Oh My Hips! (or the importance of cross training)

With all the riding, riding, riding I've been doing these days, my other training activities (run, swim, yoga, weights) have taken a hit. I suppose I could blame "not enough hours in the day" but in reality, there is time for a 30 min run here or a 45 min yoga session there.

I was reminded of my other beloved but neglected activities today when I went for a trail run with my trail buddy, Richelle. She had a 3 hr run and so I tagged along on the last 1.5 hrs to keep her company. You have to understand just how much time Richelle and I have spent together on the trail over the past few years -- add up all the time and it could easily be counted in weeks. But because she is run focused and I am bike focused these days, our paths don't cross as frequently as I'd like. But what fun today to hit the trails, cross streams, and slosh-slosh-slosh down the rocky terrain while catching up on what's new!

While my brain was happy to be out there with her, my body was confused. After 20 minutes I distinctly heard my quads say, "Um...what are you doing?" I ignored them. Then five minutes later I heard my rear-end say, "Hey! If you're breathing hard then shouldn't I be sitting on a bike seat?!" Again, I ignored. Then my hips spoke up at the 60 minute mark. "OK!! ENOUGH of whatever THIS is that you are doing that is NOT cycling!!" When the hips speak, I listen.

All the smooth motion and non-pounding action of cycling has given my hips (and feet, and knees, and low back) a wonderful respite from the brutal mileage of my trail running over the past year. I think my hips were nervous that we were starting things back up. As Richelle and I climbed the last few switchbacks leading up to the 360 Access parking lot, I was glad to be done running. As we stretched in the parking lot, I quietly thanked my hips for their participation and promised that I would get back to more cross training so they would be reminded of other activities. I also promised to keep the duration low, at least until after Race Across America in June. But shhhhh...don't tell my hips.