Day 2 - It's All About Cross Training

Good Morning!!

It's day two and I'm still alive and moving around.  Yesterday was a great FIRST day.  Today it is all about Cross Training.  Why is cross training so important in your race training?  Cross training allows you to rest your running muscles while training opposing muscle groups and it reduces the risk of over training and injury.  It also helps speed recovery and reduces burnout.  With five months of training ahead of me, I need to eliminate burnout.

Cross Training Workout: 30 - 45 minutes
* No running or walking allowed

* Training choices -  elliptical machine, stair master, swimming, Pilate's, yoga, aerobics, etc

* Workout also includes strength training exercises for your upper body, core (abdominal and trunk) and lower body - remember to include this twice per week
Results - Increases lean muscle tissue, boost metabolism and prevents the dreaded muscle loss with age.  The more muscle we lose, the lower our metabolism sinks.

For my workout today, I decide to go with the elliptical machine (30 minutes) and strength training on the upper body (15 minutes).  I must say, the elliptical machine won the battle today.  I'm definitely going to feel the aches later on this afternoon. I kept my heart rate to about 164 during the peak times and 110 during the low times.  Today, I really noticed an overall workout for my entire body and not just my legs.  After the elliptical machine took me for a 2.5 mile ride, I moved on to my upper body strength training - weight lifting.  I didn't go over board with the amount of weight but instead increased my repetitions.  I used a 5 lb weight for all my strength training.  Lots of curls, over the head, side to sides, behind the back lifting and sit ups.  I did each exercise 15 times for 3 reps.  Can you say feel the burn?  I've been doing a lot of research on training and everything that I have read says that when you feel your muscles burning as you are lifting weights then you know it is working. 
Have a great Tuesday!!

Happy Training!