Once We Figure Out What We Want...

Sometimes we have to go full circle to have that "A-ha!" moment. We fall in love with things, which lead us to other things, on and on until we have so many interests it's hard to fit them all in.

I fell in love with weight training in 1990 when I saw what it could do for my body. Around 2004, I learned that lifting heavy (swapping the 10 pound dumbbells for the 35's as strength increased) was really good at producing a small, very tight body for me. No fears of "bulking up" here.

Then I fell in love with running. (Actually, in between, I fell in love with dirt biking, hiking, and mountain biking.) I gave up a lot of time in the gym to get better at running. To have a shot at being competitive in races. Not so much beating the other guy, but beating myself and seeing where I ended up overall.

I ran off a bunch of muscle I had put on. First in my upper body, ironically enough, then my lower body. Even when my body got smaller, it got softer. In my eyes, this is not a good thing. To each their own.

I started hitting the weights again a few months ago, a couple times a week, fitting it in where I could around running. Then after my last race in December, I started lifting heavy again, 3-4 times a week and doing "cardio".

I miss running. But I love how my body is tightening back up again. I think I finally have the motivation to do both. To make both work. 3 runs a week, 3 lifting sessions a week, hard and heavy, DOMS be damned.

For now, my schedule will look something like this:

MON AM: LEGS/GLUTES
TUE AM: UPPER BODY
WED AM: YOGA/PILATES
WED PM: SPEED RUN with running club
THU AM: (service organization meeting)/TOTAL BODY WORKOUT
FRI AM: TEMPO RUN
SAT : My day for hiking/biking/etc
SUN AM: LONG RUN

Thursdays are tough with that service organization meeting in there. I hate to schedule anything for PM (evening Wed evening with the running club), because I'll soon be working until 8-10 at night for tax season. I can do what I can do up until then, but ultimately I need a plan that doesn't need much tweaking. Mornings are safe.

I've figured out what I want. Finally!