This morning I did the Iron Strength workout from Runner's World again. I do this twice a week. I start with 75 squat jumps and then do two sets of 13 different exercises for back, core, arms, shoulders, and legs. It's supposed to end with an insane amount of burpees, but I skip most or all of them. Even without the burpees, it's a great workout, and I've noticed more definition in my legs after doing it for the past six weeks.
When I decided to get serious about running and improve last fall, I worried about fitting strength training in. Strength training helped me drop five pants sizes when I lost just over 30 pounds (you usually drop one pants size for every 10 pounds you lose) and has helped me maintain that loss. The first 5K training plan I started called for runs six or seven days a week. At the time, I was only running three days a week and quickly wore myself out. Plus, it left no time for strength training. That's why I switched to Coach Jenny's 5k intermediate training plan, which includes two days of strength training. This plan fits my lifestyle much better, but I do worry how much I'll be able to improve my speed on it, since it calls for only four runs a week. I guess I'll see at my 5K on March 30!