Strength and Rest

Yesterday afternoon, I went and headed to the gym.  My idea was to finish up my cycle to the Olympic city of LA, and start a new cycle to another Olympic series.  I had it in the back of my mind to hop on the Treadmill for that stupid 1 extra mile.  And to do some strength work.

It was a nutty week at work and I guess it caught up to me.

I cycled, just enough to warm me up for strength work, and to make it to Los Angeles!  THen I did strength.  I am really not enjoying strength, but it is essential to me.

I am very happy at my mental commitment and that I am using hind sight to guide this training.

I got into a lot of trouble by avoiding the strength work a few months ago.  I was about to skip…but then I remembered that pain and trouble and got at it.

Best thing lately has been seeing progress.  My running is not causing pain anymore.  I am also finding things like heel taps to be a heck of a lot less miserable.

Heel taps were one of those first exercises to go when I lost my mind!  When I restarted them I could barely do them especially on my surgical leg.  After about a month of doing the right stuff, I found I can now do 2 sets of 20, for each leg.  This might be why…I’m not having pain.

I’ve been very consistent with the 1 legged bridges, and then I saw this on Youtube and I want to try it!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMEwhlu2Mxo

2 for the time of one.  I don’t think I’ll start with 5 lbs though, I’ll be looking for the little pink weights.

A great exercise that I avoided after PT is the Reverse Hyper.

We dont have this Machine at the gym, but I find, just using my legs, and doing lots of repeats gives a great back/rear workout.

Then there is the good old 3 cone touch.

I dont use the stability pad, because I’d fall on my rear.  I’m unstable enough on the ground.

Now that I am back on track, I see mild improvement in my strength each time I do them…and corresponding to that, NO PAIN while running.

So, having problems with pain while running?  Strength work.

It’s not officially part of the plan, but I am hoping to get 2-3 workouts a week in!

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