Joining a gym

I’ve known for a long time that running should be supported by strength and conditioning work. It was something I would definitely do ‘one day’. Each time I’ve run a marathon, I’ve done it once a week at home following workouts I’ve found online. And hated it. Deep down, I knew the only way to do it properly and regularly would be to join a gym.

My younger son is a big gym goer, who has been going since he was 16. He uses the gym to support his long jumping and goes four or five times a week. The things he knows and can do are just incredible. My husband and daughter have both had periods of going to the gym too. But not me!

At the age of 50, I’d literally never set foot in a gym in my life.

After a year off, I’m running another marathon in 2024. I’m not getting any younger, but I still think I can get slightly quicker. I need to be as strong as possible to run without injury and to maybe get that little bit faster. So, in November, I finally joined the gym.

I want to have good habits and I’m doing this as a long-term thing, not just for three or four months of marathon training.

I know lots of people love the gym.

I don’t love the gym.

I’m enjoying it a bit more, but I don’t think it will ever be something I look forward to.

My husband found a workout online for runners. It consists of seven exercises. You do three sets of 10 for each of them. The whole thing only takes about 45 minutes. Although my son then swapped one of the exercises for something else, as he said the dead lift was too easy to get wrong.

I nearly always go to the gym with my husband because I feel a bit awkward on my own.

Currently, I’m going to the gym once a week. I think if I try to do more than that, I will fail. Once a week is better than no times a week. Possibly after the marathon I might add in another session which is more of a ‘trying to stay strong and mobile as I get older’ workout rather than one for running.

The first time I walked in, I couldn’t believe how big it was and how much equipment there was. And the MEN! There were men everywhere. It felt like a very strange environment for me to be in. The men range from 16 year old school boys to men in their mid-50s. They are all shapes and sizes. Some of them are covered in tattoos. Some of them are wearing band Tshirts and tatty old shorts. Some of them are wearing expensive gym gear. They’ve got long hair, short hair, no hair. They’ve got beards and glasses. There is literally every type of man you can think of.

Our gym is 90% men. The small number of women are all in their 20s. No younger, no older.

Both the men and the women make me feel uncomfortable and awkward. They’re not looking at me or judging me. I just have this overwhelming feeling that I don’t fit in.

There is a ladies only area, but of course my husband can’t go in there. And it doesn’t have one of the machines I need. I went in once and found it just as intimidating as the main bit of the gym.

The first time I went to the gym on my own, I turned my music up really loud to block out the gym’s awful music and all the people who make me feel uncomfortable. I forgot all my exercises and left after 20 minutes. I haven’t done that again. I can now go to the gym on my own if I need to.

The first time I went to the gym, I did my three sets of 10 and of course my legs ached afterwards, but it was OK. The second time I went, I went on a Wednesday. This is the day before I do the speed endurance session with the running club. My legs were in absolute agony. I started to question if I was doing the right thing, but of course I just needed to get used to it.

I decided to do two sets of 10 for a couple of weeks rather than three sets. I also realised I need to go to the gym on Tuesday rather than Wednesday to give me an extra day of recovery before the speed endurance session.

All of my exercises are with very light weights. I was doing a bench press with 2.5kg in each hand. My son does it with 25kg in each hand! Once I’d got back to three sets of each exercise, I did that for a few weeks, and then increased the weights for my final set. At our gym, the weights go up in increments of 2.5kg. So the next set of dumbbells was 5kg – double what I was used to! I did one set with 5kg in each hand and it was much harder. The following week, I did the last two sets with my 5kg weights. The week after that, all of my exercises were with 5kg. Last week, I tried the 7.5kg, but I could literally only manage four reps with them.

I don’t know if I will increase the weights again. I’m unsure at what point being able to lift heavier weights stops being a benefit to runners (I know there is benefit to other areas of life). I suspect I will increase the weights maybe once more, but I don’t anticipate myself being able to or needing to keep increasing them forever.

Going to the gym hasn’t been easy for me, but I’m glad I took the plunge. It is now part of my routine and something I intend to keep doing in the long-term.

Do you go to the gym to support your running? Or do you do strength work at home to support it?