If you’ve seen my recent posts, you know that I’ve been embracing a no-impact, running only at physical therapy as part of form drills approach for the last two weeks of marathon training.

After a couple days on the elliptical I needed something more. Don’t get me wrong, I think the elliptical is great for general fitness or people trying to lose weight with a nice low-impact exercise, but it just doesn’t give me the same cardio workout as running does. Enter water running.

                        Aqua Jog Belt

My coach suggested getting to a pool for some water running so I could still get that same cardio workout without the impact of running outside or on the treadmill. The past few days I’ve gotten in my runs in in the water at Washington & Lee pool nearby my apartment.

The W&L pool actually has a “jogging well” (it’s the area by the stairs that can’t really be used as a full lap lane) and a whole bunch of aqua jog belts so I didn’t even have to bring my own from home. Yes, I own an aqua jog belt. I just can’t help myself from finding ways to look ridiculous in workout situations!

I absolutely love water running as a workout and am feeling a little bit better about not getting my regularly scheduled outdoor runs in the past few days. I might even add this in more regularly after the marathon too as a way to get extra mileage in without beating up my legs. I will definitely have to invest in a waterproof music player if I do that though!

Have you ever tried water running? How do you like it?