The world of "non-running"

Yes, it's been awhile. It's hard to blog about running when you aren't running all that much. What I thought was a tendon issue turned out to be a calcaneal stress fracture. (A stress fracture in the heel). I was able to run a little bit, but my main source of cardio had to come from other forms. Ugh. 

My "go-to" back-up cardio is cycling, and with that I mean OUTDOOR cycling, not mind-numbing spinning on my trainer while watching TV, or holed up in my torture chamber (wine room/cycling room/cat litter box room) strapped up to the Computrainer software --after a few winters of that I can honestly say I will never do any of that again...At least this has been an unseasonably warm January, so I have had a few good opportunities to get out on the bike, but not enough!

My next choice of cardio is the "stairmaster" at the gym. This is the contraption that has the revolving staircase, and it is a monster machine. There is nothing else in the gym as "badass" as this thing (with the exception of the dust-covered Nordic climber in the corner, which is downright scary looking). What do you get when you put an injured runner in need of a serious endorphin fix on this machine? 45 minutes of level 8 on the fat burner plus mode. Sweat everywhere. Not pretty, but very effective. Still, I can only take so much of the "gym scene". People preening about, the bodies draped across the cardio equipment with their legs flailing out of control, the crap music that I am trying to drown out with my own...just the whole scene is a bit depressing. Every once in awhile I spot another injured runner and we give each other that knowing look. We really want nothing more than to be outside, running. Pitiful.

So I tried a "fitness elements" class, which is a ramp-up to "Crossfit"....
I only did the one class, and I think this needs more research, as in actually going to a Crossfit gym and giving it a try. I liked the "circuit weight" aspect of the class, but my main problem was in trying to label this as "cardio". Did this actually count as cardio? Because I am so OCD about counting cardio I could not get past the fact that I was not taxed enough cardio-wise, long enough. So does it count as weight-lifting? What is it? I wanted to label it, put it in a box, but like yoga, it is its own category. Like yoga, it will benefit me in some way that running can't, of that I am sure. 

I thought about getting back in the pool. For about a second. My elliptical trainer at home has been convenient. I thought about trying out one of those P90X or Insanity tapes. Or maybe a class at the gym. Sigh. I can see how people become demotivated. It all comes down to doing something that you enjoy! Thank God I love to run! 

Anyhow, I'm happy to report I'm back to my regular running routine, more grateful than ever! So when's the next marathon?