But I signed up to run...
So here we have it folks... confession time. I spent about 2.5 years running and worked myself up to a 50 km ALL without cross-training. When people asked me what else I did to stay strong, I would respond, "Sometimes I swim or do yoga!" Which meant I swam once every 10 weeks, and did about 2 yoga classes a year. In reality, my monthly massages were the only consistent element of my cross-training (thank you, health care)! Would I ever recommend this program of mine to another human? NO! So why was I making such a mistake myself, even when I knew so much better?
Truth be told, I run because its what I love to do. I love putting on my runners, my headphones and just going. I don't want to think about counting reps, targeting all of my muscle groups, and waiting for equipment to become available. I have had times in my life where that's what I lived for. In fact, I finished half of my Phys-Ed degree and taught fitness classes for a number of years because of my past love for strength training. However, once I discovered running my brain and body went on a one-track-path.
After some serious knee pain in the final six miles of a marathon in September 2015, I knew I had to add more into my routine than running, stretching, and massages. I started my cross-training journey with a month of yoga, followed by a few bootcamp classes and swimming. I enjoyed these things, but REALLY I just wanted to full-force run. SO, I decided to try that again. Within a few weeks I started getting awful pain in my other knee. WHY ME??!!?!?! I thought. Truly, the answer was quite simple - I was not being smart about my training and I was not giving my body what it needed.
In the last month, I have been focussing on shifting my state of mind from: "I would spend time strength training, but I signed up to run because its what I love to do." to... "I signed up to run, but I need to cross-train to keep doing what I love to do."
My current goal is to beat my 5:25:21 time in the Scotiabank Calgary Ultra Marathon on May 29, 2016. My current biggest fear is my body being weak or giving out on race day. I know what I have to do to prevent this from happening - CROSS TRAIN! To date, I have a handful of cross-training tips that I am excited to share:
- Do things for FUN! This winter I hope to get out skating and tobogganing for the first time in years, and make extra time for my snowshoes!
- Say yes when friends invite you to join them on their fitness adventures.
- If you catch yourself thinking that you should be spending your "fitness time" for the day running, remind yourself that what you are doing is making you a STRONGER runner.
- Choose a few strength exercises that you plan to do regularly and track your progress with them. Progress of ANY kind is majorly energizing/motivating.
- Soak up the AWESOMENESS of being sore the next day. Nothing feels worse, but at the same time nothing feels better!