Teaming with Peak Wellness to be a better runner

I don’t like strength training. I find it boring. So boring I’d rather do any form of cardio than do strength training. Run stairs? Sure. Elliptical? Yes, please. Sand volleyball? Of course. Just please, please, please don’t make me do strength training.

Running on the treadmill at the craptastic gym is
not my favorite, but I'll take it over strength
training ... probably not the brightest idea.

Oh? What’s that? Strength training is good for me? It’ll help me be a better runner? Well, someone’s going to have to force me to do it.

Chris Kelly from Peak Wellness recently contacted me and said he would be that someone.

Pretty cool, right?

Even cooler? It’s just not strength training to be doing strength training. It’s strength training personalized just for me: Jina, the runner who wants to be faster. 

At our initial meeting, Chris and I talked about my goals. As a runner, I think a goal is always going to be to get faster. Part of that process? Losing some extra weight. So, my goal for the next three months: lose 15 pounds. In the process, Chris said he can help me be a better, more efficient runner. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m lacking energy on my long runs. Chris said we can work on that, too. Wow. All of this from strength training? Why have I avoided it for so long?

I want to come across finish lines faster and stronger.

Oh, yeah. I don’t like it, and I didn’t have anyone to push me to do it. I’d do some here and there, but never with any consistency. And, I was never sure of what to do or know if I was doing it right. Thank goodness for personal trainers like Chris.

Of course, with a trainer comes someone that will push you even when you don’t want to be pushed. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely a good thing, but sometimes I’m sure I’ll feel like it isn’t. But, in the long run, it’s all good … right?!?

At our initial session, Chris had me do some exercises to get an idea of where I was physically. I did push-ups, squats, lunges and planks (including a difficult knee to elbow plank – I was really surprised this was the most difficult thing for me to do; I could not keep my balance).

From this session, he developed a personalized program. We’ll meet once per week to go through the workout and learn the moves (and learn the lingo … I’m severely lacking in strength training lingo).  

You can follow my journey and progress right here on Behold the Turtle. You can follow Peak Wellness on Twitter, Facebook or their website.