Sunday, April 12, 2009

Cross Training

My mileage this month has been low to say the least. After putting in 200+ mile months for the last 6 months or so, I'm probably not going to get close to 100 this month. But that's alright. With Nancy away every weekend, it's not easy to get in a long run and I probably needed the break anyway.

So I've started doing some cross training instead. Thursday evening I did a fairly intense weights workout which included lots of squats and lunges. These left my hamstrings pretty sore, so yesterday I pulled out this Biggest Loser dvd and did all three levels. It was a great workout, and actually helped with the soreness (they do lots of squats and lunges, which is exactly what I'm looking for).

Regardless of what you think of the show (I enjoy watching it, but it's a "reality"* and "product placement" show and I am very cynical, especially when they try to pull crap like this), every one of the Biggest Loser range of workout dvds I've tried contain some really good cross training for runners. When I got back from my early morning run today I did this one - not that difficult, but still good for working up a sweat.

All in all, I'm very happy with my workouts this weekend. Next weekend is Nancy's last in San Antonio - I'm sure she will be glad to be done and I am itching to get back out there and start doing my long back-to-back runs again.

And in the meantime, can anyone recommend any good yoga or pilates dvds?


* reality show = entertainment with the illusion of reality. Ingest with several grains of salt and swallow at your own risk.

2 comments:

brendaontheRun said...

I just bought Px90 and it's awesome; you get 13 DVDs and there's something different on each of them (includes yoga, weights, lunges etc). I started last week and am really enjoying it and am already feeling like it's making me stronger. It's pretty hard core too which is great as there's lots to work towards. It's not cheap but I think it's well worth it and will be great cross-training for my running. In the past, I've always enjoyed the Gaiam series of Pilates with Ana Caban. Can't help you with the yoga as I usually go to class for that. Hope that helps! I've been enjoying your Sporting Heroes - it brings back lots of memories!

Marcia said...

Mark,

If you're looking for good yoga DVDs, I have several recommendations. If you can find DVD's by Bryan Kest or Baron Baptiste, those are both really good (but the ones I like are out of print so you may have to hunt for them). I would also recommend several of the Power Yoga DVD's with Rodney Yee that you can find on Gaiam.com ... Yoga Conditioning for Athletes, Power Yoga Total Body Workout, and the Power Yoga Collection: Strength and Flexibility. I have several of these, so if you'd like to borrow any to try out, you are more than welcome (although I only have Bryan Kest on VHS).