Foot Update and Cross Training

First things first...The Foot. It is healing nicely. No pain, just soreness once in awhile after I've been walking on it, and it's still a little puffy. I had a great workout with my trainer yesterday, and I have decided to not run on the foot until Tuesday, minimum. My trainer recommended TWO WEEKS off. (smiling as she said it, knowing THAT wasn't gonna happen). Tuesday gives me one week off, so I'll re-evaluate at that time.

I'm surprisingly 'ok' with this. For starters, it's Easter weekend obviously, so it will be challenging to get an 8 mile run in - I would have to do it tomorrow, and the foot is just not ready. Also, I don't want to get back to it by jumping into an 8 mile run. I don't want to risk making anything worse at this point in my training. So if I run on Tuesday, I will just keep it to a 40 minute run. Slowly working up to a long run next weekend.

Secondly, I mentioned a great workout with my trainer yesterday. She gave me a great bike workout, that, although I'm not burning the same calories - my heart definitely got a good pumpin', and my quads were burning....after just 10 minutes. *ugh* Oh, did I mention that WHILE I was spinning away, she had me do shoulder presses with an 8 pound medicine ball? NICE. So if I do a combo of bike/elliptical/stairs for cardio workouts, she said I won't lose any fitness - in fact, this could actually work to my benefit, which I will notice when I go for my long run NEXT weekend. Let's HOPE! By the time the foot heals, my legs will be nice and fresh! I am already feeling 'rested', despite a heavy duty workout yesterday.

In addition to the bike, my trainer added 10 new exercises to my strength routine which is really fun. Lot's more ab work, back and shoulders. I have graduated to my 'toes' on the Bosu Ball push ups (the disk, 1/2 ball), and my trainer gave me a glowing report on my strength gains over all in the 6 weeks since we last met.

I was a little dissapointed (but not surprised) that I was up a couple few pounds, and the fat monitor scale even popped up an INCREASE in BF percentage - but funny how we both immediately dismissed the scale readings when she took my measurements and reported a loss of 4.5 inches! Yay! As we worked out, she mentioned several times that she could definitely see that my body had 'moved' - especially in the arms, chest and core area. So that made me feel better.

She gave me some pointers for watching the calories which is mainly what I already know...journal the food and watch the portion sizes. The problem is not with WHAT I eat, it's how much. I feel hungry all the time and I've read that is is common to gain a few pounds while training for a big race. Boy, a few months ago, this would have sent me over the edge and now? I am more pleased with my fitness and strength gains, that I am not that concerned about the scale at all! The fluctuations over the last 8 months or so are enough to make one crazy...so I have learned to use the scale as yet another gage of progress, but not the end all be all - it does not represent the big picture.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover ~ I hope everyone has a great weekend with family and friends!