Earlier this summer, while I was still on crutches I was asked if I would like to demonstrate core exercises with an ab ball. At the time I thought sure, why not? I regularly use an ab ball during my core sessions and wouldn't mind showing a few exercises... let's just say it was more than a "few" exercises.
A few weeks later I received an email with the sketches of the exercises I was going to have to demonstrate and decided to test them out. It wasn't long before I became painfully aware that my core is not what I thought or want it to be. Sure, I can blame some of the balancing issues on my still slightly bum ankle (as I choose to do with my less than stellar performance at the Crim 10 miler last weekend)... but deep down I knew it was my core stability at fault.
I have always done core work, but I guess it's easy to stick to the same old exercises and in a way cheat my way through stabilizing exercises. After going through the sketches a few times I was terribly exhausted. Instantly I began to worry about demonstrating these positions, holding them for camera shots, and not making a fool out of myself.
After about a week of practicing, I showed up at the YMCA as ready as I could be... hoping that I had at least trained my core a little bit to make it through the photo session. The afternoon of core was not nearly as easy as I had thought it would be back in July... but I made it through it, have some amazing photos I can now share, and have a better understanding of the weaknesses I need to start addressing in order to get back into proper marathon form!
