Not exactly the plan, but I’ll take it

Yesterday, I hit the bike for 6 miles and did a full body strength training session for the first time in a few weeks.  I’ve been laying off the legs because of the races.  No race this week means strength training on the legs.  I took (now professional strongman) Elliot’s advice and went for the full squat this week.  I could instantly tell what I was missing.  It clearly ripped my quads like I hadn’t before and worked my butt, which wasn’t feeling anything from stopping the squat with my thighs parallel to the floor.  Most runners underestimate the importance of the glutes in generating power on each stride, so I know this will make me faster.  After work, I did 3.5 miles with Alice.

And…holy crap, my thighs and butt were sore this morning.  I had a tempo run planned (1 mile warmup, 4.25 at 6:54 min/mile pace and 1 mile cooldown).  I just headed out the door and started running.  I felt alright, all things considered.  After my warmup, I pulled off 2 miles at 6:45 min/mile pace then gave myself a 2 minute rest.  After that, I did 4 half mile intervals at 6:40 min/mile pace with 1 minute rests.  Then, finished with my cooldown for a total of 6 miles in 45:57.  Mentally speaking, my focus for longer distances is not what it was in January when I ran the half marathon.  I’ve definitely got to work on the longer runs over the summer.  Still, I got some good threshhold training in, so I’m not horribly disappointed.  After work, I hit 4 easy miles with Alice.  We’ll see how I feel in the morning.  There’s definitely some lactic acid in the thighs.  I like it, though.  I know I’m getting stronger.

5 comments

  1. One day I will get in the gym and do full body workouts along with my training runs. I know, I know, I need to be in there now to help with my IT band injury!!!

  2. mmm the doms! love that soreness. lifting IS important and beneficial although i’m certainly not one to preach. it’s another area where i have good intentions but… yeah. nice job on the tempo run. i know when my legs are sore after lifting they do NOT want to pick up the pace.

  3. Hey, great run!

    I haven’t done squats in a year. My new gym doesn’t have a squat machine, although that’s really no excuse to not do squats. I should brush up on the “correct” way to do them.

    I bet your lifting is not only helping your power, but also your speed.

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