Back to basics

Running
Last Christmas, I got a gift card to my favorite running store. Then I found out I had a stress fracture. So that gift card has been in my purse, mocking me, for nearly 8 months. But now that I can run again, I finally got to spend it! And on hot pink shoes, no less!

Brooks Pure Cadence. Be jealous.

With my fancy new, minimalist shoes and fragile hip, I decided to start from scratch and go back to basics. That's right, we're back at square one with a couch to 5K program. I'm doing run/walk intervals, and I'm loving every minute of it. It stinks to start over, but I figure this is a good chance to build a good foundation. So even though I can't run far, my goal is to run faster. I've always been a slow poke, but I'm determined to keep my run intervals at a 9:30-10:00 pace (that's fast for me, y'all). I can only run a little bit, but maybe I can run better than I used to. We'll see.

Swimming
And since I'm going back to basics and I need a diverse workout routine instead of just pounding the pavement all the time... I started taking swim lessons.

Trea and I are both taking adult beginner swim lessons at our gym, and we LOVE it. I'm a terrible swimmer, but I can get by. Meaning, I can swim one length of the pool and not drown. Trea, however, is the worst swimmer I've ever seen. When he gets in the water, it's like both his legs are made of lead. He sinks like a rock. So of course, he never wants to go to the pool with me, which is no fun. But after just 10 minutes of swim class, he learned how to float and was swimming all over the place! And now he loves it! He even got up one morning last week at 5:30 a.m., went and swam laps, and got ready for work at the gym. I've created a monster. But at least now we can workout together!

Biking
Last summer, I got an awesome Scott Sub 45 Solution that I adore, and I'm constantly trying to talk Trea into going riding with me. But since he has a mountain bike and not a road bike, he has to work a lot harder than I do to keep up with me on pavement. So a couple of weeks ago, Trea got a new Trek hybrid that's more comparable to mine. And now we can ride together without all the grumbling about how he hates his bike! It's a nice change.

The best thing about these latest developments is now I have options. My only options used to be either running outside or running on the treadmill. But now we go to the gym together, swim laps for a while, then hop on our bikes and ride all over town. We're still just beginners at everything, but we're off to a good start. I'm sure we're going to sign up for a 5K at some point in the near future and focus on training for that, but for now, I'm happy that we're changing things up. I can't run every day, or even every other day yet, because my hip acts up when I'm on my feet too much. But I can swim, bike and run almost as much as I want!