I went running on Wednesday. I ran 3.25 miles at the gym and I walked enough to total 4.65 miles when all was said and done. This made me feel pretty good about my progress so far.
On Thursday I read an online fitness article about how you shouldn't do crunches anymore. Doing planks will give you the best ab workout. (A plank is when you hold your body in push-up ready position for as long as you can.) I decided to try it out yesterday. I only did maybe 6-10 reps at 30sec - 1 minute each, but I woke up SORE this morning. It does give you a good workout.
Even though I had more company on my morning run today, it didn't go quite as planned. I ran the first 2 miles, but my side was hurting, so I wound up walking the last 2miles. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make the full 5 mile run like I was supposed to, but I didn't want to risk hurting myself. Lesson learned: no more planks before a long run.
I've also been debating whether I should keep my running mileage low (instead of increasing it each week) in order to incorporate more strength training. (I should clarify that by low I mean 2-4 miles each run.) Over a longer period of time I think I would become a better runner. For the 1/2 marathon in April, it may mean I would have to walk and run it. Hmmm......choices.
P.S. My friend Uilea was truly an inspiration for running today. She did awesome!!
