Cross-training (or, "How running weaseled itself back into my life")

Way back in the mid-90’s, I entered my first organised sporting event since leaving school – a sprint distance triathlon at Redcliffe (a seaside town just north of Brisbane, Qld). I had a great time, and started training to both get faster and make it through longer events.


I continued doing triathlons for a few years. But after a while, I was struggling to motivate myself. After some long thought, I realised three things:
1. I love swimming and swim training.
2. I love cycling and cycle training.
3. I would rather stick a fork in my eye than do any more run training…

Henceforth, I was a cyclist. Cycling became my main focus, with regular swimming as cross-training and as a fun alternative.

Which makes what I am about to tell you all the more puzzling – I have started training for the Bridge2Brisbane fun run.

Of course, I can point the finger of blame away from myself for this – it’s my wife’s fault!! She is a ‘walker’ when it comes to exercise, and a pretty good one too. In fact, her walk is faster than my ‘jog’ (which I find a bit embarrassing).

Last week, my wife said to me “I want to try and run the Bridge2Brisbane”.
“That’s great honey” I replied, not seeing the trap about to gobble me up.
"So, they have these free training sessions,” she continued. “You’ll come to them with me, right?”

And there you have it. In a 30-second conversation, with no warning, I was training to become a runner again.
“Don’t look so sad,” my wife laughed. “You’ll probably end up loving it. And I do appreciate you coming with me.”

I know I won’t love it. But I know I do love her, and so I’ll do the sessions with a smile on my face, and give her all the encouragement I can.

I must give credit to the Bridge2Brisbane organisers – the free training sessions are an outstanding idea. They are on at the Ship Inn (Southbank, near the Goodwill Bridge) every Tuesday and Thursday night at 6pm, and at New Farm Park every Saturday morning at 7:30am. All the sessions go for an hour, and are split into beginner / intermediate / advanced groups.

If you are thinking about becoming a (god forbid) runner, I would genuinely encourage you to turn up to these sessions. You don’t have to register, sign up or commit to anything. The turn-out is also impressive (over 100 every time), and made up of all shapes, sizes and fitness levels – so chances are you won’t feel out-of-place, and you will meet some new friendly faces at the same fitness level as yourself.

Enough about running now!! This is a cycling blog, and normal transmission shall resume shortly. For the moment, I need to mentally prepare myself for the sore legs that will surely arise after tonight’s training session…