Cross training is essential for a successful, injury-free race…right?! I sure hope so, because that is currently my game plan for this upcoming marathon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still running! But I’m not running nearly as much as I thought I would be considering how many times I threatened myself + my lack of training during the Steamboat Marathon last year. I’ve been active + playing outside a lot lately, more often than not with my running shoes on my feet; however, I’m not always doing the whole arms pumping + legs churning running thing while I’m out there. #GameOnPGH, right?!

Instead I’m snowshoeing, hiking + climbing. That all counts toward training, right?! When I created my make-shift training plan I knew my life would be getting crazy about the time my miles should be doubling. Mostly, my outdoor ed classes started up and my weekends were filled with backpacks, climbing ropes + ice axes. Honestly, no complaints here.

My lack of marathon-specific running has had me seriously considering the half marathon option many, many times. I could run with Lynne, my weekend would be more laid back, recovery would be much faster, I’m far more confident in a happy race…and that’s just the beginning of my creative mess of reasoning to drop half the race distance. But, I did sign up for the full marathon and I know the distance won’t actually kill me so I’m sticking with it.

Backpacking with gear + snowshoes in the wilderness counts as legit cross-training, right?!

I’ve taken the past few weekends as a bench mark for my next few weekends — with outdoor ed classes + backcountry trips I just don’t have enough time or energy to get my long runs in on the weekend. Rather than skip those long runs all together [like I have been, oops] it’s time to get serious about running longer miles during the week. Like, last Thursday’s 9 miler and this coming Thursday’s [hopeful] 15 miler.

As usual, things aren’t as perfect in real life as they appear on paper…or as I had planned them on paper. Honestly, I’m not even pulling a training plan together for my other trail races this summer. I’m just not doing it. It doesn’t work for me and my goals aren’t stringent enough to require it. When it comes to running it’s the training plans that are my biggest obstacle so…why not just remove them from the equation? [remind me of this genius plan when I’m dying half way through my ultras in July + September!]

How do you plan for impromptu trips to Moab or crazy snow days or…everything else life throws at you? I’m sure there are ways to actually maintain a legitimate training plan when all this “life” happens, people seem to do it all the time. I’m just not one of those people. So, rather than stress over all the little details I’m going to go ahead and consider a full day of leg-centric slab climbing some solid training for any race that uses my legs. Boom, training plan stress is gone.

Ultimately, I am still running and the Pittsburgh Marathon is still happening…all 26.2 miles of it! I have finally found a way to make life + running work for me in a way that doesn’t give me the hives or massive guilt attacks so I’m going to stick with it, regardless of what my initial spreadsheet thinks about it. Now, I just need to show up in Pittsburgh + prove to myself + the world that my type of “training” is capable of getting me to my goals come race day!


1 Comment

Summer Shenanigans: Mixing Work + Play - Heidi Kumm // Oversharing Life · April 5, 2021 at 9:50 am

[…] College and then heading to Wisconsin to make sure my family remembers me. I kick off May with the Pittsburgh Marathon and then head right down to Mexico City + Monterrey, Mexico for about six weeks of living + working […]

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