Today, I knew I needed to get my butt up and out the door. My legs and hips were a bit stiff and I figured a short run would be the perfect thing to loosen them up before coming home and getting in some cross training. It didn't hurt that it was a GORGEOUS day. I didn't mind the cold at all. I think I'm actually enjoying running in the cold. I still get just as sweaty as when I ran this summer, but the cold air keeps me comfortable. Anyway, I started off with a short warm up and then took off, planning on letting my legs set their own slow and easy pace. About a half mile into the run, I looked down at my Garmin and started laughing in disbelief. Apparently my body doesn't know how to run "slow" any more. I just continued to let my legs set their own pace for 2 miles and then walked the rest of the way home as a cool down. There was one point where I started to get a little pain in my side, but I realized I wasn't breathing deep enough and as soon as I paid attention to it and fixed my breathing, the pain went away. I shot my friend Mike (he's a runner too) a text as soon as I got home, laughing about my pace, and he called me back with something that really made me think. "Did you stop to think about the fact that maybe you've finally jumped off a plateau? You were doing speed training to get ready for your 5ks. Maybe you finally proved to your body that you CAN run faster and now it WANTS to?" At the time, I was a little dumb-founded, but it makes sense now. I really didn't do any speed week before a month ago. Maybe I WAS holding myself back purely because I hadn't proved to myself yet that I COULD do it. Mike's a smart man. But don't tell HIM I said that. I'd never hear the end of it. Haha.
So, I came home and changed out of my cold-weather gear and into my shorts and older shoes and went down to the basement to get my cross training on ... and then just about smacked myself in the forehead. Dad is still working in the basement. This means I can't get to my weight bench OR my rowing machine. Ok, so I'll just do stuff with my dumbbells. Crap, where are the dumbbells? Can't find them. Ugh. Ok, I guess I'll just do what I can with my own body weight. Here's what I ended up doing ...
Run up and down steps for 30 seconds, 3 times
5x 20 reps of push ups
5x 30 second regular plank
4x 30 seconds bicycle crunches
2x 30 seconds standing leg raises (holy cow my balance is horrible)
1 set of calf raises
1 set of side planks (15 seconds per side)
I'm starting to love planks. No joke. I'm even following Plank-A-Day on twitter! I'm comfortable with 30-second regular planks right now, but I want to keep working on it. I haven't decided HOW I'm going to progress, but I have a couple ideas. I can either add an extra 30-second plank every week or I can make my first plank last as long as I possibly can before starting my reps of 30-second planks.
We shall see what happens. I'm looking at heavier dumbbells right now and as soon as dad gets the basement cleaned up again, I'll be able to get back into my 30-Day Shred too!
Oh, and despite my hate of New Years resolutions, I'm working on a "2012 goals" post for later this week. Stay tuned. ;)
I did planks today....it was not a pretty sight! I could only hold it 30 seconds the first time. I really need to do more core work!
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