Variety is the Spice of Life

Taking pretty much an entire year off  of running and then wanting to come back an do something epic in the next year is going to take some doing. To make things easier I have joined the YMCA which is conveniently located next door to where I work making lunchtime and evening working out possible. There is also a Y a five minute drive from our house making weekend and early morning and any other time workout easy as well. I think making it as easy as possible to do something ups me actually doing it by a factor of 100. The other nice thing about the Y is they offer a gazillion classes. Everything from spin to barre to boot camp, three of my favorite cross training classes at the moment.

In my time off from running I got a bit lazy which resulted in a loss of not only cardio fitness but also strength so I am working on getting both of those back slowly but surely.

A typical week of training looks a little like:
Monday- AM swim laps, lunch time lift weights, evening boot camp class
Tuesday- AM run/walk, lunch time lift
Wednesday- Swim or uphill treadmill or stairclimber, lunch time lift, evening barre class
Thursday- AM run, pilates at lunch or pilates in the evening
Friday- AM spin, boot camp at lunch
Saturday- AM Run/ lift
Sunday- Run
All days pretty much start with a mile walk with the dogs. That is my warm-up for whatever workout is happening that morning.
Charlie is always super helpful when it comes to working out. He is very into the exercise mat.
I also have some physical therapy exercises I throw in every time I run to try to keep things in working order and stretching.....all day everyday because everything hurts and I am dying. I also have to be flexible because work things come up and sometimes lunch time or evening workouts get pushed or don't happen. But some is better than none.

Pilates and barre are great for core, hip flexors, back and balance.
Boot camp is great for working everything, including doing lateral movements which I tend not to do ever and kind of suck at.
Swimming is just a great overall workout and gets that heart going.

My hope is this variety will keep me strong and reduce the chance of injuries.

I am also lucky enough to have some help from a friend who has created me a training plan so I don't have to think about how to gain running fitness back I can just trust in her plan.

She is an awesome coach so no doubt I will be back to plodding some serious miles soon.

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