Since I made my (slow) return to running this week after a self-imposed break, I thought I’d share how things are going so far. Plus, I haven’t exactly been sitting on my ass during this “break” — I’ve been working hard on my core and leg strength, and am still at it.
While I have my own routine of strength moves that I like to do, I decided to switch things up recently and work out to Jillian Michaels‘ 30-Day Shred dvd. I have to admit that when I was searching for new workout inspiration, I had no idea who Jillian Michaels was — living in Germany, I am (happily) out of touch with American pop culture — but I read reviews of others who raved about the 30-Day Shred, so I decided to give it a shot. Consisting of three gradually increasing levels of intensity (10 days for each level), my goal with this workout is to get stronger in order to become a better runner, and I’m pretty happy with the progress so far. I found the first level (which you can watch on YouTube), a bit too easy, but have moved on to level two and am really enjoying the challenge so far.
- Monday: 30-Day Shred (Day 12, Level 2). Working the abs really hard and drenched in sweat.
- Tuesday: 2-mile run. This was my first run in several weeks, and I was pretty nervous about how my body was going to react. But I did fine! Lots of stretching, foam rolling and icing afterwards — hopefully combining this with a slow increase in mileage with help avoid injuries.
- Wednesday: 30-Day Shred (Day 13, Level 2) + yoga + leg workout. Seeing lots of progress in my core and arm strength from the shred, but it’s not so great for building up leg strength. So I did 3-sets of my favorite strength moves for glutes and quads. Oh yeah, and a little yoga to top it off.
- Thursday: 30-Day Shred (Day 14, Level 2).
- Friday: 30-day Shred (Day 15, Level 2). Still not getting bored of level 2, so I guess that’s a good thing!
- Saturday: Rest.
- Sunday: 1-mile run + 30-Day Shred (Day 16, Level 2). I had planned a 3-mile run for today, but was still suffering from Saturday’s spell of dizziness, so I had to cut my run short. Was able to do some shredding, although I admittedly wasn’t feeling as great as I normally do.
So there you have it! I hope in the next weeks it’ll get more exciting as I build up my mileage and find out whether my strength training has paid off in terms of my running.
I have Jillian’s 6 Week to a 6 Pack DVD but I haven’t tried it yet. I’m really impressed at how you are building your core and arm strength. I start on that path but it usually falls by the wayside. Way to go!!
I think those kinds of workout are especially ideal when you’re between training cycles, and are great if you can devote some consistency to it — that way it’s easier to see the results and stay motivated!