As a marathon runnerI have learned that distance runners and sprinters are two very different types of people.
To run a marathon successfully, you need to build your body up to 26.2 miles, which means focusing on longer, slower runs for 16 to 20 weeks. But for sprinters, it’s all about building your body to handle the speed.
For the past three and a half years, I have focused my fitness goals on running all six Abbott World Marathons. Now that I’ve collected all my stars and crossed it off my bucket list, I’m shifting my efforts and playing around with my workouts.
I’ve always loved incorporating Barry’s into my marathon training program because of its combo classes of HIIT (high intensity interval training) cardio and strength training. A traditional 50-minute class involves half of the class on the floor lifting heavy weights and the other half on the treadmill at a slow and fast pace, with breaks for recovery. The goal is to lower your heart rate for maximum calorie burn, and the breaks should really help you get faster over time.
If you’re not a runner, Barry also has a lift-only class as well as a bike and lift class that swaps the treadmill for a bike. No matter what you were doing, all of their classes counted as challenges.
This spring, I decided to get faster with my half marathon times. I’ve been using this challenge to prepare for the three halves I’m taking on in March. Disney debuted on March 1st, just a fun run full of amazing shots and character stops. More seriously, I’ve signed up for the LA Half Marathon with CORE Response, where I’m currently PRing my half marathon, followed by the Black Ocean leg of the Ironman Triathlon at the end of the month.
I decided to do the 30-day Barry Challenge, which involved 12 classes over 30 days and one long run of eight to 11 miles a week to prepare my body for a half-marathon. To make things more difficult, since I was going to run the Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon before the challenge ended, I had 21 days to fill it out and claim my prizes of a gift card or fancy water bottle. I’m excited to train hard and fast and see how that translates at the finish line. It was wet, painful, and crushing at times, but I’m so glad I did it and it worked out.
Progress was real
I took notes every day after school and stayed consistent. That meant one pair of shoes every day Brooks Glycerin GTS23. While I took some lift classes because my overall goal was to improve my race times, I stuck to traditional classes as much as possible and counted them as my pace runs.
Every trainer is different and focuses on a different body part every day of the week, so success isn’t necessarily measured in writing. For example, one day we will have to deal with a large inclination, while focusing on the bones and feet. The next day, we stayed on the flat track and focused on the arms and core.
I was trying not to take more than three classes a week and also doing other exercises because I was in the thick of it. On my first day, my fastest sprint was 8.5 mph, and I lifted two 15-pound weights as my heavy set. On the last day of the fight, I was comfortably lifting 20 to 25 pounds and running at 10 mph.
The next phase was to conquer the hills more easily after these crazy sprints and focus on the leg days. In the end, I was comfortably running at a pace of 6-8 up to a minute if needed. On day 1, even an incline of 4 was difficult.
The highs, lows and challenges in between
Because I committed to doing this challenge on time, I had to run more on the treadmill than usual, and my legs were feeling it. I’m more of a road running kind of gal, so back to back days of sprints are no joke there, and I definitely felt it in my quads and already broken knees. It’s been hard to be accountable because of the sore muscles, but I’ve always stuck with it and I’m proud of keeping myself on it. After all, isn’t that what an athlete does?
Since my main goal was to see if a change from my normal training plan would help me get stronger and faster, this alone was a win. But I really wanted to see how it translated into my race, and after doing two of my three halves, it’s hard to read.
I’ve already revealed that RunDisney races are not the place to go with a PR. I enjoyed meeting other runners who used it as their long Boston training run at home, and I ran in the brand new Brooks Max 2 shoes that are made for this distance and have helped me PR before, but I spent about 20+ minutes on character rests and bathroom breaks. I have no regrets, but I was a lot slower than I would have been if I hadn’t stopped and smelled everything. Beauty and the Beast rose – literally. So it’s hard to judge fairly what would have happened if I hadn’t done all of this.
Despite the pause, I quickly noticed that I recovered more quickly than usual thanks to the challenge. Although I then walked around the theme parks and logged over 20 miles in 3:30. wake up call, my body didn’t feel it. I credit it to all the weightlifting I’ve been focusing on that made my lower body and core a little more ready to go.
Mind you, I had to turn around after half a week and run the LA Charity. While I was really hoping last year, with the temperature rising above 90 degrees, my goal turned into a PR: “Let’s do the standing up.” I finished that race in a dry heat. Despite the race weekend, I felt great immediately after thanks to all the training I got from the challenge.
Friend of the group
I love that this exercise is self-directed, but in a group setting. Instructors almost always make it clear that their pace is just a suggestion and that each runner should do what feels right for them.
In almost every class I’ve taken, the instructor would give me and the rest of the class a shout out for our efforts and encourage high-fives with neighbors after quick runs. Having others a little faster or even slower by your side will definitely help keep your fire going and push yourself harder. You think to yourself, “If the woman next to me can run 10.5 mph, so can I!”
Although I occasionally saw familiar faces, my progress was tracked in my app. When I saw that people were ahead of me on the leaderboard because they finished their classes before me, I’ll lie that I felt motivated to keep going.
While it remains to be seen what I will do with my exciting rewards for being a “winner”, I can proudly say that I feel mentally and physically strong enough to successfully complete it off the bucket list.
