I am writing this from the gym having just finished a weights workout and then 5k run. I am waiting for my car to be returned from the mechanics so I have a few minutes to kill.
Previously, when I have been training for half and full marathons, I haven’t done much weight training as it has been hard to find the time and I have not wanted to overtrain my legs. However, over the summer I did no running (I suffer badly from hayfever) but did use the gym regularly for 3 months. When I started running again at the end of August I found big improvements over what I would normally expect not having run for a few. This was all down to the core and leg strength I had developed over the previous 3 months.
Now I am keen to retain the benefit of the core strength so I am trying to get to the gym a couple of times a week. I am a member of Fitness First as there is a gym outside my office at work (just off Fleet Street – in fact there are two with 5 mins walk of each other) and also one 20 minutes drive from home. The problem I am having is that the best time to get to the gym is first thing in the morning, before work kicks off and gets in the way, but my training runs are all late in the evening to allow me to have time with my family. This means I end up with less than 8 hours between running and working out.
I would go to the gym in the evening on non-running days, but the local gyms near my house all close at 10pm, so it does not really give me enough time to get there and do a decent workout. I need 24 hour gym so I can train at whatever time I like (or at least until 11pm!).