When you meet Bethany it wouldn’t be surprising if your first thought is, “Wow, she is in incredible shape!” In fact, she is in such incredible shape that it is hard not to quickly jump into asking her what she does, what her workouts are…even better, what’s her secret?
So we asked…
“Running,” said Bethany. “When people ask me how I have muscle definition, or how they can get more definition I tell them to start running.”
Her answer makes a lot of sense considering that Bethany is a member of the Palomar College cross-country team. In fact, the deeper she gets into the season, the more running dominates her workout regimen, and Bethany was now in the final stretch of her season.
Of course, Bethany packs a ton of miles in every week, particularly during the season. Throughout the offseason she cross trains by doing high intensity multi-movement and plyometrics training, and scales back her running mileage.
[CLICK HERE for a Plyometrics workout from LIVING HEALTHY]
“I like to take the (group) classes at LA Fitness, but I don’t do much actual ‘weight training’ even during the offseason; I definitely don’t lift heavy,” said Bethany. “I can bulk up pretty quick and that’s something I don’t want to do. So I stick to mostly plyometrics, stability ball and bodyweight exercises.”
As one of the top runners on her team, and at the age of 28, you might assume that Bethany is a veteran on her team, but she is actually a freshman at Palomar College, and this is Bethany’s first season on the cross-country team.
So how exactly did Bethany end up on her school’s cross country team?
“I wanted to go back to school to continue working toward my major,” said Bethany. “Earlier in the year I had won overall female in this race. It was crazy; I hadn’t ran in a race in a long time. I had ran on teams all through middle school and high school, but then I just stopped after I graduated (high school) because I had all these other things I needed to do. Then after I won that race, I was like ‘I miss running!’ I got the fire back and I felt like I wanted to race again.”
So Bethany consulted the Palomar College student handbook to find out the details about joining the cross-country team. She was only planning on a taking one class her first semester, but in order to be on the team she had to be a full-time student.
“I ended up taking 12 credits so I could be eligible,” said Bethany. “After the very first practice the coaches were like ‘you have to be on the team!’”
That was the beginning of Bethany’s career as a college athlete. She went on to be the top runner of the Palomar College cross-country team; bested only twice by one of her teammates in a race.
In her next segment, Bethany shares the evolution of her training program and how her team develops the speed and endurance that is needed to compete in cross-country races. Come back to also experience a day in her life at one of the biggest meets of the year. CLICK HERE to find out how you can effortlessly follow Bethany’s story and LIVING HEALTHY so you don’t miss a thing.