Personal Journey from Running to Whatever I Do Now
This blog is something that I hope to read when I’m 105, so reliving the glory days of young knees and sweaty runs will have to be documented in case I will have slowed down by then. I have no doubt I will look back on my life with thoughts of areas I should have given less attention to, and plenty to which I should have given more, but a love exercise is something God knitted deep into my heart with a purpose. I have a feeling exercise will have some very sweet memories of my kids, women I never would have met otherwise, and personal victories as I reflect some day.
Exercise has taken on many forms: from high school sports, college soccer, then predominately running and now predominantly circuit training. It’s a pretty natural progression if you follow the steps: (1) soccer was a season of competition, memories and lots of running…..(2) when soccer ended at the competitive level, running became a way to continue to compete and feel the thrill of competition and training for a goal, and the next step is still a little fuzzy in my mind, but I’ll do my best to bridge the next gap (because I know you’re on the edge of your seat).
Last year (2017) I qualified for the Boston Marathon and I worked hard to do so. I wouldn’t say that it was an unattainable goal for me prior to my qualifying race, but I did have to be very intentional about my training and could have easily not qualified had a certain cramp been any worse than it was at mile 16. And that feeling of crossing the finish line was incredibly humbling and I don’t mean to diminish it at all, but ever since that training cycle, I went through I much longer than normal aversion to distance running with goals in mind. I enjoyed helping a dear friend train for a marathon in the late summer and early fall that included multiple 20 mile runs, but I had NO feelings of “missing out” that I wasn’t running another marathon that year.
In fact, I dedicated the time that I had been spending on running to developing the side of exercise that I had to cut down on-- strength training in the form of circuits. After finishing a marathon training cycle in which hours and hours of running are logged each week, I felt a little burned out and also a little plateaued in my fitness in general. There was no increase in muscle (the opposite rather), no real increase in speed (endurance, yes. Speed, not really.) and I was ready to feel differently towards my training.
So that’s exactly what I did-- I completely changed the time spent putting on foot in front of the other and picked up weights. Not just picking them up and putting them down, but letting all the possibilities of circuits and plyos, compound movements, isolation movements, pre-exhausts, burnouts, high reps/low weight, pyramid training, all of it just pulled me in. There were endless possibilities of effective circuits that I was putting together and loving that I didn’t miss the weekend long runs or the treadmill one bit. The feeling of lifting heavier than a month ago was just as exciting, but I actually saw changes in my body as well. Everything tightened up, definition in areas I’ve never seen it and more importantly than that, I was LOVING the challenges of each day more than I had loved running in months.
Now, I never completely stopped loving to run, in fact, it will always be the most therapudic form of exercise to me. During this transition, I was fascinated with how even my paces improved on the two days I ran. It was easier for me to hit faster paces and hold them with less fatigue since my recent investment in resistance training. This past week I ran 8.82 miles in one hour on the treadmill which translates to a 6’48 pace and that’s pretty good for me! It’s not realistic to say that if your goals are PURELY running that you should approach training the way that I am (running 2x per week), however, if your goals are to get out of a plateau whether it be physical progress, mental burnout or anything else…..I cannot recommend the transition enough.
You may be wondering what specific changes I have noticed and how long did it take to notice them?
I would say a month of strict circuits with fewer steady state cardio sessions and more HIIT or body weight movements in addition to the hypertrophy style circuits was enough time to see things start changing. And I’m not the type to gain muscle quickly, I’m very much an adaptable body type, so I knew I would have to commit to the different training style if it were going to have effects. To be honest, I grew to love it rather quickly. It seemed so much more efficient to get the weight lifting and cardio done together in strategic circuits that made me feel MUCH more athletic than steady running or boring, low-intensity lifts with long rest periods. I even surprised myself when I took a picture 8 weeks after the change in the tightness of my composition especially in my legs which are always the last area to show progress.
I understand wanting to see the progress and know that your hard work will create change, but I can promise you that what was more empowering was to fall in love with exercise all over again. To finish a workout and know I gave it almost everything I had, but no not be able to wait to do it again the next day! I just wasn’t getting that with the predominately cardio/running routine…...but again, this is just my experience.
Never let anyone’s personal journey be a hinderance to your own. If you are running, swimming, cycling, or underwater basket weaving and loving it, then please keep doing it. However, if you feel that the time spent running is leaving you wishing for a bit more muscle, a bit more metabolic investment (caloric burn throughout your day), or anything else that your current routine isn’t providing, then be willing to make a change!
My biggest passion for women is that they (1) enjoy their form of exercise (2) exercise in an effective way for their personal physical/performance goals (3) exercise for the rest of their lives as they are able.
My weekly Routine and How Running Fits:
Monday- 20 minutes cardio warm up (usually the stairmaster or easy running) + heavier leg workout
Tuesday- 15 minute cardio warm-up (usually stairmaster) + upper body + HIIT (bodyweight, weights, plyos) as prescribed in the Move Sweat Shred Guide
Wednesday- Cardio Day- I usually run 10 miles pushing my paces. Two of my most common running workouts:
7’30 pace mile/ 6’30 pace mile alternating every mile (5 miles of each)
Taper run (7’30, 7’00, 6’30, 6’00, then working back up to 7’30 (8 miles total) then two miles around 7’15 to equal 10
Thursday- LISS (low intensity steady state cardio 30 minutes in the form of inclined walking or slower stairmaster) + Back/Core Workout
Friday- Lighter Leg Day/ Plyometric-Focused + HIIT usually in the form of treadmill sprints
(10 rounds, 1 minute rest: 1 minute run at about a 5”30-5’00 mile pace
Saturday: Full Body Workout (usually 3 circuits repeated 3x each) + 30 minutes of easy running to simulate a very relaxed form of marathon training that hardly even qualifies.
Boston Marathon Thoughts
When people ask me about how I feel about the Boston Marathon, I have this to say-- I haven’t trained, I won’t be racing it, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to make a running memory that I’ll have forever. My training has not been sufficiently structured to race the marathon distance and I couldn’t be more ok with that. I’ve LOVED building muscle mass, getting faster at shorter distances, building explosive power through plyometrics, and developing fast-twitch muscles through HIIT. But I am NOT in endurance sports shape and I’m not sure I want to be anymore…….but I haven’t fully come to that conclusion and I don’t like to lock myself into anything when it comes to exercise or movement.
Now, before anybody thinks that there is anything wrong with what they are doing, please let me put a stop to those thoughts before they even start. It’s a constant balance to ward off thoughts of comparison in the disguise of “learning” from each other. This is what is working quite well for my interests, my personal enjoyment, my physical goals, my responsibilities and the time I have available to put towards fitness. I really appreciate each person who takes the time to read these posts and I would hate to think it causes a second of robbed joy due to the thief that is “comparison.”
