Category Archives: strength training

Week 14

  By Crystal Clarke | April 8, 2013 - 10:29 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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14 weeks. 14 weeks until my A-race of 2013. Holy S**t. When I counted the weeks this morning I had a little jump of panic. Why? Well, let me just tell you why. The past few months I have been more active than I have been since the marathons last spring. That really isn’t saying a lot since I did almost zero activity from June to December. The reasons for that were numerous: burn-out (2 years of straight training will do that), a knee injury, a lot of various family issues from my brother being in an accident to my … Keep reading →

Stretch & Strengthen – well, duh!

  By Crystal Clarke | November 27, 2011 - 11:37 am | ,
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As I have been working with my personal trainer, Amanda Stalwick from Positively Fit Personal Training, I have noticed a change in my performance in running and biking (I haven’t swum enough this year to notice). Obviously, doing strength training is going to increase strength and power, but I am noticing that I don’t feel any nagging injuries that I usually do. And when I do, they are temporary and pass quickly. There has been a common theme over the last couple of months – focus on core. CORE, CORE, CORE. Work on core. Strengthen core. It’s all about core. … Keep reading →

Training Buddies

  By Crystal Clarke | June 17, 2008 - 9:00 am | , ,
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This morning my alarm went off at 5:30 and I cringed. “Already?!?” I asked myself. I contemplated not going to the gym and pool, but I knew that my training buddy would be waiting for me. I contemplated calling her, but if I’m going to be awake enough to look for her number, call her, have a conversation about how tired I am, and then lay down again, I might as well go to the gym. Am I ever glad I did! Despite my puffy eyes and tired body, I made it through the weights and then the swim workout. … Keep reading →

Ramping up

  By Crystal Clarke | June 12, 2008 - 11:12 am | , , ,
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This week is the first of my peaking cycle and it’s going… well… it’s going all right. I was doing great last weekend with a swim-bike brick on Saturday at Pike Lake, where my first race of the year is held. On Sunday I did a 13-km long, slow run with my new training buddy, but skipped out on my short swim that night due to exhaustion. Today I got back into the pool; my training buddy and I did some weights and then hit the pool for a couple of 500m pace intervals with a warm-up and a cool-down. … Keep reading →

Strength Training

  By Crystal Clarke | January 5, 2008 - 5:15 pm |
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Each off-season I make a resolution to myself to do more strength training, but have yet to find a workout that works for me. Nonetheless, I believe it to be helpful and I’m trying to figure out how I can do it without it boring me. I found this good knowledge to have when it comes to strength training: UPPER BODY Upper body exercises reduce the amount of oxygen you use when running, lowering your heart rate and improving your endurance. Always maintain proper form when exercising– even when fatigue has set in. Do 3 sets of 15 reps of … Keep reading →