This summer the majority of my “exercise” was running because I was training for a marathon.

The next time I train for a marathon I will definitely “cross train” more instead of only focusing on running (while that is still obviously important).

It’s been a month since my marathon, and while it’s good to give yourself a break afterward I don’t want to “lose” all my training and hard work.

But I do want to switch it up a little. So I took a look at what I’ll have available to me over the winter, and what I’ll actually enjoy doing.

And the three main activities I want to focus on are yoga, running and lifting.

Yoga — I dabbled in yoga in college, and consistently went every day for a six month period after graduation. But the circumstances that led me to have an affordable pass to that studio ended and I can’t afford to hand out that chunk of cash every month. Although hot yoga is delectable in the winter. My compromise has been hitting up a yoga class every now and then but then utilizing videos online for a little yoga session in my living room. I don’t have to trek to a studio and I save myself a lot of money.

Running — I’ve come to realize that it’s more work to get myself dressed and outside when it comes to running in the cold. If I bundle up appropriately it’s all fine and dandy. Your lungs burn a bit, but it’s manageable. And I’ve been running for months so why stop now just because it’s getting cold? Running is a great way to get outside and have some time to just freely think without needing to have some form of entertainment.

Lifting — While I sometimes feel like a monkey lifting weights I do actually enjoy the challenge. Our apartment building has a decent little exercise room with a few machines and a full set of weights. And just like with living room yoga, I’m not forced to go outside to get to the gym so that’s a major perk. I want to focus on getting stronger overall but also focusing on my joints or whatever it may be so when it comes time to train again my knees, and such, are stronger.

Ideally, I would like to do each activity two or three times a week. So, one sample week would be:

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Run

Wednesday: Lift

Thursday: Run

Friday: Lift

Saturday: Run

Sunday: Yoga

I find that having a “plan” really helps to motivate me and be consistent with exercise. If I can look at something and say “Ok, today I’m going to go run 5 miles, or today I’m going to do these arm exercises in the gym” I find that actually getting there and doing it is much easier.

I’m curious to hear if you have a particular work out plan as well as the winter, and if where you live has had an impact on what you plan on doing.