It goes without saying that life is stressful. We all have different things putting pressure on us and creating stress. Right now my stress is my research and trying to graduate, and I'm trying to manage this stress with running.
This method of stress management works fine for awhile, then I get to a point where I just don't want to do anything at all and lose the motivation I have. Basically, the stress wins and running suffers. I've signed up for my 4th Marathon, the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, on November 3, 2012. This means.....I need to stay motivated and train well.
To try and avoid this burn out and lack of motivation, I've been changing this up a bit. I've been actually doing speed work and hills. This week I went to Ault Park to run the trails and hills. Image below is the aftermath of this fun adventure.....I fell once, but it was great because I felt tough when I got back to my car.
Cross-training and building strength has become a priority before the mileage gets too high. I want to run injury free and feel strong so I've been doing power yoga at a couple local studios. It's been about 6 weeks of power yoga and I'm already feeling stronger. Below is an example of Phil-dog doing yoga at home......he's more into the yin yoga style and meditation (aka puppy naps)
I'm still on the search for the perfect training plan. I have a feeling I may create one that's a hybrid of several plans. I only want to run 4 days a week, have 1 day off, and 2 cross-training days. For now, adding in the speed and hill work as well as the power yoga for fun cross-training has helped me stay motivated and avoid the burn out that's easy to experience during the HOT and HUMID summer in the Ohio valley.
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