A Focus on Cross Training

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to figure out what has been different about my training for Saint George compared to the Colfax marathon. And then it hit me - I have done ZERO cross training. During Colfax training I was doing some form of cross training at least 2-3 times a week. I would mostly swim, do some core exercises, and some weight lifting to mix up my routine. But this time around cross training completely slipped my mind. I am I paying for it. I am a stronger runner than I was a year ago.  I have conditioned my legs, lungs, and most importantly my mind. But without cross training all that goes away.

Recently I read a few articles about the importance of cross training for endurance athletes and decided I need to get my butt in gear if I want to have a successful race at Saint George. The main points I took away from most of the articles were cross training:

• reduces the possibility of injuries
• allows for faster recovery from injuries
• provides greater anaerobic fitness
• gives runners more power in their legs
• allows runners to be more efficient in their movements.

So I created the below schedule, determined to get everything completed this week. Since my marathon training plan has me running 5 days a week getting in cross training is hard to do unless I do two-a-day workouts. Not my ideal situation, but once I get back onto the swing of things and get my strength back I will dial back on the number of days I cross train and the type that I am doing.

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Running	Rest	5 Miles	8 Miles	5 Miles	5 Miles	Rest	Jericho Jog (5k) + 8 Miles
XT	Rest	Swim	Body Pump	Core + Stretch	BodyPump	Core + Stretch	Rest

Sunday was an easy day of strictly rest. Which was good considering I had a hectic weekend and ended up sleeping most of the day. Monday was a different story. I had set my alarm the night before to get up at 5am and run before work. At 5am I promptly hit the snooze button and fell back asleep for another hour.  I woke up at 6am feeling extremely rested and figured that I could get my run in after work. After consulting the weather forecast I decided that I would just skip my run and go for a swim that night. By 8am I was ready to crawl back into bed and had completely discounted heading to the pool after work.  By three o’clock I had changed my mind again and decided that I should go to the pool and not be a lazy bum. But guess who forgot to pack her goggles? This girl. So basically day one was a complete fail at working out.

Tuesday was a different story again. I woke up at 4am and could not fall back asleep to save my life. I tossed and turned for an hour before I finally decided to get up, pack a bag, and head to the office to get some miles in before work. I managed to get 5 in and still make it to my desk in time. Not the 8 I was hoping for but it worked. I had then planned on going to the gym and taking the BodyPump class to get some weights in BUT (there always seems to be a but) they had canceled classes due to the parking lot re-paved. So I laced up my running shoes again and ran the rest of my miles for the day. So the day was not a total loss.

The rest of the week I was spot on! Maybe I was a little too ambitious this week with the amount of non-running activities that I added to my schedule. But I have low weekend miles so I figured my body could handle it. But I am exhausted. I am going to enjoy my rest day tomorrow and prepare myself for next week:

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Running	Rest	5 Miles	8 Miles	5 Miles	5 Miles	Rest	20 Miles
XT	Stretching	Swim	Rest	Core + Stretch	BodyPump	Core + Stretch	Rest