Plank - a - Day

Life has been pretty hectic lately, and I've been taking it easy with running because the tendonitis across the top of my foot has been very painful this past week.  I'm trying to rest and ice it periodically so I can get back out on the roads, but it's hard to be patient.  All I can think about is how hard it'll be when I do start back up again!  Aaaaahhhh!!!  I just hope I don't lose a ton of progress.  :o/  But then I have to remind myself that permanent injury isn't worth the risk....right???

So in my not-so-spare time, I've been reading about the benefits of strength training for runners.  Turns out that strength training isn't just beneficial to runners but is actually almost necessary to help prevent injury!  And all this time, I've been strength training very little.  Oops. 

I ran across a fun challenge in my reading on another blogger's site - she'd been doing a plank every day and recording how long she could hold it and how she improved over time.  That got me thinking - it was a plank - not something time consuming, but still a fun challenge.  And a great way to see yourself improve and make progress - what a great motivator to keep you going! And possibly an awesome gate-way to get me into more strength training.  I decided to give it a try myself.  I'd do a plank a day for 30 days and see where I was on day 30 compared to day 1.

I had no idea how long I could hold a plank for, so for day 1 I set a goal of 1 minute for myself.  I got in plank position, hit my stopwatch timer, and settled in.  "This isn't so bad," I thought.  But that was only about 12 seconds in.  10 seconds later I had already changed my mind!  Haha!  I couldn't give up at 25 seconds though.  I just couldn't!  Why was this so hard?!?!?!  I took a deep breath, relaxed, and closed my eyes, trying not to think about the fact that I was starting to shake already around the 35 second mark.  How pathetic.

I opened my eyes to check the timer, determined to make it a minute.  Was it over yet?  15 more seconds, 10 more seconds....  My abs and back were starting to burn now, along with the shaking.  Finally, finally, finally, the timer reached the blessed 1 minute mark, and I collapsed on the floor.  What an eye-opener that was.  I could barely hold a plank for a minute.

But it was only Day 1, right?  Lots of room for improvement then!  :o)  Days 2 and 3 were very similar - 1 minute each, but not so pretty.  I'm bound and determined to keep going though.  I can't accept the fact that I can only hold a plank for a minute - barely - and I am determined to see that change. 27 days left to go!!!