On Monday I posted about my status on my yearly goals and that got me thinking that I need to think about my fitness goals now that my main goal from the first half of this year is over!
There is no denying marathon training gets you in relatively good cardio shape but to be honest, the rest of my fitness is completely gone right now. I used to feel a lot little bit more toned/fit better in my clothes than I do now and I also used to not have so many aches and pains in my legs so I know the two main points of my current fitness goals are going to be:
1. easy on the legs
2. get toned
I also have a half marathon in September that I am planning to do a little bit of training for so I need to fit this in somehow. I was initially thinking of targeting sub-2 at the September half but I think my body needs a little more recovery time right now so it’s probably going to turn into another half for “fun” 
There is always next year and the year after than to target sub-2!
Adding all those things together and I am thinking I will take another 2-3 weeks completely off running and with minimal impact for the cardio I do attempt and then slowly start adding in a few shorter runs a week for another 1-2 weeks and then add in an abbreviated version of some sort of half marathon training plan in the weeks leading up to the Fox Cities race in September. Hopefully I can at least cross the finish line in September 
Even if I have to power walk the whole thing!
For cross training, I am planning to rediscover my kickboxing DVDs and also do a small amount of Insanity. Insanity is an awesome workout but I am pretty sure it is far from low-impact so that is the reason I am planning to just do a little. One a week, max.
Weight training will also be a much larger focus of the weeks to come. I need to lift some serious weights… I can feel how much weaker I have gotten in the last 2 months or so I cut down on this. I am not sure if I will keep up with the gym and Body Pump classes but I will be sure to lift 3+ days per week, focus at least 2 days a week on some serious core strengthening and try to really focus on my upper body strength as well.
I am planning my weekly routine to look like this for the next few weeks:
Sunday: Insanity or Tae Bo DVD + core
Monday: Walk + Tae Bo
Tuesday: Body Pump or Weights
Wednesday: Insanity or Tae Bo
Thursday: Body Pump or Weights + core
Friday: Rest/Short Walk
Saturday: Long Walk + weights
I’m sure each week I will make certain little changes to this but I work best if I have some sort of plan to focus on. Hopefully if I can follow this plan and actually make some fitness progress, I will be in a better, stronger state to run my September and October half marathons. Then marathon training starts again…. eek! Hence the extreme importance on recovering fully right now!! I have an angryish IT Band and a whole left leg that is not too happy with me…
PS, a monthly goal I have is to get in 10,000 steps a day… Sister and I have a bit of a competition going on this one We both started off the month by hitting that number and then some on days 1&2 of July! Whoop!
What do you do to recover but also not completely stop exercising? I know swimming is a good option but I am such a horrible swimmer it’s kind of embarrassing…
Good goals! With marathon training, it is easy to let other stuff fall by the wayside. (Training pretty much takes over your life!) I lost some inches when I trained, but I also lost a lot of my strength. I’m glad that I started doing push-ups post-marathon because I needed ‘em!*
Push ups are such a good full body workout! I used to be able to do push ups on my feet but not so much anymore… guess I should maybe work at that
I’ve been so terrible about strength training in conjunction with half marathon training. I definitely want to start doing more weight work. I’m considering signing up for Tina Reale’s Best Body Boot Camp, but keep forgetting to sign up.
I try to “swim” once in a while with my husband, but I just don’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Do you have a bike to use for cardio days, instead of swimming? Elliptical is always an option, but I find it to be awkward.
Good luck as you start your next round of race training! It would be great to meet a fellow Wisconsin blogger at the FCM!
My sister did Tina’s boot camp last time around and really liked it! Forced her to keep with a routine of lifting for awhile anyways
And I only have a cheapy like bike but I should really get it back to a usable condition and at least do a little biking once and awhile for some rotation! Good idea 
Yeah to get toned you obviously need to add muscle, but that’s a tough thing to do while training for a marathon. They are kind of conflicting goals. All that running and burning calories is going to make it very difficult to gain muscle. Usually you’ll actually start burning muscle with all the running. BUT that said with hard work and the perfect diet you just never know. Good luck to you!
Yes, very true! Marathon training messes with your body in so many ways which is why I always think training is so much harder to manage than the actual day of the race!