Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Elusive Creature Known as Cross-Training

To classify this running journey so far as successful would be a gross understatement. I have now been running continuously since March of 2012. That's three whole years of running. There are very few things in my life that I have done regularly for so long. So Happy Birthday to me!

There have been tough times for sure and not everything has happened according to plan but where is the fun in everything going right?! More importantly, the idea of stopping is not even in the vicinity of my brain. All this, coming from a guy that would have preferred being injected with the bubonic plague instead of going out for a run.

There has been one thing (actually there have been several but you know, one thing at a time) that I just can't seem to get a grip on and as the title of this post suggests, it's cross-training. With the Goofy Challenge now officially in the schedule, I think it's time I give it another go.

When I started running, I knew about cross-training but avoided it. This was on purpose. I wanted to focus on just running and did not want anything else to distract me. It worked. Running became part of my life. Now there's one more thing to add.

Past attempts have been unsuccessful. I joined a gym a while back. Planet Fitness was just starting to open gyms here in Puerto Rico and the price was surely right, especially compared to other gyms I've been to. I was very excited. The reality was that it became a bit of a scheduling nightmare. With three little girls to take care of, feed, bathe, do homework, comb their hair and put to bed every evening, the time I had to spend at the gym was short before my guilt-o-meter started to kick in. Rest assured, my wife never complained. Not once. I just couldn't shake the feeling of unfairness of it all. Of course, it didn't help that the place was absolutely packed to the rafters every time I went. It seems I wasn't the only one who saw the price/convenience potential of it all and signed up as well. It would take me twice as long to get a workout in simply waiting around for things to be free so I could use them. This got old really quickly.

Now, with more PF's popping up everywhere and the "hot new thing" factor wearing down, this is something I'm not totally discarding in the future. Plus, kids grow up right? This whole assembly line process we go through every night will get easier. I mean, they have to begin doing stuff by themselves eventually. Right? Please? Anyone?

Cycling on the other hand, has been a total success. My knees are certainly thankful. Does it officially count as cross-training? Well... I think yes and no. While it has helped immensely, it does nothing for the upper body which is sort of the point. Not only is good upper/lower body balance important in running and your running form but I also have the upper body strength of a 6 year old. How many pull-ups have I done in my life? None whatsoever. I'm actually afraid that if I run the Disney Half or full marathon, that the toy soldier from Toy Story, who usually stands on the exit ramp on the way to Hollywood Studios will tell me to do push-ups (as he often does) and I won't be able to.

And now, something from the past comes back and opens up some possibilities.

A long while ago, when man was young and the dragon was already old (brownie points if you where that is from) I did a workout video called Turbo Jam. This is from when I was avoiding running at all cost. Think of it as a Zumba kind of thing but more kickboxing than dancing. It was kind of cool. My wife loved it but some of the moves didn't seem to agree with my back. I did it for long enough to muster the courage to order and try P90X (they are from the same company). If you haven't heard about P90X, then you probably don't own a television. At the very least, you probably don't have cable.

P90X was very tough but I liked it. The problem was that the workouts are very long. Once I started running I tried to get the DVD's out from the dust and set up some sort of hybrid running/workout schedule but I didn't really know how to go about it and again, the length of the workouts were kind of problematic. I was improvising and was a bit afraid of doing more harm than good. Fast forward to present time.

10 comments:

  1. I have all the "tools" to be successful at cross training but I just can't get a handle on it. I wonder if that's a "thing" with runners who become "Runners" first.

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    1. I'm beginning to think it is a "thing". When I started running I was so afraid to "screw up my running" and maybe that kind of stuck.

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  2. Oh Frank, Frank, Frank......it doesn't have to be that scary or time consuming. A few simple shoulder raises using the girls for weights will work nicely. And the fear of dropping them should help you maintain great form. After all, they have to "pull their weight" around the house, don't they? Isn't that why people HAVE kids in the first place? (Probably a good thing I just have a dog, isn't it? :) Just trying to keep things in perspective for ya buddy! :)

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    1. Kids as a means to work out... You might have given me some ideas...

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  3. I with you. I have a hard time getting into a consistent cross training routine. Right now I have settled on 10 min of core work every night, along with 3 days of running, 2 days of PiYo (which I am counting as my strength training), 1 day with just weights and then one total rest day. I also have added 20 min daily walks after lunch which has all worked out nicely.

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    1. I'm hearing a lot of good things about PiYo as well. I did Turbo Jam so you know I'm a Chlalene fan. : )

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  4. Good luck with your cross training! I can tell a different with how my body recovers from a long run when I am good about XT and when I'm not. Good luck with Goofy!

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    1. While running is not a total body workout, the whole body is required to run properly that's for sure. And you should have done Goofy too! I would have loved to meet up eith you guys.

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  5. One of the things I've done for cross training this year is I've been finding and buying coupons for various classes. It's a cheap(er) way to try things out and generally it ends up being fun, plus I have to go back at least for the number of classes included in the coupon since I've already paid for it! I tried Aerial Yoga and now I'm working through my coupon for barre classes. I saw one for kick boxing that I might get next. Otherwise, cross training was definitely hard to fit in. There's only so much time to squeeze everything in :(

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    1. That's the good thing about blogging about these things. You find like you are the only one with a problem then realize it's actually a pretty common thing.

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