Happy Holidays and Blessed Training!

The holiday season – time for family, giving, remembering, celebrating, saying goodbye to the old and looking forward to the New Year.  It's a time to set fresh goals and resolutions (after eating your weight in food, twice over). 

For me, there has also been trying to work with facility hours to get in my schedule workouts.  It's quite understandable for the odd hours during the holidays and I have always adapted well.  This year I have become VERY fortunate with the addition of many more options – the only issue being a drive to Iowa City a few days per week.

The addition of those facilities has not only given me a quality indoor track to train on, but also as many cross-training opportunities that I could ask for…including a world-class natatorium for my aqua running.

Cross-training has been a blessing for me over the years, going back to pre-Coe.  It's what I contributed to my successful “comeback” into track back then and is a key part of my training for this coming year's goal.

It has been a couple of decades now but I remember hitting the indoor bikes pretty hard.  Back then, the downtown YMCA didn't give me too many choices, so I just started hitting the Airdynes.  You know those strange bikes that sorta look like torture devices?  Dude, I worked those to near death!  I got so used to them and was able to put together varied workouts; I still use them, today…just not as much.

These days, the pool is my new love for workouts outside of my daily running – I swear by its positive affect on my fitness level. 

Now, some may think that I go about it in a less-than-tough way – I use a belt…an AquaJogger.  Judging by some of the perceived “looks” that I get whenever I buckle-up, this may be so, but I don't care.  All that I care about is the results that I see from using it.

What is your favorite cross-training workout?  If you don't have one, I highly recommend that you do – it will extend your running life, for certain.  And you may even find yourself branching off into a whole new sport, all-together.  I think if you did a survey it will show that it is how many tri and biathletes got started.

While you are setting your new goals for the upcoming year, look into new ways to compliment your current workouts and have fun doing so!

Happy Holidays and cheers!!  Wishing everyone a healthy and extraordinarily happy 2011…