I have always heard cross-training is really good for runners. Since I am not much for swimming in pools, I don’t care for gyms (though a local community center’s isn’t too bad) and cycling in Portland has gotten ridiculous, I have had to improvise. So my summer cross-training activity is mowing our lawn with a push mower, great for the upper body as well as cardio. So now I am coming up with a winter version, sweeping/shoveling snow out of our driveway and paths. Again, great upper body and cardio.
I have also been keeping up with the stair stepper. I have done 1000 steps twice and today I found I could go faster and completed 1200 in 15 minutes. Anymore than 15 minutes of it is currently beyond me. I think it just gets boring, but I have been able to watch a goofy British puppet sci-fi show called Thunderbirds on my computer while I do it. Oops I am sorry, they prefer to be called marionettes.
Ok, I had better stop and put on some dry clothes. Between the shoveling and the stair stepping, I worked up a good sweat.