New Cross Training

I was originally looking at buying an elliptical for the house since the wonderful Florida summer is coming pretty quickly.  Soon it will be 80 degrees before the sun even rises.  However, in my search I also started to think about indoor bikes.  Of course those only go up in price so before I really invested time or money into a new machine I started to go to some of the indoor bicycling classes at my gym.

The first class was challenging, fun, and it was a lot of different sets so pretty interesting.  My quads definitely felt the burn.  The second and third classes were with a different instructor who really liked hills.  We did climbing intervals for pretty much the whole class.  However, his enthusiasm and encouragement was off the chart and I really enjoyed the class.  My legs burned even more, especially cause I was still able to increase my resistance on the bikes.

I was feeling all the classes for the whole day.  It was one of those, I'm definitely in pain, but it's a good pain type of feelings.  The most interesting thing is that I haven't been sore the next days.  My legs have been tired, but not sore.  I tried to run after the first class, and it was pretty rough because of how exhausted my legs were.  I am hoping to run tomorrow, but we will see how that goes...

I haven't decided if I'm going to buy my own bike and just sign up for online spinning classes or keep going to the classes at my gym.  Probably the biggest issue will be my schedule and how often I can get to a class.  This week I've had extra days to experiment, and now next week I work a lot.  We'll just have to see I guess...

Benefits of Cross-Training

So by now it's really no secret I'm a huge fan of cross-training.  I've been cross training since I was swimming.  We would run, complete circuits, and just try different things.  On my college swim team we would have yoga twice a week (which I absolutely loved!).

Runner's World had an article about the Eight Benefits of Cross-Training.  Reading through them I had to agree with all of them and have heard each reason (all except #8 because I'm not there in life yet) from either a coach or a trainer or a physical therapist.

One reason I really like cross-training because of it means I'm always doing something different.  I'll have my run days, and then maybe I'll get on a bike or walk up hill for a while.  Then there's weights which add a whole new category of variation.  It's hard to get bored with cross training, which is usually my biggest problem with training (ironic since I used to swim 1000s and 1000s of yards straight when I was a distance swimmer... and that's the definition of boring).  When it comes to weights I tend to focus on body areas; arms one day, then abs, maybe quads, and I mix it up.

Another great thing about cross-training is that one muscle group might be sore, but with cross-training you can focus on a region that's ready to go while the sore area gets some rest.  Yes, it'll probably still hurt more than when you're totally rested, but not as bad as torturing that sore area.

My final reason for loving cross-training is the strength training you get from it.  Running is great cardio work, but not so great for strengthening muscles.  Due to some knee issues I used to have a problem doing squats, but when I tried to use that excuse (yes, it was an excuse) my physical therapist pointed out "You can't run a half marathon if you can't do a squat".  So guess what... I started doing squats.  Now squats and lunges are in my circuits in one form or another.  The increase in strength has really started to make a difference in my running as well.  My quads don't get as nearly as tight nor as soon in my races so I'm extremely thankful for that.

Cross-training is like my not-so-secret training weapon.  I love it and it's an essential part of my training, no matter what I'm training for.  I'm always looking for ways to mix up my cross training some more and who knows what I might find in the future (zumba?  kick boxing? pilates?).

Cross Training and Looking Ahead

I've gotten back into cross training recently, partially thanks to my roommates who have been hitting the gym at different times than me.  They've inspired me to go a second time during the day and I'll just use whatever machine is open so the cross training is coming pretty easy right now.  I've gotten on the stationary bikes, done some uphill walking (I even kept the pace pretty fast), and I've been working on my pull ups and dips.

All this working out has made me feel great about myself.  I love being sore and I've been really, really sore the last few days.  I just feel good.  I don't know if it's the endorphins that have been released with all the working out or if it's just me finally feeling good about myself again, but I'm really not going to question it, I'm just going to enjoy it.

Looking ahead, I've decided to look for some 5 and 10k's to do.  I think it would be a great way to get out and explore the city a bit more, support different charities, and a great workout push.  The first one I'm looking at is the Jingle Bell Run 5k in December.  I've worked 5k's before (I attended the Salmon Run in Ventura CA for the marine mammal rescue I worked for in college), but I've never been able to actually run at one.

It's funny, I jumped straight into half marathons, I never built up to it from the 5k to 10k to half marathon. So yes, I might be doing things backwards, but I've never been one to do things the normal way anyway...

I'm still looking for more races, I'm thinking I might want to try finding one race a month.  It would be a good escape from life and would keep my training focused.  Now I just have to find the races and possibly some people to join me...