I have been blessed with a very powerful and strong body (thanks to genetics) that helps me excel at running sprints.
In high school, I was AMAZING (the older I get the more amazing I was)! I was a better then average, almost collegiate quality sprinter, however the man that was in my life at the time persuaded me to not apply and then turn down the scholarships I did receive - that's a story for another time.
I remember one of my favorite things to do was see how much weight I could lift on the leg press. My goal was to be able to lift at least 300 pounds - almost 3 times as much as I weighed. This one day I remember a football player came to use the leg press after I just finished. It was pretty ego-tistacal when he had to take off over 100 pounds in order to uses it. I had the most muscular thigh quad muscles (looking back that wasn't the best strategy) and I was proud of them!
In high school, I was AMAZING (the older I get the more amazing I was)! I was a better then average, almost collegiate quality sprinter, however the man that was in my life at the time persuaded me to not apply and then turn down the scholarships I did receive - that's a story for another time.
I remember spending hours, upon hours after school with my great runner friend, Melissa. We'd run the stairs, the track, do strides, lift weights, massage out each others' knots from such hard work.
We streamlined our bodies into musclular, lean, power packed, sprinting machines!
We could outperform anyone on our team, and we liked that!
We streamlined our bodies into musclular, lean, power packed, sprinting machines!
We could outperform anyone on our team, and we liked that!
Now back to the reason I told you about my love affair with the high school gym. I recently got a killer deal on a gym membership that's only minutes from my house. At first I was a bit hesitant since I love the outdoors and I love running outside an being in the mountains. I just love having them as my personal gym. However, I have started to notice that when I run outside, my knees hurt longer and more then usual.
I decided to go for the membership, knowing that some of my knee pain is due to a weakness or imbalance in some of the my leg muscles. While meeting with a personal trainer, I was telling her that my main goal was to strengthen a few key muscles for the knee so that they don't hurt as much while running. I also explained that I'd use the gym when the weather wasn't ideal outside for me to play in. After our meeting she helped create a plan that would fit my needs and still leave lots of outdoor play time.
After running on the treadmill, I'm still able to walk down the stairs without shooting pain up my leg, and then walk back up!
I've also found how much I truley LOVE lifting weights.
There's something so primal about maxing your muscles to near exhaustion, that really pumps me up. I forgot how much I LOVE it! I feel so at home on the weight machines that sometimes I find myself transformed to 20 years ago!
Lifting weights, running stairs, sprinting around the track with a great friend, knowing we were all that, and laughing at ourselves along the way.
I can't wait for my gym day - tomorrow.
BTW, I still play outside 1 or 2 days a week so I can still maintain that base fitness, but man can my knees hurt some days.
Lifting weights, running stairs, sprinting around the track with a great friend, knowing we were all that, and laughing at ourselves along the way.
I can't wait for my gym day - tomorrow.
BTW, I still play outside 1 or 2 days a week so I can still maintain that base fitness, but man can my knees hurt some days.
I am learning to love sprinting too. It's an adrenaline rush for me to run as fast as I can and use almost every muscle in my body all at once. I try to sprint once a week. I'm not fast (at all), but I sure love the way it feels!
ReplyDeleteKristen, yes sprinting rocks! I'm now at the age, and fitness level, that I have to be careful when I go to fast. If I do this too much, it brings on a crash course with injury! Ahh aging has it's ups and downs! Hang in there and keep on working out, results WILL come.
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