I was not built for land. Trust me. When I was little and my parents put me in AYSO, I spent most of my time sitting in the middle of the field picking flowers for my hair or making flutes out of grass. Then, on the rare occasion that I would run after the ball, it was normally followed by a mouthful of grass after I tripped, hard! My dad used to joke that I was like a bull in a China shop. I was always WAY taller than everyone else in my grade and just couldn’t seem to control my limbs on land. Lucky for me, I found water polo. The water and Darby just really seemed to mesh. Plus it’s practically impossible to trip over yourself when you’re in a pool.
Now that I don’t play water polo, I’m always looking for new, creative ways to get in a good workout. As you know, I love weight lifting and doing crossfit type workouts; they are killer! But just recently, I’ve been told how fantastic sprinting would be for me.
Have you ever looked at a female sprinters body? It’s the most incredible thing you will ever see. Not an ounce of fat; just pure, glorious, strong muscle. So, I decided to get a sprint workout from a friend and try it out. The workout was on a football field and as follows:
10x100yd sprints every 50 seconds
8X80yd sprints every 45 seconds
6x60yd sprints every 40 seconds
4x40yd dash every 35 seconds
2x20yd dash every 30 seconds
When I first looked at this workout I honestly thought, “okay, not bad, I can totally handle this.” It’s short, sweet and to the point. But boy was I wrong! After my 5th 100yd sprint I thought I was going to die. I had to add on some extra time to recover just to make sure I’d get back to the other side of the field. Once I was down to the 40yarders my lungs were screaming and my legs had taken on a life of their own they were shaking so hard. After I added in a little extra rest, and prayed to god I wouldn’t die doing this workout, I finished! My body was in totally crisis but it was also kind of awesome. For not being a runner, at all, I had just accomplished something really big. Not only that, but I had pushed my body to do something completely new and I’d survived!
For me, this is what working out is all about and it translates directly to life. I hated every second of running those sprints, but when I was done, it felt incredible! I felt so accomplished and refreshed and ready to attack my day…after I collapsed on the field for a couple of minutes to recover of course. So, get out there and try this workout and let me know how you feel when you’re done!