Today I have decided to do a little cross-training. I have
been pushing myself pretty hard since I found my motivation this past week. On Thursday,
I ran 5.08 miles in 40 minutes and 56 seconds; Saturday, I ran 3.31 miles in 27
minutes and 21 seconds; and on Sunday, I hit my stride with 8.81 miles in 1
hour, 10 minutes and 34 seconds. During each run I have pushed my pace to right
around an eight minute mile. My pace at my last half marathon was just under
ten minutes a mile, so taking it down to eight minutes is really pushing myself
to new limits. I’m loving it! Today, I tried an alternative training method.
I completed a 45 minute aerobic workout on my girlfriend’s NordicTrack elliptical
trainer.
The machine has all the toots and whistles you could want
including 12 levels of resistance, a power ramp to simulate hills, levels of
endurance (warm up, aerobic, endurance, performance, etc.), a heart rate
monitor, and various pre-designated programs.
My girlfriend prefers the 45-minute, level 5, weight loss program, and
she deserves major props for being able to keep the pace she does. This was
only my second attempt ever at using an elliptical machine, the first time was
last summer while visiting my sister’s house on vacation. As this is my first
time using THIS machine, I settled on the 45 minute, level 4, aerobic training
setting. I thought it would be a good
start and that I would do at least 5.5 or 6 miles in the 45 minutes. As I
mentioned, I did 5.08 miles in just over 40 minutes on Thursday. Little did I
know that the elliptical was going to put me to shame. I felt as if I were pushing myself to the pace
I had been running for the past few days, and felt myself struggling a little
to keep the elliptical at the “performance” level.
I believe after this experience, I am going to start
incorporating this into my training routine at least once or twice a week as a
low impact aerobic conditioning tool. Thank you for your recommendation baby, I
guess you CAN teach old dog new tricks. LOL!
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Caption Provided by: Pompano CardioCore elliptical machine and trainer |
You had me laughing at "Toots and whistles"; but I agree with you; I have a similar love affair (can I say that?) with my Nordic Track Treadmill.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with your 8-min miles for 8+: that is really taking it to the next level. Remind me--is your race before the end of the semester?
What do running experts say about cross-training? Physiologists?
I have added information about the use of elliptical machines for cross-training, which you can find by clicking on the hyperlink, (training routine).
DeleteThank you for your input on the mutual love affair with the Nordic Track machines. I had never thought of this being an acceptable means of cross-training until I used the elliptical the other evening. Now I plan to incorporate it into my weekly training.
Watch this! (This ultrarunner is my hero!)... http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/sports/2012/02/28/ws-intv-ultramarathon-runner.cnn
ReplyDelete