@Miranda - how do you like OTF? I’m thinking of mixing that in if/when I get the all clear to help get back to a decent fitness level.
I know people love it - but I tried Camp Gladiator and hated it because I realized group workouts aren’t for me, so I’m hesitant ...
I love it, but I also love group exercise.
I am more motivated in a group setting and having a class and a time specifically to go to makes me more likely to go to it for some reason. That was the whole reason that I joined my running group 2 years ago too, I wanted someplace that I had to be at, even though a lot of times I end up running by myself during the group runs. Even though I could totally cancel on group classes or group runs, I am much less likely to do so... although I can't just decide to bail out on an OTF class less than 8 hours before it without financial repercussions, unlike before when I would cross train with spin or BodyPump or what not at my old gym.
I love that I get some speedwork running in though, and also some weights and core which I never do on my own, and I love that the workouts are different every day. The head coach at our studio is great, too, and I schedule my classes around her schedule. I had a hard time juggling it during HM training because the first month the studio was open coincided with the last month of my HM plan and I was trying to follow my HM plan, but I also signed up for a challenge at the studio that required me to go 3x a week. It was new and hard for me to juggle everything, but I have a better handle on what to expect now, what makes me sore, how to modify things so I'm not wrecked for a long run, etc, and I think I could integrate it better into longer distance training now.
I feel like it has probably helped my running although if I was actually running outdoors right now, that would be more of a benchmark. But despite eating my way through spring half marathon training and then just... eating my way through summer, I still have improved my speeds on the treadmill and I am able to run for longer stretches than I used to be able to (I am usually a run/walk person when running outdoors). You have 3 paces on the treadmill that the workout revolves around, base, push, and all-out. When I first started, I was running (jogging) at a base pace of 4.0 mph, push at 5.0, and all-out at 6.0. Now I am doing between 4.7-5.0 for base, 5.7-6.0 for push, and 7.0-7.3 for all-out. Those speeds are not by themselves THAT impressive, but I feel like that's a pretty good improvement for me for 6 months of usually only 2x a week.
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