Strength training.

I named this blog "Bulletproof" because that's my main objective in training for this half.  I want to be injury-free and energetic; I work full-time, I have a toddler who never stops moving, and I'm 35, which is an interesting age in that some days I feel twenty-five years old, and some days I look in the mirror and see my grandmother peering back.

(She looks pretty good.  But still.)

At any rate, everyone and their mother recommends strength training for runners, and I actually really enjoy lifting.  It's fun, satisfies my need to track progress, and the only reason I'm not focusing on weightlifting is that it's harder to commit to a program that requires me to go to the gym more than a couple of times a week.  (See above re: toddler.)

I'm lucky in that I have a friend who is a certified weightlifting coach, so throughout this training cycle I'll be lifting heavy twice a week.    Deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and tons of mobility and core.  Women should lift heavy weights.

(I am nowhere near any of those benchmarks.  Maybe the planks.)

This is necessary because while I haven't been seriously injured (knock on wood), I'm really good at tweaking various muscles and joints, and in the past, they've kept me from running.  And these days I just don't have time for injury time.