By Courtney Olsen
Two times a week BDP members meet at Core Kinetics for strength training with Brad Jones, Rolfer. At 6:00 am the women begin with light stretching and mobility openers: arm and leg swings enmeshed with a little yoga, hamstring, hip and abductor stretches. The hour long session stays mostly uptempo, moving between a full-body spectrum with areas of focus in variance from one session to the next.
As a kettle bell powerhouse, Jones has the ladies work with bells in lunges, triceps, farmer carries, and shoulder work. Another major part of the routine is done with TRX, aimed for full-body perspective: triceps (superman), biceps (arm curls or pushups), core, lower back, underbutt/hamstring toppers, etc. Latest to be incorporated are box jumps and pullups. We might all vary in our weaknesses and strengths. Alyson is excellent at form in all categories, has immense upper strength, but might lack a little mobility in her ankles. Amber, despite a weaker left calf left petite from cast, she has immense strength in her core, glutes and quads. Lydia is the newest addition to the strength sessions, and is always smiling through new moves, and I, myself, am new to strength conditioning as a whole, and have a harder time with certain arm workouts (pushups/pullups), but love bicep curls, and am extremely weak in hips/groin, which changes my form in side oblique work.
Strength training is a great benefit in that we get to see and feel where our weaknesses are, and are directed to correct them. The work we get to put in in the off-season will dramatically change our capacity to handle the high-intensity workload of marathon training in each of our paths towards a spring marathon. Any members interested in strength training, or if there’s any questions about TRX, ketel bells, or strength training in general, you can contact us at bellinghamdistanceproject@gmail.com.
