I woke up feeling tired and weak this morning and I was tempted to skip my run in the name of recovery. I had read in a book about running that there are two schools of thought about training while fighting an illness: rest and recover or powering through. I chose to run and was surprised that when I reached the end of my running time (my morning training is part of a complex set of routines that, if followed to the second, allow me to make my train) I was feeling pretty strong. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced this – a really good run after starting out tired. I didn’t eat anything prior to running as I have been doing but I had an unusually carb-heavy lunch yesterday and that clearly provided enough fuel.
Tag: training
Workout diversity – running and elliptical training
It’s been a long time since I’ve been consistently active and I have to be careful about over training. The elliptical machine is a great alternative to a daily run and I’ve discovered that setting the resistance to 3x requires an exertion similar to running on the treadmill. The advantages of the elliptical is that the burden on my knees and feet is much lower and the arm motion, especially with resistance, provides some upper body exercise. The elliptical does not provide a consistent aerobic challenge so I find I can go longer but I don’t feel like I’m helping to improve breathing and lung capacity. During my days off I did some longer sessions, 25 minutes on the elliptical followed by 25 minutes running on the treadmill. Those sessions definitely provided a more rounded workout.
Emerging Runner 