still recovering...but....

I actually ran today, sort of! 2 miles, sort of.

See, there's one of those NordikWalk machines or whatever here. It's a user-propelled treadmill for walking--it also has things you move with your arms. Definitely not something which seemed useful for running.

However, over the past week
-I've been recovering from LAT and general stiffness,
-I've been eating like I'm going into hibernation soon,
-the weather outside has been definitely non-pedestrian friendly--not just ice, not just slick ice, but slick ice with a layer of water over it. I will run over/through most things, but this is one that I won't (the others being hot coals, radioactive/chemical waste (although, I had to shelve this rule while on APG, lol) and raw sewage,
-the dog has been getting a little hefty.

Me too, but it was easier to criticize the dog. So, we've been playing more in the backyard, and then I thought, hey, wouldn't it be cool if he could use the NordikWalk? We've sort of hit a snag, in that it's designed to be human-propelled and not dog-propelled, but I might increase the incline and see if that helps him gain the necessary traction. Meanwhile, with time and patience and peanut butter, I've got him walking/trotting on it while I move the belt along with one of my limbs.

This got me thinking...well, my LAT is finally subsiding and I really want to increase blood flow to the area and burn a few Cs while at it, without breaking my neck outside. I googled 'running on manual/user-propelled treadmill', and got very little info, and almost all of it negative. If there's someone who's happily running on such a treadmill, they're not writing about it...except for me.

Yeah, it was a really good experience. Maybe I'm so cagey now that anything's better than nothing, but with some adjustments, I got it working. It's near-impossible to use without contact with the arm-thingies: the belt stops unless one digs in really deep or lengthens contact time with the belt, neither of which seem beneficial. I hung on the arm things for a while and it was easy as long as I didn't try to move them. I tried moving them, and maybe this might work with less resistance, but my cadence was still too fast. To get a good swing in, I had to slow things down too much. At any rate, hanging onto the arm things still wasn't good for my gait: my aborted arm-swing was translating into unnecessary movement in my shoulders and torso. I adjusted the arm-things (what are those things called?) so that I could swing my arms normally and still punch/tap the arm things with every arm swing. This momentary contact was enough. It required concentration, but it also allowed--and even encouraged, I think--good form.

It was definitely different than running normally or even on a normal treadmill, least of all because the incline was considerably steeper (and I might jack it up a little more), but it's not too far off from barefoot running. I was in my socks, which helped make it more comfortable. Maybe in time my feet will toughen up to go completely barefoot, but just socks is still nicer than shoes.

So I'm pretty stoked! I did only about 20 min (3X 4:1, and then the last running interval 6 min), which I'll say is about two miles. I played a CD of sounds of the rainforest and watched some birds outside, both of which adequately distracted me from the stuck-indoors-on-the-treadmill aspect. And I LOVE running without shoes. I don't get to do this often enough. And I love that the thing doesn't use electricity and that it's so convenient--I can toss on a few things and go for a quick jog. When I run outside, it's a bigger production, so it involves at least ten extra minutes for a not-very satisfying run, not including a few minutes eaten up at traffic lights. I live only about a mile from good bike paths, which is pretty decent, but not practical for shorter recovery jogs. Outside, my 20 minute jog probably takes up 30-40 minutes total. Inside, maybe my 20 minute jog takes up 22 minutes or so. (neither including shower!) Not to mention that the laundry generated inside is pretty slim, short-shorts and a tank top and bra.

This has opened up a couple of possibilities:

1. I can go for a short jog every morning, as part of my routine, before leaving the house. This won't make up for a longer run later on, but it's a good way to rev things up and justify the morning shower.

2. I can do shorter recovery runs if I need them. Since I've come here, my recovery runs have lengthened, mainly because it takes me that mile to get past all the traffic lights, and then once I'm on a good path, I don't want to leave it right away. So, instead of 2-4 miles, my recovery runs have been in the 5-8 mile range. I didn't notice any strain from this, but maybe it still affected my other workouts, and maybe, some days, I really need only 2 miles or whatever, or maybe 2 miles twice a day instead of a 4 mile run...this way, I can do that.

3. Maybe I can build my own NordikWalk! How cool would that be? LOL Or, at least, hook it up to a generator...oh, the possibilities....

Meanwhile, I'm going to stick to 20ish minutes on this thing, and 4:1 (mostly) for this week. Ease into it gently. I don't need any more LAT or whatever!

edit: I also did my morning routine (yoga--just 10 sun salutations) and then 3 rounds of pushups.
edit edit: this thing looks pretty much like what I used, the Nordic Whatever device with the arm thingies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruibe0H0rys (same link as in comments)