Motivation Monday - Week 1

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was quite full, but also very fun so I can not complain. I could use another day off, but couldn't we all?

Thank you for your kind, supportive comments last week regarding my post-marathon blues. I am already starting to feel better. I went to the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday and the endorphin release from working out again really helped.

As I said in my marathon recap posts, I think my marathon days are behind me. Instead I want to focus on improving my 1/2 marathon time. My PR from last October is 2:04 and I would really like to run a sub-2 hour marathon. I know I can do it, I just need to train for it and add in some hills/speed work.

As much as I want to register for another race, I know that I need some time away from a training schedule. So my next half won't be until next May when I will run the Fargo 1/2 marathon.

So what will I do between now and late February when I will start training for that race?

Well, I took a body pump class last week, which is a class hosted by the Y that works all of your major muscle groups.

It was an eye opening experience.

By taking that class, I realize how weak my core and upper body muscles have become. I shouldn't be surprised as all I have done for the last 4.5 months is run. Taking that class showed me that while I am in shape, especially cardiovascularly, I have some areas to work on. One of the things on my 30 before 30 list is to be able to do 20 real push-ups. My birthday is just over 3 months away; I am hoping shifting towards a mix of cardio and strength training will help me achieve this goal.

Posting about my marathon training each week worked well for me. It kept me honest and was a great way to track my progress week by week. So from now until 1/2 marathon training starts, I'll be blogging each Monday about how this shift away from just running is going. I figure it will keep me motivated! I'm borrowing Becky's Hi/Low approach and will leave you each Monday with my exercising hi/low. I'd love it if you would also leave your hi/low in the comments - whether it's in regards to exercising or life in general!

Last week's high: Running for the first time since the marathon with no pain whatsoever.

Last week's low: Feeling pain in my knee cap when doing lunges during Body Pump. Clearly I have not completely recovered from the femoral patella issues I had last spring.