Killin' Time

Oh how can we really take advantage of this time of year? Do we pile on junk miles? Do we just back off the running; cut it to three days a week? How can we make most use of this time of bad weather and short days? We they say necessity is the mother of invention. It seems necessary to come up with something to keep ourselves fit and yet not burnt out.

As runners we have gotten caught up in RUN RUN RUN. This is fine and good as young peoples and even then we could use some variation but now more than ever we need to consider the WHOLE PACKAGE of fitness. Keep in mind our true and first girlfriend of running but using other girlfriends/ boyfriends to keep alive the first one. Winter is the best time to stray and try out yoga, cross fit, TRX, swimming, pilates, boot camps, spinning and gym memberships.

Also this time of year is a simulation of injury down time. Build your arsenal so that when the running time is hard to grab you have other weapons to keep you addiction happy.  Sure enough there will be a hamstring, an Achilles, a knee that screams "help me" at you. After a winter of cross training you'll have something else to do other than tighten the noose over the rafters.  Don't expect it to be the same but expect something different and in other ways better. 

Normally as runners we go out 5-7 days a week and inspect the pavement. In colder and worse footing times it may be optimal to cut that to 3-5 days per week but what to do with the extra time?  As a somewhat old schooler, it wasn't really as optional to try other activity. Call it close-mindedness but we really didn't even consider it. If you got hurt then you didn't run and read a lot and watched movies. Like new television we have other options now. (We had them then too, just didn't consider them as much) There used to be three television stations and if the president was speaking or some bums were landing on the moon then the option was nil.

Now your options are less and less limited. You can grab a big ole tire and flip it over for 30 minutes. You can toss a medicine ball, a kettle bell, or hang from a rope until the cows come home and still get some fitness that you wouldn’t normally get running. It's not the type of working out that burns a lot of calories but it has its own merits not associated to burning calories. Thankfully when speed isn't as much a desire other things (flappy arms) can become a motivator as well. Use this time to arm yourself with the tools that will keep you fit and healthy even when running as often isn't an option, do to weather or injury. Now lets do some plyometrics.

Larryh@kencombsrunningstore.com