Yep! I've Become One Of Those People

My daughter putting me through a workout.

You know those people who feel the need to get a workout in every, single day, aren't they annoy?

I mean, they go on and on about how they "got an easy 5-mile run in" this morning, or how today was a "rest day" so they "only did a spin workout for 30 minutes and mixed in some core work."

Well, I have a confession. I've become one of those people.

Not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, but I feel the need to run, workout or exercise in some fashion every, single day.

Let's just say I want to get my sweat on.

If my body would not rebel, I would run every day. However, my knees would start a mutiny, and I fear it would be a battle I would lose. Horribly.

The most days I've run consecutively is 11, and at the end of that, the most I could do was 1-2 miles without wanting to quit. I need rest days from running.

Then, I found spinning (or the stationary bike, whatever you want to call it).

It was not by my design I found spinning. An injury brought us together.

During my training for the 7 Bridges Marathon, I severely bruised my big toe. Running was not option. If I ran, I would make things worse by causing Achilles and/or shin splint issues. A week-and-a-half break in the midst of training was in order. To keep my fitness and cardio up, I took up spinning.

It was love at first spin.

I enjoyed it, so much so, that I stuck with it even after I went back to running. Following my marathon, I began adding weight training and more core work in the pursuit of better, overall health and fitness.

To be honest, I don't know how I've benefited from the extra workouts as of yet. What I do know is that I feel better, stronger and fitter. Really hope this translates well at my next marathon.

I'll be the first to tell you I'm no fitness or running expert. I can only share the knowledge I've gained through my experiences. But there is more to becoming a good runner than running. Running involves your entire body, not just your legs. To improve your running, it is important to work on building strength throughout your body.

So, what do you do in addition to running?

Happy running!