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Tag: Cross Training

Cross Training

Do You Cross-Train To Help Your Running?

August 5, 2017

Do you cross train to help your running?  I didn’t used to once I first started running.  But for the past year I have incorporated it into my weekly workouts and have found it to help me stay injury free and stronger.

Briane Agostinelli, BS, CEP, CWP, CPPC – Health Advocate, Consumer Health Engagement,
ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist I NWI Certified Wellness Practitioner from Cigna explains the benefits of cross training.

Six benefits of cross-training

Improved skills, agility, speed and balance

Increased strength and flexibility

Greater aerobic fitness by including nonimpact aerobic exercise in your routine to develop other muscles without increasing your risk for injury

Injury prevention

Runner’s injuries are frequently caused by instability or inadequate strength. With strength training and stretching, these injuries  may be greatly reduced.

Variety and flexibility to your routine

Reducing boredom, burnout, and if there is a change in plans you and your workout can adjust

The types of cross training I do

Last year I started using the Beach Body exercise programs.  I fell in love with doing video exercises in my cool basement in 30 minute segments.  They were intense, they were very targeted to the type of body part I wanted to focus on and they kept me from becoming bored!  I wanted to do multiple workouts in a day; but knew I had to be careful not to burn myself out.  But I still do them, a year later and I enjoy them just as much as day one.  I like them because they help me with my glutes and hamstrings which are areas that tend to get weak on me and then become more prone to injury.  I also like that I am working out my upper body because that helps me hold a better posture for running.

Cross training is also helpful in strengthening your muscles which will also make you run faster. Who doesn’t want that?!  With less than a month to go for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend you can still incorporate some cross training to your routine.  Especially during the taper period.  This way you will still feel like you are doing something for yourself as you may be putting in less miles.

Do you cross train?  What is your favorite program to use?

I Took Things Off Road Recently

November 19, 2015

Well, not completely, but I did venture off the main road a little bit this past weekend and ran in some of the vineyard fields and the cornfields on my normal route.  I wanted to get in at least 6 miles over the weekend and it was a nice sunny and windy day on Sunday.  I was itching to get out for a run because I had been so busy with work and running to different places and doctor appointments with the kids.

Saturday morning was a lazy morning.  The family took our time waking up, eating, cleaning, making beds, the usual stuff you do on a lazy Saturday.  I sat in bed with a cup of tea with my husband and talked about Christmas gift ideas for the kids, and flights for our April vacation, and then I had to get moving.  It was nice to sit around and relax; but I can’t sit for very long.

The views on my run are always the best!

The views on my run are always the best!

I got dressed and was on the road around 1:00.  While I was on the road and observing the area around me, I took note that I’d like to go off road on my way home and run through part of the cornfield.  I kept going and went to the Gouveia vineyard up the hill from where I live and decided to run through the grape fields.  So while I didn’t necessarily do some real trail running; I consider it close enough to trail running.  The ground I was running on consisted of uneven car paths from where the farmers drive their vehicles through the vineyard.  I ran about a quarter mile through the vineyard.

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Then on my return route home I went off the road into a cornfield.  I didn’t run very much in that field but it was nice to get off the road and run on a different surface.  With marathon and Dopey training being my priority from now until the end of the year I have to be careful if I am going to run off road.  I don’t want to hurt myself.  I wasn’t running in special trail shoes so I don’t have the necessary ankle support to run on such surfaces.  It was great to do something different and mix up the routine a little and run on a surface other than the hard pavement.

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I’d like to make a goal to run in Tyler Mill near my house after I complete my Dopey challenge and don’t have to worry about avoiding any injuries prior to that big race weekend.  I also made it a point to start cross training during the week with weights.  My daughter always loved when I would go workout in our workout room.  Once she heard me say I was going downstairs to work out she ran to her room to find her favorite workout clothes so she could join me.  That night when she went to bed she kept asking me if I was going to work out again the next day because she enjoyed working out with me and spending girl time with me.  She’s so awesome!

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