What's Next?

And like that, its over — months of focused training, leading up to a sub-4 hour marathon.  Poof.  Over.
I'm bored.

Well, not really, but you know me - I'll have to find something else to do.  There's a small, yet time sensitive project I'm working on; that'll occupy me for a short while.  I need something physical to do.

I'll go to the gym.
I unofficially decided two weeks leading up to the NYC Marathon that I would spend the winter months lifting.  Don't sweat, all three of you.  I've been down this road twice before.  Years ago I worked with a trainer who focused on building up my chicken legs.  He designed a killer program of leg presses, squats, Romanian deadlifts (my fav) and other exercises.  Every third workout the weight increased.  Although I got stronger and continued to handle the additional weight, I failed to put on any extra muscle.  Even he was shocked at my inability to 'bulk up'.  I'm not looking to pack on 50 lbs. of muscle; however, I'm looking to use the time to create more efficiencies in preparation for next year's races.

Yesterday was day 1.

Studio prepped for 'special' yoga class

I was scheduled to teach a yoga class to a group of professional athletes (! gushing !) at 11 am.  I prepped the room an hour before their arrival and used the extra time to hit the weights.  It's been about 9 months since I lifted; I worked with a great trainer who developed a handful of effective programs, but from that point on my focus shifted to running and yoga.  I had personal goals that didn't involve weights.

The gym was empty except for a creeper guy watching my every move.  I set up shop on a bench closest to the windows.  And then, something amazing happened.  I had no clue what to do.  I had no plan.  I scoped out a set of dumbbells and got to work.  Alas, my trainer walked over, excited that I started to reintroduce strength training to supplement my running.  The first words out of my mouth, "I don't know what I'm doing.  I do plan on picking up these things and then putting them down." He laughed and told me that I was on the right track.  After a few sets of chest presses, squats/press, lunges, single arm rows and, of course, Romanian deadlifts, I wiped off the bench and hit the locker room to get ready for my class.  I absolutely reaped the benefits of demonstrating most of the yoga poses to the group.  Little did I know that, although the weight was low enough, I'd be sore the following morning.

Tomorrow, should be another gym day.  I might pick up more things and put them down again.  Oh, it's going to be a long winter.