Sunday, February 5, 2017

Running, Strength Training & Putting The Pieces Together

Today started with a 10K training run with my running group...
(We had a new member today... Welcome Mimi!!!)

After the run we had a quick group meeting/strategy session to discuss our 2017 running goals and current scheduled races. Post-run meetings like these are best conducted with the assistance of Starbucks...

Our group is definitely growing and evolving, and as it does the delicate art of balancing competing priorities becomes even more important. Especially for our group because we took a very grassroots approach to starting it and recruiting members. One of my main priorities for 2017 is getting a half marathon PR. Fortunately most of the group is hoping to improve their pace also. Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone to their ideal pace at a rate that will facilitate all our race goals. 

For example, I have a half marathon every month (for the most part) up until June; however my training for Berlin is supposed to start at the end of May. Since there will be some overlap between my half marathon race schedule and my Berlin training, I want to get my half marathon PR before the latter starts. Which means I have a little less than four months to achieve this goal. It seems like a lot of time... but it's not. It's certainly doable, but the time frame doesn't allow for much room for error. 

That's part of the reason why I headed to the gym after my run (and group meeting) this morning. I've been needing to jump start both my strength training & cross training, and figured there was no time like the present to try and address at least one of these. Strength training won, primarily in the form of the leg press machine...

I like to use the leg press; it's probably my favorite weight machine in the gym. I end up spending a lot of time on there because I vary my foot placement (traditional (seen in the pic); high; low; wide; narrow; and the balls of my feet - to isolate my calf muscles), and complete about 15 reps in each position. Once my "6 x 15" is completed I take a short break (usually 1-2 minutes) and then complete the set again. 

Typically I would move on to other weight machines after I do the leg press but by the time I got to the gym it was crowded (and I hate working out when it's crowded) so I came home, took a shower and continued the Hulu binge watching session that I started yesterday. 

In between shows (and sometimes during shows) I did some more work on my jigsaw puzzle and now I'm almost finished...

I'm trying to decide what I should do with it once I'm finished. At first I was going to frame it, but it's pretty big so framing it would end up being pretty expensive. I could just take it apart and put it together again next year. Or I could leave it on my dining room table for a while (that's where it is right now while I put it together) and savor the awesomeness of the completed gift... but I have another jigsaw puzzle waiting to be started once I finish this one...

Until I figure it out I hope you have a happy Sunday!!!

Do you run with a running group or by yourself?

What's your favorite post-run snack? 

What's your favorite weight machine at the gym?

2 comments:

  1. How did you start your running group? I thought about reaching out to a couple local girls I know who run to see if they want to meet for early morning runs since I'm scared of the dark, but for now I always run alone.

    I reallly need to focus on some strength training too!

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    1. Actually it really started with a friend of mine Andy (the guy in the picture). It was his idea and he reached out to local people. I decided to try it and it's been growing since then. I think getting people to run with will be a good idea. It helps make the longer runs go by more quickly. Just make sure you guys are pushing each other and motivating each other :)

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