I met with a personal trainer for the first time yesterday. DH and I won 2-free sessions at a silent auction several months back but had failed to use it until now. Today's meeting, however, was simply a sit down and get to know me... my goals, objectives, etc. We'll get to the real work next week.
He seemed optimistic that I could resume marathon training while addressing my issues with Plantars Faciitis. This made me very happy, as you can imagine.
The key thing I walked away with was that if I want to improve my running, I really need to run more than 3 days a week as I was doing previously. He said he'd like to see me run 5 days a week - quality days - a minimum of 4. He also said I should definitely incorporate strength training, to build a stronger core. In the later part of the marathon when my legs, hips and back are fatigued, I will need to pull strength from somewhere. I've known this all along, but have never stuck with it.
I'm strongly considering doing the Pacific Crest Olympic distance triathlon this June. If all goes well, then I think I might like to do Portland again. I have a swimming friend who is doing Portland for the first time - I don't know what his pace will be but having a buddy to run with could help dramatically. Portland is also very do-able in that it is relatively local and it is in October.
Let's hope everything falls into place.
I pray everything falls in place for you and you do Portland in the fall. It's a great marathon. I did it in 2007.
ReplyDeleteThe advice of your trainer confirms what I've started doing this year. I've went from 3 to 5 days of running per week and added strength training. So far, so good!
Keep pressing toward the finish line!
gaj
Sounds like a pretty positive session! Wahoo! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you got encouraging feedback. I never paid attention to core strength until I started doing yoga, then I discovered what I had been missing in running whenever I grew tired.
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