Long John Silver's Workout Regime

So in addition to whinging a lot, I have done some other things while on this 'rest' break. It turns out that there are not many forms of exercise that involve not using your feet at all but here are the ones I have discovered:

1. One legged cycling on a stationary bike. This is extremely entertaining to the gym goers around me too. It is suprisingly hard on my quad.
2. Kayaking. Apparently you are meant to push through with your feet when you kayak, but I'm all for doing things incorrectly, like my taxes.
3. Upper body weights. Actually I also do one legged squats, calf raises and so on. This is also interesting to the other gym-ers and sure to make me look a little lop-sided after a few weeks.
4. Rowing machine - you are meant to push through with your feet on this one so I have taken to dangling one leg off the side of the machine. After seeing me on the bike though, people find this less amusing.
5. Buy Lululemon. Oh right that isn't exercise but it is pretty and makes me feel good. I think that when I click that 'add to bag' button, I get a runner's high.

As it turns out, I don't find many of these activities particularly enjoyable. Swimming is far and away the worst of the lot. I should note here that I am not saying that swimming is overall boring as a sport, it is just not for me. I don't mind it mixed in with running and cycling, but swimming 6 days a week just doesn't work too well for me.

Here is my issue with swimming. Firstly there was a flood so my local(ish) pool has closed indefinitly. I had a gym and pool membership, but now it is just gym, so I have to commute from another pool to the gym which is a waste of time. Oh if only I could run from the pool to the gym. Stupid flood. Stupid moon boot. Stupid foot. Ignoring this though, once I am at the pool, I have to swim laps. This is worse than running on a treadmill. There is a black line and you stare at that for an hour doing the same repetitive motion. There are also total morons at the pool. Total morons encompass people who dive on you, decide to stop mid-lap, decide to stand in the middle of a lane and people who think it is a good idea to sit on the lane ropes and have a chat. There is something called a recreational swimming area and I think these people should make use of it. Then there are men who think it is ok to swim in their underwear. No I don't mean DTs, I mean jocks. One guy even swims in his white jocks and they don't have an internal liner.

Agony Aunt

I'm sure all runners hate injuries. I just get injured a lot, so I feel a greater entitlement to whinging about them. It is not only that I can't run and therefore worry about the loss of fitness and gain of weight, or miss the simple joy of hitting the trails for a run. Far worse is the moodiness that comes along with missing out on my daily runner's high. Running is a natural anti-depresent for me. It somehow stops me from spending all my time in my head (which for the record, has quite a few dark corners). When I run (or am able to exercise in general) I sleep better, am less pessimistic and get to wear Lululemon.

I have now been in a moon boot for almost three weeks and have at least three more glorious weeks to look forward to. I have a metatarsal stress fracture and am only allowed to swim. People like to offer sympathy which is nice. However, a lot of people should keep their words of wisdom to themselves. Below are my top 5 most hated pieces of advice or sympathy:

1. "It could be worse." This is often followed by an example of a worse injury somebody else has had. All this does is tell me I am selfish and deserve no sympathy.
2. "See how bad that running is for your body". No I do not. Explain to me how my resting heart rate of 55 bpm or low body fat percentage is bad for me. Explain why having good muscle tone and strong bones is bad for me. Sure, I should probably have revisited my podiatrist rather than just assuming my shoes still fit me after 6 months, even though I was getting niggles in my feet. I just can't expand that analysis to encompass the idea that all running is bad for me.
3. "Oh well, you are fit. I'm sure you will bounce back". I am fit, yes, or at least I was. To me this just means I have more to lose. I do accept that people are trying to be nice with this one, it just doesn't work.
4. "Maybe you should try cycling instead of running to avoid these injuries in the future." This is similar to point 2. Also, do you really think it has never occurred to me to try a non-impact sport? I run because I love it. Although I enjoy cycling once or twice a week, it does not give me the great joy that comes with running. Lululemon also doesn't make much in the way of cycling gear.
5. "At least you now have an excuse not to push yourself through the boredom or running." Huh? This is completely lost on me. Was I being forced to run before the stress fracture?