January can bring all sorts of anticipation and excitement for what lies ahead in the new year. As a part of Mermaid, you're joining hundreds of other women as we all look to set new goals for 2009. It's natural to feel nervous about setting these goals, but now is the time to get your mind and body focused. We are often capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for and we want to help you unlock that potential and achieve all of your goals this coming year. It starts with getting your mind and body strong!
The hardest part of starting anything is STARTING!! As the New Year begins, set goals for yourself that you can reach. Try the workout I describe below twice a week, all of these things can be done OUTSIDE or inside and are even more fun when you bring a friend along. Make sure that you allow for days that won't include a workout as life sometimes has a way of butting in and keeping us from the trails. It's easy to get discouraged when life gets in the way especially when we have a goal on the line. For the sake of your sanity and your friends and family's sanity... it's important to let it go if there is a day you can't get the training in. When you put a workout together that is doable, you'll be less likely to skip it on the days where it does work, leaving you plenty of room for grace towards the life and responsibilities that may keep you from it on other days!
My suggestion is to start working on the core training that is often so easy to ignore... the Mermaid run is just 10 weeks away..... before you start running do something great for your body and wake up all those muscles! Below is my standby workout...one that I use when I don't want to think and I want to make sure I get in everything I need for a full body workout.
Warm up ~ Run or walk for 10-15 minutes. The first 5 is just a wake up. Take some deep breaths, get connected to what you are doing. Talk through it in your head...make the decision that it's OK for you to be doing what you are doing...your body might tell you otherwise...your “to do” list might tell you to stop and turn around....but keep going, put one foot in front of the other. After a couple of minutes you might just be OK with what you are doing! After 5 minutes, look for a marker to reach, a light post, a stop sign or tree. Walk or run faster than you did that first 5 minutes...go fast, like 75% of what you can do. When you get to that tree slow down, go back to your original pace...find another landmark and do it again...do about 4 of those and then spend another 5 minutes cooling down. In between your landmarks give yourself about 2 minutes to recover.....you'll find you are energized and ready to go!
Sit ups ~ practice the perfect sit up. Lie on your back, knees bent, palms down next to your hips. Roll your hips down to the ground as if you were squishing a marshmallow into the floor. Hold that squish for 10 seconds. Do that 3 times. Next, place your hands behind your head, hold that marshmallow down and raise up with knees bent and toes in the air for a sit up and repeat for 30 times. Squeeze those knees together the entire time to keep that back pressed into the ground. After your 30 “straight up” sit ups, go side to side.... you have to keep that back pressed down, the toes up and the knees squeezed... roll to left and feel the muscles on your side pull and strengthen as you do, then to the right. You don't need to go high in the air; rather twist so you engage all of those strong abdominal muscles. After 30 of those, come up in your regular “straight up” sit up, starting at the top, pulse tiny little movements for 30. Rest for a few seconds and do it again and then again!!
Doing these sit ups at least 3 times a week will make your back stronger for running and walking as well as keeping your posture more upright. As those muscles develop and your posture improves you'll find that you are giving your lungs more room to work. You'll notice you can go longer and longer distances in your training.. not to mention, those jeans will feel a little better too!!
Push ups ~ Yes you can do them! Find a wall, start there. Standing 2 feet away from the wall ZIP up your core (grab those muscles way down low and “zip” up all the way to your rib cage) you should feel yourself stand up straighter and engage your belly muscles.....place your hands at shoulder height on the wall in front of you, raise up onto your very tippy toes and bring your nose to the wall and back again. The entire time, you are on your toes, bum cheeks are squeezed and belly is tight. Start with 10, build up to 15. Do 10, rest for 5 seconds, do 11 rest 5 seconds, do 12 rest 5 seconds and so on....you can start with whatever number you want. I start with 10 and build up to 15 and come back down again. If you are outside and can't find a wall, a bench works great and will be even tougher! Same movement, you just have further to go down!!
Squats ~ Standing with both legs under your hips, anchor into your heels, squat as if sitting in a chair for 20. Belly is tight the entire time! Rest for 20 seconds do it again...and again!
Single leg squats ~ once you have done the double leg squats for a few days you can throw in single leg. Standing on one leg bring the other foot to your knee, hands out in front of you for stability squat for 10, switch legs.
Finish this simple workout off with a 10-15 minute jog/walk cool down and you will feel strong and ready to tackle all that awaits you! These exercises are easily done while out on the road or trail. If you're pressed for time you can head out the front door, do your 15 minute warm up, come back, do your core work and head back out for your cool down jog. You can also squeeze this in while you are waiting for the kids, or for a laundry cycle or even before work in the morning!!
As you look towards the Mermaid run on March 22nd you can start adding mileage each week so that you are prepared on race day. Start easy though, just a few miles a couple times a week with one longer day. As you get used to being out in your running shoes, you can increase the mileage.
Speaking of running shoes...there is nothing that keeps us from getting out there to train like bad shoes. Make sure your shoes are ready to put in the training like you want them to. If you notice that your feet are hurting every time you head out the door..it may be time for a new pair. If you've never been fitted for a pair of running shoes, I suggest that you do. The employees at the running stores in your town are most likely trained to fit you for the right type of shoe for your foot and for the way that you run. It's worth every penny to get in there at least once and find out what kind of shoe you should be in. You will find your feet are comfortable and you will not get fatigued as quickly when you are running in a pair of well fitted shoes. I recommend going to see Adam at Central Coast Running in Santa Cruz, the Runner's Factory in Los Gatos or Sports Basement in Sunnyvale. I've found their employees are knowledge, courteous and helpful when picking out a pair of running shoes.
As the cold weather lingers on through March, it's a good idea to invest in some good winter running gear. I like to run in tights, a comfortable warm jacket, wear light gloves as well as a beanie. It doesn't matter how cold it is outside, if you have the right gear your body will be happy and warm and your head will be full of laughter as you think of everyone hiding inside while you tromp around on the trails!
Join us for our Team Mermaid night at Sports Basement on Thursday January 29h for some more winter training tips as well as a showcase for some great winter training gear. We will also be at LuLu Lemon on January 22nd to get some great yoga tips for runners.
I hope to see you out on the trails soon! Happy Training!!
Heidi
