The Art of Listening and Cross-training

  Saturdays are usually my long run days--unless of course I'm functioning on little sleep and/or experiencing an unfamiliar pain.  Today, it was both.  I worked my evening shift from 3pm-11pm last night and was on call from 11pm to 7am.  Typically I can sleep when I'm on call, but last night I couldn't for a couple of reasons:

1. The toddler came in at 3:45 am and 
2. The top of my foot started to really ache and got really uncomfortable whenever I moved it a certain way.  

  Anytime something is amiss and a strange pain pops up, that's usually a sign that I need to take a break from running.  So I glumly wrote my friend a text at 5am saying that I would unfortunately be skipping out on our run.  I felt like such a failure and really wanted to get my beloved long run in!  Needless to say, the jealousy and disappointment that I couldn't go on my 12-mile run with my friend was soon eclipsed by my more important and immediate need for sleep.

  The disappointment didn't last for long, though.  It was a gorgeous day and I was jonesing for a bike ride outside.  My son and husband were wanting a visit to the gym so we compromised.  Gym time followed by bike time.  But I made sure it was worth my while!  I decided to introduce my husband to his first set of CrossFit exercises (Mwahahaha...).  Our workout of the day (WOD) was as follows:

   Filthy Fifty (50 reps of each exercise):

• Box jumps
• Tricep dips
• Kettle bell swings
• Walking lunges
• Knees to elbows
• Burpees (complete with jump AND push-up)
• Thrusters

  I had wall balls and plank pulls planned but we ran out of time because of the daycare hours coming to an end.  And Jon was not sorry to miss those last two workouts!  So next up was our bike ride.  Jon pulled Vivi in our trailer and I had the WeeRide Co-Pilot trailer attached and ready for Luke, who had decided to start off with his scooter.

Kids are ready to ride!

  We rode all over our neighborhood which is laden with hills of varying sizes.  Luke decided to ditch his scooter on an uphill incline of all places!  Pulling trailers loaded with a 30+ lb. toddler and a 40+ lb. kid up and down hills made for a challenging ride.  But we all had a lot of fun as a family.  Jon and I rediscovered our inner kid picking up speed going downhill or racing each other uphill.  And it was a great workout, especially since Jon and I had already exhausted our muscles doing our CrossFit workout.  It was a perfect opportunity for us to get in some fitness together as a family and to enjoy this gorgeous and mild weather for a Saturday in mid-June.

                                         

Creating fun memories as a family...

  So it wasn't my usual slow, long-distance running endorphin rush.  But cross-training has it's own benefits.  I've suffered from previous injuries such as achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis because I ignored the initial warning pain signals that my body had sent out.  Both resulted in long, drawn-out recoveries.  And I would prefer not to have to repeat that.  When I had ignored my body before, I stubbornly thought that I would just get over that hump of "discomfort" and be ok.  I just had to persevere!  Well my cocky attitude got me nowhere except for being injured.  Cross-training is essential to my workouts to not just prevent burnout but to prevent those much-dreaded injuries as well.  And I get just as much of a calorie burn and endorphin rush when I do other challenging workouts that do not involve hard-core running.  Here's one example:

  Earlier in the week, I had attempted a 3-mile run after my CrossFit-based Total Body Conditioning.  But my knee has this sensation like something wanted to "pop" every time I tried to start running.  I had no desire whatsoever to discover what wanted to pop.  So walking on the treadmill it was, until my knee warmed up enough to get some running in on the last mile or so.  Check out my total calorie burn from that day:

  Nine hundred calories burned!!!  And I only ran for maybe 10-15 minutes out of an hour and a half workout!  

  I love running but I also want to be able to continue running for as long as possible.  So in order to do that, I need to maintain my ability to do other things besides running.  Spinning, yoga, and strengthening/conditioning in addition to running will hopefully keep me going for a long, long time to come!   In order to be healthy and fit, I first need to be kind to my body.  Simply listening and being in tune to whether or not my body can do what I'm asking it to do is just as important as a good workout.