Cross-training is paying off

If I were critiquing my running and swimming routine over the past couple years, I'd give myself a pat on the back for staying with it. Rarely a week goes by that I don't run twice and swim twice; the challenge is adding a fifth (and sometimes sixth) day of weights. But lately it feels like I've been exercising at the same pace. Kinda boring.

This weekend, for some reason, I seemed to experience a minor breakthrough. Since leaving the old Y and joining LA Fitness, which has a salt water pool and a longer length, I've become a stronger swimmer -- i.e., I'm covering the same distance with fewer strokes. The extra stamina translates to an easier run, exemplified by today's invigorating run in Forest Park. I covered 7 miles in a little over an hour, with a gentle mist in my face, and it really felt effortless.

Make no mistake. I'm still no speed burner. But I can see where pushing myself a little harder is paying off in the pool and on the streets -- or, in this case, the dirt/gravel path that characterizes Leif Erickson Drive as it winds its way through Forest Park.

Photograph by dothezonk