getting back in the swing of things

Racewalking has been going better :).

After Sunday's 3.7 miles, I didn't RW on Monday. I did the bike & elliptical instead. On Tuesday, I opted for 35 min racewalking on the treadmill (about 3 miles), and 30 min biking. Wednesday, I did 44 min on the treadmill (about 4 miles - faster!), and Thursday I skipped RW to do 30 min swim, 30 min stationary bike, 30 min elliptical. The swim was fun! I did 5 laps freestyle, thinking about my new technique pointers from Chuck, and then did 2 laps kick and 3 laps pull. I repeated that and then ended w/5 laps freestyle. My freestyle laps have improved a lot with the tips from Chuck - I think now that I could average 1:00 laps instead of 1:05-1:10. But the big news is my racewalking - after a week I feel back in the groove, and the foot is good. Yay!

Mileage totals for week 1 back:
Friday - about 1.2 miles
Saturday - about 2 miles
Sunday - 3.7 miles
Monday - none
Tuesday - about 3 miles
Wednesday - about 4 miles
Thursday - none
TOTAL: 13.9 miles, and the foot is fine :)

Week 2 started today. I decided to push it a little. Hopefully not too much; everything still feels fine. The gym was closed today, but I knew I needed the cardio because of the Christmas dinner to come, so I walked a hilly 4 miles (600 ft up, then down) in 44:24, for 11:06/mile. Not bad in my current state. This afternoon, we were at my parents' house, and I went out for a walk there for the first time. They moved here in October, but I haven't been able to RW since then, and so this was new for me. I did another very hilly route, covering 4.23 hilly miles in 45:56 for 10;52/mile. YES! Under 11:00/mile AND on a hilly route. I was pushing a little at times, but my average heart rate was only 143, so not too hard.

I'm on my way back! Now I need to be good and not increase mileage too quickly. No RW tomorrow to save on miles; Sunday I will probably do some though, because the gym doesn't open until 10 am. Unless I decide to go snowshoeing...my parents got me SNOWSHOES for Christmas!!! My mom is getting a pair tomorrow too, so we might go together. FUN!