For one cross country practice, Paul Farnsworth, the Half Moon Bay coach, required members of the team to meet at the high school pool.
Forget the running shoes and running gear. This practice was in the pool.
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The team was running, but in the pool, and not on the deck.
At first, it wasn’t a pretty picture as many of the runners, all good swimmers, were struggling to maintain a running form while battling the resistance of the water.
Dr. Robert P. Wilder, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Virginia, authored a paper in 2000 on the benefits of deep water running. The study appears in the University of Virginia Health System Web site.
“As a form of cross training, deep-water running is the most biomechanically specific form of cross training for the runner or running athlete,” he wrote. “This means that deep water running more closely simulates actual running than other forms of exercise. This also means that the athlete should gain better fitness benefits from this form of exercise than from other forms.”
A member of the Charlottesville Track Club, Wilder has participated in numerous marathons.
During a break, Farnsworth, who was in the water with his athletes, told the story of a runner who did similar drills for six weeks.
The runner, the story goes, had severe pain in his heal. He was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, an inflammation on the tissue on the bottom of the foot connecting the heal bone to the toes.
The runner missed several track meets, but began training in the pool.
Not only did the runner survive both the 800- and 1,500-meter races in his first meet back on the track, but he set personal bests in both events.
The Half Moon Bay cross country team heard the story loud and clear. It was not some weird experiment, but a tried and true practice method.
There are several Web sites devoted to the benefits of training in water. All the tips Farnsworth talked about are well documented.
“For the first time, I figured it would be awkward,” Farnsworth said. “When you are in a swimming pool, you expect to swim. You don’t expect to run in a pool.”
But that’s exactly what happened.
“I liked it,” said junior Thor Dickinson. “It was new. At first, I didn’t want to do it.”
He was a little tired after the workout. However, he did find a key benefit to the watery workout.
“There was no impact on my legs,” Dickson said.
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