation tomorrow after my PTA board meeting. (Sorry to mention the Mom responsibilities, but now that school is back in session I have to do my real job too!)

This morning’s training plan was a 5-mile run. I wasn’t sure how it would go due to my SLOG/brick yesterday and having to run 5 miles at 10 o’clock in the morning. I love to run at 7, just after putting the boys on the bus. Unfortunately, I had a Cub Scout meeting at 8 with the Cubmaster (Yes, more of my meetings. That is what happens when you’re Committee Chair!) and I knew the run had to wait. I’m not Kara or Shalane and I can’t whip out a 20 minute 5-miler! Only in my dreams…

Back to the 5-miler. It was H-O-T today. The first two miles felt fabulous. I think it was my excellent fueling: oatmeal breakfast, coffee, cappuccino at Starbucks, plenty of water followed by a Cliff bar. But then the wheels came off after spending too much time in the sun. I know I live in HOTlanta, but I don’t like running in the heat and direct sun. It helped staying in the shade and dousing myself with lots of water. I sucked it up and finished. Slow pace, but I got it done. I was shocked at how fresh my legs felt after yesterday’s SLOG. Proof that I can add two days of SLOGGING into my training schedule and not hurt myself.

Regardless of the heat, it felt great to get out there and pound that pavement! I love being back on a training schedule and I’m so glad that my time in the pool is pushing me towards being a stronger athlete.

It’s a great day for running y’all.