Hi everyone! Week 5 of HTH training is complete!
Monday: My first pain-free run in a while! 3 easy miles.
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: HTH group workout – it was hill repeats for a few miles. Ugh.
Thursday: 2.5 hours of hiking on the Kincaid Park disc golf course
Friday: My own little hip opener sequence made from the #LoveYourHips challenge poses!
Saturday: Long run day! I ran 1:45 in the afternoon – 15 minutes walking, 6.2 miles, 15 minutes walking. I took it super easy and only started to feel pain in my glutes in the last mile. I finished with some looooong pigeon poses and lots of stretching.
Sunday: a few hours of hiking at Byron glacier!
Overall, it was a great week of workouts and I’m so glad my pain is pretty much gone. And to be honest, there’s probably a good reason why: I quit Pilates. I know, I was totally raving about losing inches and getting core strength! And didn’t my instructors tell me it would make me a better runner? Well, it wasn’t. Let’s look at the facts here:
- I didn’t feel much of anything in Pilates boot camp and was often bored, but stuck with it because I wanted to give it a chance. I was excited to lose inches around my waist and that’s what motivated me to keep going after boot camp ended because I was sure it was working.
- I started feeling very sore after classes, but figured that was normal because I was so new. But I couldn’t handle more than 2 classes a week, which wasn’t really worth my money.
- I got an injury from an extreme calf cramp in class a few weeks ago.
- I found that when I did Pilates right before/during a run day my runs were really difficult because my calves, hamstrings, and glutes were really sore and tight. Plus when I did it the day of a run I tended to get side stitches all around my ribs, possibly from the rib tightening ab work we did?
- I found myself needing to do yoga after Pilates because I felt like I really needed to stretch out to feel better.
None of this sounds like something that I should be doing in order to get stronger and faster. And once I talked to my HTH coaches and found out that they tried Pilates once and didn’t like what it was doing for their running either, I decided to quit. I felt pretty lame for giving up, but honestly I need to do something that makes my body feel good. Pilates might work for some people, but not me. It was just a reminder that everybody’s workouts are different – some people like to run early in the morning (not me!), some people love Bikram yoga, some people enjoy swimming/Zumba/triathlons/whatever. I’m not a big fan of any of those things. And that’s okay! Everyone’s body is different and what works for one person might not work for you. I can’t decide to do something just because someone else likes it – I need to try lots of things to see what works best for me. I gave Pilates a try and I’m glad I did – but I know now that it’s not for me. It’s up to you to find what does work for you, and make sure to enjoy your workouts. For me, that means lots more running, hiking, and yoga. And I’m thinking that I’ll try some kind of strength training too because I really do need a stronger core. Like my favorite online yoga teacher, Yoga With Adrienne, always says…
What works for your body? Do you have any strength training tips/workouts you can share with me?
Mom in the Mtns 
Good for you! It’s easy to get caught up in what you “should do” or what everyone else is doing, but ultimately you know yourself best. Running is your main gig, and if Pilates was making running sucky, what’s the point?
Yes! I feel like when you read that a lot of people are doing something (like morning running) you feel pressured to do it too. But that doesn’t work for everyone! I’d rather do what works for me than be miserable all the time.
I love how you try stuff out and really find what works for you!
Thanks! I think working out should be fun – or at least tolerable. Pain is not good.
Glad you are feeling better. Great insight on why pilates doesn’t work for you – there are so many other options, why do something you don’t really enjoy and that is detracting from what you do like better!
Exactly! Sometimes I feel like when I try something I have to commit to it, but cross training is teaching me that it’s not true. Life is too short to be stuck doing workouts you don’t like or don’t feel good!
I applaud you for looking at the big picture and realizing Pilates wasn’t what worked for you & your running. I think everyone needs to remember this when looking for a cross training activity, and find that what works is often whatever it is they are motivated to stick to.
For me, yoga & body pump work. My strength training outside those 2 classes is usually a challenge of some sort that I do daily. I like the app 30 Days- it has push ups challenges, planks, lunges, etc.
I hope you find what you’re looking for soon 🙂
That’s a great idea! I should probably look into that.