I’ve spent the first 10 years of my ultra career mostly avoiding cross training. I’ve periodically dabbled in some body weight exercises (pull/push-ups and planks), but I always seem to drop the habit after a couple weeks or a month or so. The closest I’ve come is my evening walks and while I’m consistently getting 20-30 miles of week, this is too close to running in form/function in my opinion to truly be considered cross training.
After all these years, I’ve decided to finally start up a strength training program. I’ve been considering it for quite some time, but it’s always just kind of hanging out in the back of my mind rather than a front and center type thought. Originally, time was my stumbling block. I wanted to spend as much of my exercise time as possible running and didn’t want to cut into that with another type of workout.
Another issue was equipment. I didn’t have all the weights, barbells, racks etc. that I would need to really get into a decent strength training program. And I’m too cheap to join a gym for this. Also, the inconvenience of driving to a gym would further eat into my time. This is why I was doing the periodic body weight routines.
My excuses have slowly been whittled away over the past couple years. I probably spend a good 5-6 hours a week walking so it would be very easy for me to take 90 minutes of that to devote to lifting. For equipment, my son just got a bunch of weights/bench for Christmas so that excuse is no longer valid either.
Probably more important than the time or equipment though is that this is something I really want to do. I’m a huge proponent on doing what you want to do rather than trying to force yourself to do things. It’s just much more sustainable. So while the timing might suggest otherwise, this is not your typical New Year’s resolution that will be long forgotten by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around. Or at least that’s my firm hope.
I should emphasize that my goal here isn’t to get all jacked up. I’ve got some general imbalances and while I don’t view myself as fragile, I believe strength training will make me . . . I guess more solid. I’m looking at this less from a performance standpoint and more of a longevity one. I’m rapidly approaching my mid-50s and I would truly love to be running ultras for the rest of my life. What I’ve been doing has worked amazingly well, however I’m not naïve enough to think it’ll work forever. At some point, I’m going to need to step up my game and strength training is calling out to me.
At the end of the day, the iron never lies.