As promised - Underwater Running

My mom has been suffering for the better part of a year now from Achilles Tendonitis.  Treatment so far has included 2+ months with her foot in a boot, physical therapy, and endless hours of icing.  Personally, I'm not too excited by her Dr's help so far (just this morning, we both agreed that she needed to find someone new).  All GOOD articles on running clearly state that there is no obstacle that can't be overcome in your quest to run.  There was a beautiful article in Runner's World recently about a husband and wife team who vowed at their wedding 2 years ago to run a marathon together.  6 months ago, the wife was diagnosed with ALS.  She's now confined to a wheelchair, so naturally, her husband will be pushing her for 26.2 miles for their first marathon together.  It just shows that no matter what form it takes, running will happen.

And that is kind of a lovely segue into today's topic, a new form of running: underwater running.

Some of you may remember that during my triathlon training 3 years ago, I was incredibly irritated by people "running" in my lane while I was trying to relearn how to swim at my local pool.  However, now I'm so glad that I saw it because how would this just occur to any normal person?  Basically, you go to the deep end of a pool and just "run" underwater.  You're not touching the bottom of the pool (deep end, got it?), so there's minimal to no strain on your joints.  But you're still getting in the motions of running and it's a fantastic way to continue to train even when you're injured.  I've been working on strengthening my own Achilles to avoid what could well be a genetic defect (but the only one, obviously Mennone women are as strong as Achilles) and I just may try out underwater running.  Here are some links to help you get started:

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/triathlons/training/deep-water-running.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/121494-benefits-bouy-belts-deep-water/

And here's a pretty budget friendly buoy belt to keep you afloat: http://www.swimoutlet.com/Jog_Belts_s/212.htm