I have been more or less a running addict for the last 5 years. I like the simplicity of it, that I just need a pair of shoes and the outside world to be able to do it. While the running gets in my exercise, I know that for my overall health, and to improve the running that I love, I need to incorporate other types of fitness.
A few years ago, this would have been a much bigger challenge, because although I knew I needed to add in resistance training, I believed that I hated it. This wasn't based on much, since I wasn't really doing it at the time and hadn't done it at all in over half-a-decade, but it's what I always told myself. I think the truth is that I feared it. I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, like I was going to make a fool of myself and/or hurt myself. I thought I'd get bored just counting reps inside; with running, I always had the option of finding a good trail and letting the trees distract me.
Finally, I gave in and forced myself (by getting my older brother to come with me and help out a bit) and realized that I actually liked it as a change from running. When I'm doing a long run (or even a short one), it's a constant battle to convince myself to keep running for another 15, 30, or 60 minutes. With weight training, I just had to keep it up for a short number of reps, then I could sip some water and completely rest until the next one. I liked the feeling that came with the final reps when I'd chosen a good weight, the sense that the only thing that existed in the world was lifting the weight just one more time. I also liked the overall muscular exhaustion I could gain from a 15 minute session, the feeling that I'd really gotten a good workout in, that with running would take a significantly longer time (to be fair, my first few runs would have given me that, but by the time I was weight training, I'd mostly forgotten that feeling).
Despite learning that I liked all these things, my commitment to resistance training tends to come in waives. Usually, I'll have a great routine going and then something will interrupt it, once it was the flu, another time it was tapering for a half-marathon, and when I try to get back on it, the small decrease in ability discourages me and I have difficulties convincing myself to do it consistently. I put my gym membership on hold recently when I realized I was having trouble fitting in all my running with weights, so my goal now is to try to fit in the resistance training without the gym. I have everything that I need at home to get in a good workout, it's just a matter of me actually doing it. Because good weight training requires rest between workouts, this won't be a daily habit, but my goal is to get in a full body workout on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, because those days fit in best with my other athletic commitments. I already started yesterday, fitting it in after our first Sunday ultimate frisbee game. I doubt that 3 workouts will be enough to see any real change by Friday, other than probably some delayed-onset muscle soreness as my body adapts, but I'll report in on how I did with fitting it in and with adapting things to work-out at home.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize until Friday that this had only saved as a draft, not posted. Of course it would happen the one day that I was proud that I'd finished it so early in the day.
A few years ago, this would have been a much bigger challenge, because although I knew I needed to add in resistance training, I believed that I hated it. This wasn't based on much, since I wasn't really doing it at the time and hadn't done it at all in over half-a-decade, but it's what I always told myself. I think the truth is that I feared it. I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, like I was going to make a fool of myself and/or hurt myself. I thought I'd get bored just counting reps inside; with running, I always had the option of finding a good trail and letting the trees distract me.
Finally, I gave in and forced myself (by getting my older brother to come with me and help out a bit) and realized that I actually liked it as a change from running. When I'm doing a long run (or even a short one), it's a constant battle to convince myself to keep running for another 15, 30, or 60 minutes. With weight training, I just had to keep it up for a short number of reps, then I could sip some water and completely rest until the next one. I liked the feeling that came with the final reps when I'd chosen a good weight, the sense that the only thing that existed in the world was lifting the weight just one more time. I also liked the overall muscular exhaustion I could gain from a 15 minute session, the feeling that I'd really gotten a good workout in, that with running would take a significantly longer time (to be fair, my first few runs would have given me that, but by the time I was weight training, I'd mostly forgotten that feeling).
Despite learning that I liked all these things, my commitment to resistance training tends to come in waives. Usually, I'll have a great routine going and then something will interrupt it, once it was the flu, another time it was tapering for a half-marathon, and when I try to get back on it, the small decrease in ability discourages me and I have difficulties convincing myself to do it consistently. I put my gym membership on hold recently when I realized I was having trouble fitting in all my running with weights, so my goal now is to try to fit in the resistance training without the gym. I have everything that I need at home to get in a good workout, it's just a matter of me actually doing it. Because good weight training requires rest between workouts, this won't be a daily habit, but my goal is to get in a full body workout on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, because those days fit in best with my other athletic commitments. I already started yesterday, fitting it in after our first Sunday ultimate frisbee game. I doubt that 3 workouts will be enough to see any real change by Friday, other than probably some delayed-onset muscle soreness as my body adapts, but I'll report in on how I did with fitting it in and with adapting things to work-out at home.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize until Friday that this had only saved as a draft, not posted. Of course it would happen the one day that I was proud that I'd finished it so early in the day.
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