Off-Season Workout Routine

Relaxation, rest, recovery....that's what I've been doing for the past week.  Following my Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon I needed to take a break.  I've been running 4 or 5 days a week since March and steadily increasing my endurance.  I begun to notice in October though that I wasn't getting any faster and long runs were getting more difficult instead of easier.  That's a sign that you need to take a break.  I was mentally and physically worn out but I still had the Half Marathon to run.  I decided to run that race for fun without focusing too much on speed.  I'm glad I did it but it was the finale to my running season.

I'm hitting the reset button.  I decided on a week of rest followed by the start of a new workout routine to carry me through the winter. I dislike running in the cold anyway so this seemed like a logical off season opportunity to focus on strength training and flexibility while doing a combination of cardio workouts including running, walking, the ARC trainer and the elliptical.  I still need to maintain at least 10-15 miles of running a week but as I know I will never be in a position to win races I'd rather focus on my overall well being.  Once the spring rolls around I'll reduce the cross training and strength training and increase the running mileage gradually.  At least that's my plan. :)

Today I eased back into an exercise routine by doing 30 minutes of yoga/strength training.  I used The Biggest Loser Yoga Meltdown workout video on level 1.  It's a good mixture of yoga flexibility training and body weight strength training moves.  You would think that someone who has run a marathon would have no problem with a Biggest Loser workout routine, but it wasn't easy!  I haven't done yoga for about 9 months and I'm pretty weak when it comes to strength training because I've been focusing so much on cardio and endurance this past year.  If anything this has reaffirmed my need to work on my strength and flexibility.

So, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and if you have any ideas for a well rounded workout please feel free to share!