Hydro-Running!

4 years ago, I was at a week long running camp and one of our "other than running" sessions was a water workout.  I hated it.  Probably because I failed my swimming test, and despite the fact that I had to wear an extra floaty due to my terrible swimming skills, I still felt like I was fighting for survival the whole time instead of working out.  My lack of swimming skills combined with the seaweed that was stuck between my toes and the girl in front of me that I ran into at least once every minute made me very thankful that cross country was on solid ground (if you don't count the giant mud puddles).

On Monday, I strapped a floaty around my waist (only one this time) for the second time and hopped into the pool at the Y. And this time, I wasn't aqua-jogging... I was "hydro-running." They're actually the same exact thing, but hydro-running sounds so much cooler.  Unlike my last experience, I loved it!  The instructor used to be a professional marathoner (his PR is 2:15!!).  He tied us to the side of the pool so that we didn't have to worry about running off into the water aerobics class.  It was actually really intense, although you can go as slow as you want so it doesn't have to be.  We warmed up for 5-10 mins, did 30 minutes alternating between 1 minute hard and 1 minute easy, then 8 minutes of 15 seconds hard and 45 seconds easy, and a 5 minute cool down.  I was very, very sore after.  I get really frustrated when I start wishing things were how they were before I got sick (with college, friends, running, etc), but random blessings (like hyrdro-running with a 2:15 marathoner) help me realize that I've been able to experience a lot of things that I wouldn't have otherwise and that I need to keep moving forward.  God really does have a plan.  I just don't understand it yet.

Oh, and by the way, I have an appointment with Infectious Diseases!!!! And... it's not until August.  We're trying to decide what we should do in the meantime.  I've been okay (kind of), but... my body's just weird.  I got sick to my stomach a lot yesterday, and then I tried to go for a short run later in the day and couldn't figure out why I felt like I was going to collapse and hadn't eaten in days.  Keeping my food in me would be a step in the right direction.  I'm back on my probiotics now (I stopped taking them because I started getting sick again when I was on them... but then I still got sick off of them anyways), so we'll see if they help this time.  As of yesterday, I've been doing a little better about keeping track of my symptoms again (I took a little break... for my own sanity).  I make a note each day on my phone and add things to it throughout the day and then write everything down at the end of the week.  Otherwise, I draw a blank when I go to the doctors.  It also helps to see if there are any patterns.

I have to get going, because I have a busy day today!  My friend and I are going strawberry picking this afternoon! =)