Confessions of an Unlikely Runner: A Guide to Racing and Obstacle Courses for the Averagely Fit and Halfway Dedicated by Dana L. Ayers

Author:Dana L. Ayers [Ayers, Dana L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Difference Press
Published: 2015-08-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6 – Cross-Training

Running Side Dishes

“If you’re on the treadmill next to me, the answer is yes … we are racing.”

– Unknown

Runners’ blogs and fitness magazines contain many tips on how to improve form or increase strength and speed, but sometimes what I really need is the motivation to keep going when I’d much rather be reclined in front of a Real Housewives marathon, my face covered in Cheetos dust and resignation.

Staring at a photo of a toned runner who I want to look like only takes me so far before I give up and convince myself that life can be just as fulfilling in a pudgy and breathless body. Thankfully, along the way, I’ve stumbled upon my own personal tricks for staying motivated. I still don’t resemble the fitness magazine cover girls, but I’ve managed to stay in decent shape, enough to continue running races with the middle-to-back-of-the-pack folk.

One of my big motivators is fun. If something isn’t enjoyable, I typically don’t see the point in doing it. I also need variety. Boredom has always been one of my greatest fears, so much so that as a child I would pack 10 different toys when I went to Grandma’s house, just in case I felt the urge to read a book, then play Go Fish, then color a picture, then create a Care Bear vs. My Little Pony epic battle, all within the first hour. I can’t just play with Barbies all day, Mom. Do you want me to die?

Thankfully, to be a good runner you need to do more than run. You also need to cross-train, which shakes things up.

“Cross-training: training in two or more sports in order to improve fitness and performance, especially in a main sport.” – Oxford Dictionary.

I play fast and loose with the word sport in that definition. Here is a list of ways I’ve cross-trained (which are really just ways I keep exercising when I’m not running, or things I do that resemble exercise when I don’t really feel like exercising):

Zumba. The class where you can feel like Shakira until you accidentally glance in the mirror and realize you look more like a baby deer trying to salsa dance.

Yoga. Where everyone’s a calm adult until someone accidentally passes gas in Tree Pose.

Rowing. I have nothing funny to say about rowing because this sport is no joke and will use muscles you never knew you had, while making you so exhausted you actually nap after practice and you never nap. (Ok I lied, there is one funny thing about rowing and that was when my friend and I had to sit through the safety video where the symptoms of hypothermia were explained, in case we ever fell out of the boat in frigid waters. One symptom? “Apathy.” My friend has wondered daily if she is hypothermic at work ever since.)

Indoor climbing. I’m scared of heights equipment and/or human failure, so this is always a particularly masochistic type of exercise for me. I’ve had moments

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