Cross Training

It's all about the cross training these days.

Back in November, I felt like I hit a plateau. Call it boredom. Call it over-running. Call it whatever you like. I realized that I needed to do something different. Don't get me wrong. I still needed to run. And I still wanted to run. But, I felt the urge to do something different. My body was craving something that it hadn't really done before. It was time for a new challenge.

So I went back to the gym and started taking classes. Body Blast. Step. Boot Camp. Boxing. All of it. I wanted all the classes.

Bring it all on.

When I took my first step class, I felt like a clumsy idiot. I stumbled through the steps. But, then by the third one, I was actually remembering the steps. Then I started taking Body Blast. That involved weights. Lots of weights. And lots of jumping. Then I found Boot Camp. And man, oh man. There were planks. Lot of planks. Side planks, front planks, backward planks. What to the what? There were kettle balls. And squats. Lots of squats. And lots of push-ups. I seriously thought I might die after an hour of this class. In fact, I told the instructor, that I would rather be running 10 miles than doing an hour of boot camp. He cocked his head and looked at me like I was a strange species to be saying such a thing.

But, then as the weeks passed, something happened. I started to get stronger. It was a slow realization. But one day I realized I could actually plank for one minute. And I actually was planking correctly. My core was tight, my ankles were back, and my butt was where it was supposed to be. Then I found myself actually able to do push-ups without having my knees on the ground! Yes. I could do a real push up. And I could do multiple push ups in a row. Wowsa. Then, I soon realized that the best part of all this cross training, was that when I did run, I was running faster. And it was just happening naturally because of all the other stuff I was doing.

Wow to the wow. Good things are happening for 2016 with my exercise regime. I am still keeping up with my running, but it's just not my main focus. I realized that I need a balance of strength training and cardio to make me a better runner. I need something different. And I think I found it.