Two a Day Workouts

Most days I'll run in the morning and cross train after work.  I find the cross training helps keep muscle groups in balance so I don't over develop one area and neglect another. Generally I'll treat 1 workout as a hard one and one as recovery, I may run hard in the morning, but the bike ride in the afternoon is relaxed and is all about just moving.  Conversely I may have a recovery run but bust ass at the gym later in the day. I wouldn't recommend this to most people, but it's been working for me for the past few months.

Every couple of weeks I like to get together with some friends who are ultra runners.  Running with them has always been fun for me.  I admire what they've accomplished and the work that they have put in to make all their goals happen.  They've been incredibly supportive and encouraging when I've gone out with them.  Even though I knew they could easily outrun me they dialed back the pace a little and I've never felt like I was holding the group back. Erin also loves running with this group although when she first had a chance to run with them she was a bit intimidated by their accomplishments as well. It was her first trail run and Erin's running resume at the time was only a couple of half marathons, but after that first run, she was hooked.

Last night we meet up with our friends for a run.  Being a Thursday we had run in the morning with the group from the store, so this would be the second run of the day.  We meet up in Moorhead and soon were prowling the city in the dark.  With the recent snowfall footing was hit and miss along the route.  Some people had shoveled sidewalks and the warm weather had dried them off, while others had left the snow sit slowing us down considerably as we went single file.  The wind was a bit stronger then I had expected and going into it was chilly, but when we turned around the cold was quickly forgotten.  The 5 miles passed very quickly and Maggie and I had enough left to sprint at the end of the run. Runs like this help inspire me to put so much into my training.  When I'm tired in the morning and would rather sleep in or it's just a day I don't feel like putting in the effort I can remember back to experiences like this and know it's all worth while.