I Can't Sit Still: first of many on cross training

Ok, so like most of you I have failed miserable in the past at cross training during my marathon training. It wasn’t because I didn’t plan on doing it, it wasn’t because I didn’t know what I had to do or why it was beneficial to my training….

It was because I never made it a priority and my running quality and injury list validated why I made such a big mistake. So this winter instead of training for a spring marathon (and ignoring my cross training) I have decided to ignore my long distance running and focus on my cross training.

Why am I doing this? Well I went from 280 pounds down to as low as 210 pounds then for the last 18-20 months I have hovered at 225-230 pounds regardless of how many miles I ran and what I ate. If I ate like crap one week and failed to run big miles I stayed at the same weight as when I did everything correct for diet and exercise right. What did this tell me, well my training levels had plateau as far as weight loss went and I needed to change things up if weight loss was my goal.

Well I have no visions are running behind the lead pack in a 5k or qualifying for Boston in the near future, especially if I stay at 225-230 pounds. What happens if I pull a Gordon (http://thisrunninglife.wordpress.com/) and get down to 180-190 pounds and then run my next marathon? Something tells me I might be able to more for my goal to run an enjoyable marathon (more on my definition of enjoyable to come later) if I loose the weight.

It has been tough for me to not have an 18 week training plan in play right now but I need to see if I focus on the cross training and diet can I break the plateau.

What am I doing then?

Using TRX for circuit training 3-4 times a week.
Go back to Kettlebells for strength and aerobic workouts.
Get back into the pool for ½ mile lap swims twice a week.
Crossfit to push my comfort and fitness levels.

What does my current workout plan look like?

I started the "100 Burpee Challenge" on January 1st and I am currently on Day 40, this challenge has you doing 1 Burpee on Day1, 2 on Day2, 3 on Day3, 40 on Day40 up till you do 100 on Day100. What is a burpee, well check this video out:

I also on a daily basis I try to get a 30 minute run each day.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do a 30-45 TRX Circuit

On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I try to do a Crossfit workout

I try to get a 1/2 mile lap swim in on Tuesday and then one other day if possible

Sunday is my long aerobic workout day, so I try to get a 60+ minute SLOW run in or something comparable such as snowshoeing.

I wasn't lying when I said I can't sit still.

So here is my home gym, yes I know my garage is a mess but that didn't stop me from taking a picture to show you what tools I am using for my training.