Balancing My Legs

Something I've struggled with since starting longer runs (I'm still unsure whether I get to call myself an endurance runner) is how to fit in everything that I love.

Swimming, I can squeeze in once a week. Barre fits in on the non-run days. 

But how do I tackle hiking, since that also kills my legs? 

Hiking was really my gateway cardio activity. So it felt fitting that after five years or so after being away from group outdoors outings, I rejoined Venture Outdoors and started going out again.

I figured a nice "moderate" hike up to Ohiopyle would place me fairly middle of the pack, and see how my legs could handle doing a hike with elevations, instead of a steady 10-mile run. 

Because yeah. When it's raining, there's no going back inside, and with a group, I was certainly not going to be bailing out and wandering back to the car in shame (although more on that later). And on the other hand, if my body did decide to try to repeat the Toe Incident two weeks out from my next half, there would be people around to help.

Total win. Apparently, in all these months of pushing myself on the running trail, and honing my balance and core at the barre, I've somehow become an excellent hiker. 

I had to laugh at one point when I nearly slipped (it had been raining like crazy that morning, and we were tackling some rocky areas), and the trip leader exclaimed that wait! He was depending on me to be the stable one. And sure enough, I kept up with his hiking pace the entire time.

Lesson learned, though? A five-mile hike, then barre the next day is a not-fantastic combination. My legs could certainly handle most of it, but my glutes were not loving me come the planks.