Recommitted to Lifting

Last week,  it was my strength coach's birthday. I wrote on his facebook page, "To honor your birthday, I'm strength training tonight AND I'm not skipping POWER on Thursday! Happy Birthday!" I have been so terrible at strength training the past few months, and it's no wonder that my knee started acting up. 

I am so incredibly thankful, however, that this decided to crop up now. As insane as that is or sounds, I would be so upset if this happened while marathon training this summer. I was actually recently considering not doing POWER during the summer fall session, because if I was struggling to balance high mileage half marathon training and lifting, there was no way I could balance marathon training with it. False: without lifting, there is no marathon training. 

Phew. 

Now that we have that out of the way.

Our mileage is on the downswing as our spring half marathon races are rapidly approaching, EEPS! Which means that it should be easier to squeeze in strength training. In addition to my Thursday morning session (so early, so tired) I'm going to try to make it to the Monday night strength class offered by 605 Running Co. It's led by Benson (BENSANE!) Skechers sponsored runner. It falls on a perfect night of the week to be recovered from Thursday's lift, and has a ton of core work which I also desperately need. Also it's more body weight focused with band work, so it always gives me great ideas of what I could/should do at home if I can't make it in.

Sometimes it's good to have reminders from your body as to what it needs. I really hope my knee doesn't need to "remind" me ever again.

Recovery + Injury Prevention

My running has been going really well for the past year and a half, and I have a ton of things to attribute my health to. I've really been focusing on recovery. I've started tracking my recovery in my training log, as a reminder of how important of a component it is to my training.

My favorite recovery practices are:

• Epsom baths: At least 2 times a week, I am taking an epsom bath for 20-30 minutes. Sometimes this is after a run, sometimes it's a true rest day, or other times it's when work has been crazy and I need just some quiet moments to chill. I'm obsessed with the Dr Teals Lavender Epsom Salt . Lately I've been adding the Dr. Teal's Lavender Bubble Bath which takes it to an awesome level. I do need to drink a ton of water after doing it, as epsom bath's can be dehydrating.
• Hydration: Speaking of drinking all of the water, I've really been upping my water intake this summer. When it's hot out, I sweat like crazy, so I know I need to drink a ton of water to replace everything I've lost. It's been helping to flush out some of the soreness in my legs.
• Compression socks: I've been a firm believer in compression socks for years, so I've been wearing them a lot in the evenings and after runs. I've even contemplated wearing them to work with knee-length dresses, but I think I might get weird looks. Kyle just loves when we go out to lunch and I refuse to take them off. 
• Massages: I started doing monthly massages this past spring, and I think it's really helping! I look forward to massage day so much! I would really like to do 2 massages a month but that's just not in the cards money wise. It's moments like this that I wish I was a sponsored runner. :P

In addition to recovery work, I've been focusing on injury prevention as well!

Injury prevention practices:

• Glute activation drills: I'm doing these before EVERY run. Whether it's a see-saw lift, or clam shells, or a standing banded leg lift, I'm doing *something* to get my booty woke up and ready to run. And it's truly making all the difference. Sometimes when my legs feel super heavy on a run, I will stop and do some quick leg lifts to invite the booty to the party. I got a pair of resistance bands for Christmas that were just okay, but I recently ordered this set, which is what we use at POWER and they're amazing.
• Sanford POWER: This is one of the #1 things that has kept me injury free, and I know I've bragged about it a million times, but I'm going to keep doing it. I LOVE POWER. It's functional strength-training specifically for runners. My runs after POWER are always rockin' because my form is so spot on after a 60 minute session. 
• Foam rolling/stick: This is probably my least favorite practice. I know I need it, but I don't love it. And my runs the day after doing it usually feel junky, but I still do it. 
• Core work: Somewhere during the time of doing all the yoga during teacher training, I stopped doing core work. I thought I was getting plenty during yoga, right? Wrong. But now I'm getting back to it. I know that my posture is the first thing to go when I'm tired on a long long run or a race, so I'm hoping that more core work will lead to better form when races and runs get really tough and tiring. Not quite Operation: Alba Abs of days past, but I also wouldn't mind being able to shed the shirt on some really toasty runs without fear of being judged.

**I've included a couple of affiliate links to Amazon for specific products that I have been buying, using, and loving. If you purchase from the links, I get a few pennies back!