The Unofficial Strength Training for Running: Pose, Hike, Ride, Run

I’ve made it a point to be much more relaxed about my non-running activities during this training cycle. Between nerves and the unknown last time, I rarely gave myself flexibility to veer from the “plan” and do something different. What if I was too sore for the next run? Or pulled some obscure muscle? Or am too tired to get in that speed workout the next day?

Or, Crazy, relax. What if everything is fine, and the cross training makes me stronger?

This time, I’m assuming that’s the case. And I’m loving it.

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Friday night, after the 20-mile survival and a long day of resting up, D & I ventured over to the Lululemon store for free “Vinyasa & Vino”. You would’ve too – doesn’t that sound like the perfect combination?

They also have a window for the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon – how perfect:

We walked into a completely packed store – mat after yoga mat – and barely found two spots to place ourselves. It ended up being 60 minutes of Vinyasa; perfect for stretching and loosening my poor muscles, but a little tough on the exhausted bod.

My quads had a few choice words for me that probably shouldn’t repeated, but I wouldn’t have changed the night for anything. I haven’t done yoga since we left DC – that sense of calm came immediately and every pose flowed right into the next. My flexibility could use some work, but we’ll get there!

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Saturday could’ve been a rest day, but it’s hard to resist these trails:

D wants to climb to the top of this one (Longs Peak, 14,000 ft), but that was obviously not in the cards for our afternoon adventure (or my sore legs). We settled on a 4 mile hike, instead…

We wandered, we took pictures, and I had an “Om” moment:

D had a similar experience:

We get it, trees. Fall is coming – for now, we thank you for the cool sunny afternoon and some trails to explore. My legs will get back to you.

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Yesterday, to keep the streak going, we hopped on the bikes for an easy cruise around Ft Collins and the Poudre Valley trail. We also stopped at the New Belgium brewery (closed, sad day), because in Colorado that’s an option:

Blurry photo courtesy of the Blackberry.

We rode without gadgets – distance? Who knows. Cruising for an hour and a half with D on “easy” speed, we just had fun with a new trail and new scenery!

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All of this leads up to my run this morning – an Easy 6 is fine, but these muscles certainly haven’t rested in a while. I left the iPod and HRM at home,;whatever the legs feel like, I’ll happily oblige.

9:07 – 8:54 – 8:51 – 8:35 – 8:30 – 8:15
Sprint? Let’s go for it….. 0.10 mi @ 5:11 pace

Apparently this Unofficial Strength/Cross-Training routine is working out just fine.

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How do you choose to push the limits while training? Had any muscle or joint ached (beyond ‘normal’ soreness), I would’ve taken things down a notch. But with a month to go before the marathon, I’m loving creativity on the off days!