So I finished my last half marathon of the spring racing season! Hooray!
Now that the celebratory peanut butter pie has been eaten, the Tiger Balm has soaked in, and the muscles have recovered, the inevitable question that follows the end of every race is now on my mind: What’s Next?
Well, if I’m being honest with myself – and honest with you, dear reader – I don’t know! I mean sure, I know I’m going to race again eventually, but right now I have zero races lined up in the calendar. Even for next fall.
I briefly considered the Jersey Girl Triathlon this August, but I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet. I’ve only incorporated swimming into my cross-training plan about a half dozen times so far, and after 25 minutes and about 200 yards I’m physically unable to walk myself from the locker room to the car without my legs shaking and giving out on me. Just the thought of having to add biking and running after a workout like that makes me weak in the knees. I’d have to do some serious training to prepare for an event like that. And I just Googled “beginner triathlon training plan” and the first result that came up is a 93-page PDF. NINETY-THREE PAGES, YOU GUYS. Can anyone point me in the direction of a training plan that isn’t like a book of stereo instructions?
OK so maybe I need to set my sights a little lower. I’m sure I’ll do some local 5K’s that I’ve always done, and I’m searching the local running club calendars for 10K’s as well. I certainly don’t want to lose the running endurance that I’ve built up these past few months, and having some slightly shorter than half distance races on the horizon could keep me moving. Do any of my local Jersey peeps have recommendations on 10K’s in the next month or two?
Lastly, I’m searching for a new fall Half Marathon to call my own. I could easily sign up once again for the Atlantic City Half Marathon and see if the third time is the charm – after all, it’s where I set my current half PR! But the fall race season is so rich and exciting, that I wonder if I’m limiting myself by just setting my sights on that one bigger race when there are so many other great events going on in September and October. Does anyone in my area have any local half plans or dream races you’d like to do in the fall?
One thing I AM sure of, however, is that I’m going to be focusing very heavily on rebuilding my strength up with weights and cross training. After the little spurts I could fit in while training for my races these past few months, I felt an immense improvement in the running workouts that followed. But just like everything else, life gets in the way and excuses get made and the time I could spend working out was spent on getting mileage in, not strengthening everything else. As a result, I notice the weakness creeping in, even with little tasks like carrying the grocery bags into the house.
No more!
Today I kicked off this new rebuilding phase by doing something called “3 Times 3 At 3”. It’s entirely made up and in no way scientific, but it’s random and fun and sounds just easy enough to stick with for a while. Here’s how it works: at 3PM every day, I go down to my office gym and do three sets of three exercises for :45 each, with :15 of rest between them. Sounds easy, right? Well. 10 minutes of push-ups, side crunches, and squats later, I’m kind of dying.
Alright, I’m not dying – I’m fine, I just have a fun case of jelly arms from the absolute and complete lack of work I’ve done on my upper body in the last month or so. My abs and legs feel great and strong and ready for more, which is great.
But the whole thing was just what I needed to jump back into a post-race fitness routine and beat the “What do I do now Blues”! Now I’m nice and warmed up for the cardio I’ve still got planned after I get done with work, and I’m excited to build it up into 4 Times 4 or more. Cheers to rebuilding and growing stronger with each passing day!
Jess Runs Happy 
Congrats on finishing the race. Have you tried 5×5 strength training? I think your “made up” program sounds effective, and 5×5 is similar. It’s used by powerlifters, has five exercises, and is very effective. If you’re curious, check out Stronglifts. Wish I could say I wrote about it already but haven’t gotten to it. Definitely agree that strength training helps with everything physical in life! Best wishes.
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Hmm I’ve never heard of that, I’ll have to check it out – thank you for sharing! I’m always looking for ways to shake things up and make the most of my workout time 🙂 im off to Google it now!
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The GIF at the top of your post is really funny. I went to that actor’s wedding earlier this year!
I like your idea about the 3 at 3. I would like to start fitting in mini-workouts (focused on strength-training or core work) during the day.
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haha that’s awesome! Small World 🙂
And YES on the mini workouts – sometimes it’s the only way I can fit them in the day, I swear! Before excuses get in the way, I just start moving and get it over with 🙂
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You’re wonderful even with jelly arms. Keep on trucking, baby!
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Hehe thanks mama! 🙂
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OMG I know of two half marathons closer to my area in October if you’re interested. (I don’t know if I’ll run either of them yet though because my full marathon is Oct. 11th! lol) This year is the first year of the Halloween Half (in Morristown, Oct 18th) – there will be some hills but it’s supposedly a net downhill… so that could be good.
Then there’s the Haunted Half in Pequannock, NJ that doesn’t have a date listed yet but I ran it last year around Oct. 25th. It was great weather and it’s an extremely flat course! Plus, some people dress up in costumes 😀
Sorry I don’t know of any 10k’s in the summer right now
Good luck on keeping your momentum up! I know you’ll do great!
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OOh those sound like fun options! I’ve got to add them to my “check out” list.
And you’re going for the full in october, congrats!! I can’t wait to follow along on your journey there 🙂
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Do the jersey girl TRI! It was a great first time tri event. I have a recap on my blog. I swam twice before doing it. It was a last min thing for me when someone got injured. I basically did the doggie paddle. Lol.
Fall halfs: trenton half (trenton nj) in early November, beat the blerch half end of september in Morristown nj and second week of October rock n roll brooklyn half and Staten Island half (if not sold out). I’m doing all of them 🙂
Glad I found your blog. Asbury park will hopefully look as perfect this Sunday. I’ll hit it at mile 19-20 of the nj marathon.
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Ooh I’m glad to hear that about the jersey girl tri! I tested out my bike legs this weekend and they’re still strong so it looks like the swim is still the only thing I’ll need to work on.. and thanks for the tip on all those races! The Rock n Roll Half in Brooklyn looks like it’s going to be one of the winners for my calendar.
And I hope you had a great race yesterday! The weather looked like it was absolutely perfect for you, did the wind bother you at all? I know it can sometimes be a breezy course..
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It’s such an awesome feeling to not have anything on the calendar. The world is your oyster!
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exactly! Now I want to register for everything 🙂
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Pingback: Kicking Off Spring in a Healthy Way | Jess Runs Happy
Check out the guest post today at Scootadoot if you’re looking for a good 10k race! 🙂
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oh man that’s the one day I’ve got something going on – just got a baby shower invite for the same day! 😦 thanks for the tip though, it sounds like an awesome race! Have fun 🙂
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Congrats on all your wonderful progress so far! I’m with you when racing season is over in September. I am going to resist the urge to sign up for another marathon and work on some strength and a “rebuild program” also going to spend more time on the bike and in the pool, can feel a tri coming on soon 😉 Good luck with the rebuild 🙂 #finsup
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thanks so much, Renee!! 🙂 So fun to see other bloggy mermaids doing their thing!
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