In the wee hours of the morn on Friday I was up and in NE Portland taking a core conditioning class with the portland tri club. Truth be told, I abandoned all those russian twists I was doing long ago. So this was PAINFUL. We did a some basic ab stuff, but mostly we did a lot of balancing and lateral movements. We balanced on 1 foot while doing shoulder and tricep work (something I will be doing at home now), we jumped over a yoga block from side to side and then did pushups on the block, we did single leg squats, bridges, twists, you name it, we did it. And suprisingly, my abs were not sore. And unsuprisingly, my hip adductors/abductors/flexors are in some SERIOUS pain! Which is *good* because I know I got a great workout on what I need most.
Of course I went out and rode with Portland Velo this morning, which was extreme pain. Riding flats felt great, but we rode up pumpkin ridge, and every f*ing hill we rode was unbelievably difficult. Turns out all those core muscles that were sore on me (as in tender to the touch) are all the muscles the body uses to get itself up those hills. Lesson learned. Thankfully coming off pumpkin ridge someone took the lead of our group and took us back @ 21mph the whole way. What an animal.
So what really needs to happen between now and Blue Lake (besides a running miracle) is a whole lot of strength training. The core classes are every friday morning (which should make my saturday rides interesting), so I’ll be doing that for a while, incorporating those moves into my current routine. So my basic goals are to
1) Strengthen my hips so I can run again
2) Strengthen my shoulders/upper body so I can swim stronger
3) Strengthen my core (overall fitness)
