Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Water running

New to this. 30 minutes today after a short swim. I think it felt great, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to feel.

More than one of you has recuperated from something recently. So, a few questions -- either based on your own experience or based on what you were told to try but didn't (because I'm pretty sure you have been instructed to run in the water. Has anybody ever not been instructed to run in the water?).

How to avoid these big silver dollar blisters on my feet? Wear old shoes in the water?

How deep of water should I be running in? The kiddie pool ranging from 3'6" to 4'3" seemed a little shallow at the shallow end. The other pool was more like 5', but I didn't try it.

How about cadence? It was tempting to go Chariots of Fire style, but should I be working at reaching my normal running cadence?

How much time running versus drills -- sideways running, one-leg running, and so on?

Inquiring minds want to know!

8 comments:

  1. Are you "running in the water" or are you aquajogging (running motion while, in effect, treading water)? I haven't really done either, though during my workouts in August, I had to swim around the Yale track team which was "running" from end to end of the 50 yard pool.

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  2. I used to aquajog. I bought this flotation device for it, you wear it around your lower back and then run in the deep end, No blisters bc your feet dont touch bottom, Once i got over the swimmers laughing at me...it worked like a charm, a real workout! I saw a whole rugby team using these devices inthe pool once,,.that gave me some cred. Good luck!

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  3. Water running is more about the zen "yield and overcome" koan. I go barefoot or sometimes aqua socks. I have never used any weights or floaties. Never heard of blisters before, sounds like you may may dragging your feet along the bottom. Try to exaggerate your stride.

    "Run" the fastest (or slowest" that you can without forcing so much counter-resistance that it breaks your form. That may be what you meant with Chariots of Fire. 3.6 to 4 feet of water sounds about close to the sweet spot.

    The problem is that it is dull as dirt.

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  4. Right -- running in the water, feet on the ground. The blisters seemed to come from the unusual force required to push myself forward. Thus, not dragging so much as the skin pulling while I push off. Maybe neoprene socks will help.

    My sense was that this emphasizes good form. You kind of can't do it if you lean awkwardly at the waist or don't follow through on your stride. I also was unable to stride through to a heel-first landing even when I tried to do that.

    Thanks for the insights, all. Something new to try to get geared up for a new season.

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  5. Hard to find a pool in NYC that is the right depth end to end, for either version -- too deep on one end for "running" and too shallow at the other for "aquajogging."

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  6. Oh, and FWIW, the Yale track team was "aquajogging" without flotation for a very long time. It looked very hard to me, especially because, unlike me, they all lacked a subcutaneous posterior floatation device.

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