Come on ride dat' train

An unsympathetic A-hole once said “If life gives you lemons make lemonade”… I guess that person must of assumed that the receiver of said lemons was conveniently in possession of a pitcher, ice, water, sugar, a mixing spoon, and some glasses… thanks a lot Marie Antoinette but sometimes making lemonade is not a viable option! However, since I'm first and foremost an optimist, I decided that it was the sentiment that counted...

Recently I've received a "lemon" in my running life in the form of ITB pain. Ever since the last 4 miles of my Chicago marathon I haven't been able to run without my right knee tightening up. The frustrating part is that I just completed a marathon, am in the best shape I've been in for a while, and am hungry to start logging miles and reaching for higher aspirations. But as I said, I'm foremost an optimist, so I figured that instead of getting down about my inability to run I'd instead use it as an opportunity to ride dat' train... the cross-train!

So I dug up my long neglect gym-pass and headed to the gym. As I entered the gym I immediately remembered why I enjoyed running outside so much better (my gym is interesting to say the least... I won't go into any specifics today but I'm thinking that it's worthy of it's own post)... so anyway, I made way to the exercise bike and cranked out a 30 minute workout. I brought along a book to read while I biked (now there's something you can't do while running), I worked up a good sweat, and I got my heart-rate up to about the 70% range (better than nothing)... After that I hit the weight room for some upper-body and core work... nothing to fancy but all in all it was a good experience...

I hope to continue to incorporate cross-training (especially strength training) into my workouts even after I can start running again. I'm hoping to tighten myself up and drop a few pounds to help me increase my pace and I'm thinking that some full-body weight work could really help my metabolism. So I'm riding that cross-train to greatness... All aboard. Next stop Championville!