Janathon day 21: is circuits having an effect on running?

Written Jan 22, 2013, tagged under post,circuits,exercise,health,janathon,running,sports,wild training

The unexpected thing about our outdoor exercise class in the snow is that, when you're there, being too cold is the last thing on your mind. You tend to go in suitable footwear and perhaps an extra layer or two, with gloves and hat, but by the time you are ten minutes in to the session, you're losing clothing pretty quickly! Today was no exception, with a pretty intensive set of barbell and kettle bell exercises to keep us going, offset by the distraction of a beautiful but rapidly cooling evening with clear sky and large moon. Even lying on mats doing nasty v-sit exercises surrounded by snow felt oddly natural.

I was particularly pleased with this evening's activities for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first time I've ever managed to tackle just about all the kettle bell exercises using a 20Kg weight (I still can't even imagine doing an overhead snatch with that one, though). And secondly, I can at last feel all those glute and ham strengthening exercises having an effect on my running; at a couple of points in the running I did today, I pushed on and was able to manage a usefully-below-8-minute-mile kind of pace for an appreciable distance. This is something new for me.

Today: 2.38mi run in 21:55, plus 1 hour of circuits

Janathon totals: run 42.83mi in 6:28; 10 hours of circuits; 1.5 hours of yoga; and some swimming and cycling