JENN: What’s your cross-training regimen?
MOON: You always ask me first. I insist you share this time!
JENN: Haha, okay! I try to do some push-ups plus crunches, and similar ab exercises on a regular basis. I say try, but in all honesty I don’t do it very often… I’m a little better about grabbing some low-weight dumbbells and doing some basic arm exercises.
The problem with all of it is – and I know this is kinda weird in a small apartment gym – if there’s anyone else there I get REALLY self-conscious about doing anything other than running. Even the running feels a little weird, but I can power through it. Any other exercises, though, feel like I’m exposing myself to ridicule. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but that’s the direction my brain goes.
MOON: I think I know what you mean. I still have problems running next to you!
JENN: I’ve got nothin’ but love, baby!
MOON: But remember: nothing is more hilarious than watching me try to swim. When I was getting ready for the tri, I had to get myself to swim a mile.
JENN: How was that tri?
MOON: So, I was SO READY for that. It was my first event and I was solo. About four weeks before the event, I went to NC with college friends and I messed up my foot, tripping over a rock. I came home and waited a few days to see if it would get better. It didn’t, so I went to the doctor one night when it was feeling especially bad. He told me to not walk on it for six weeks.
So, needless to say, I was bummed. I also fell attempting to get across the parking lot with crutches.
JENN: Well, hey. Go big or go home!
MOON: Yeah, I GUESS. ANYWAY, swimming is not my forte and if you ever need a laugh…
Cross-training: I really favor cardio, but I like mixing it up between running, biking, and the elliptical. I don’t do a lot of lifting with my upper body, but it’s something I’ll probably get into eventually.
JENN: The main thing I do religiously is something I think you should try again! BALLET. I love ballet class. I take two classes a week in the summer and three in the fall/winter months.
MOON: You = graceful swan. Me = monster.
 |
| The nutcracker that shows up in Epcot’s Germany pavilion in December is very inspiring. At least it was in 2008. Dear God, is this photo really almost five years old? |
JENN: Well, sure, on the FIRST DAY. You only took one class. Ballet is a 100% ugly duckling situation. NO ONE just wanders into ballet class and starts grande jete-ing around like a pro! Heck, the kids who start out in preschool are mostly just flailing to music anyway.
My experience with yoga is limited, but I think ballet is a great workout along similar lines, at least in some ways: it’s not necessarily overly strenuous or heart-pumping in the cardio sense, but it requires concentration and utilizes muscles that might not otherwise get used. It’s also GREAT for your feet. My arches are titanium!
MOON: I’m a flat foot. Am I off the hook?
JENN: Nope! Ballet would strengthen those suckers. And you would BECOME a graceful swan!
Another great thing about ballet for runners is the stretching, I hear mixed opinions about stretching – it’s good before, it’s good after, it’s good both, it’s good NEVER – but regardless, all the stretching we do keeps my muscles from seizing up. I’ve GOT to stretch out my legs for ballet class or I’m not going to get anything done properly.
MOON: I think you should stretch all the time!
JENN: Yes! And much of that stretching can be done in ballet class. 😀 😀 😀
MOON: Monsters don’t look good in spandex.
JENN: Psh. Strictly speaking, you have a better ballet body than I do, in terms of what a professional company would want. But then I’m not professional and never will be, so why worry? I just soak in the benefits.
MOON: My first born will be a prima ballerina. Second born will be an astronaut. And if for whatever reason one is incapable, then both careers will fall on the other.
JENN: No pressure! Which, coincidentally, is what your second born will feel in space. TADOW!
MOON: Hahaha, that’s right!
 |
| SPACE. The final frontier. |
JENN: And continuing the no-pressure theme, I’ll stop harassing you about ballet. Any other cross-training to mention?
MOON: Besides normal gym stuff, no, not really.
JENN: Me neither. So obviously we’re open to suggestions.
MOON: I’d really like to do join a soccer league, so if anyone participates in one in the MD area, let me know!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!
I always felt uncomfortable in a gym when there's all these open spaces to work out and a guy picks to sit directly behind me but my paranoia was further enhanced when a gym I was at put up a sign saying no pictures and please don't stare at other people. SO THEY ARE LOOKING and JUDGING. harshly.
Someone needs to open a gym where you reserve your own little room with the machine of your choice and some basic free weights. And your own TV, of course. I would so pay for that privilege.