Training?!? What’s that?

I’ve got a streak going! This is my second blog post in as many days.

I’ll be the first to admit that my own training has suffered since I’ve started coaching more. Lately, however, I’ve been getting back into the groove. Maybe it’s the end of the cross country season, or maybe it’s the cooler weather. Certainly the time change and the open windows have conspired to deliver sunlight to my bedroom early in the morning and that gets me out of bed earlier.

Sure I’m captaining 8 Ragnar Relay teams in 2012, but I’m not officially running any of them. So, I’ve registered for the inaugural St. Petersburg Rock and Roll half marathon. It’s in late February and it’s in my hometown! I’ve run a few 5K’s and 10K’s in St. Pete, but I’ve never run a major race in my hometown. So, that will be fun. I figure that if I ran 1:36 and change at the Wine and Dine half marathon on very little training, then I should be able to get myself back under 1:30 on 12 solid weeks of training.

That, of course means speed workouts and speed workouts mean I have to get rid of this nagging tendonitis in my left knee. So, I’ve been getting up early and hitting a yoga mat in my living room. I haven’t been doing yoga. I’ve been doing my own body weight strength training routines.

I start with the Myrtl routine (which actually isn’t mine). It’s great for attacking the basis of the tendonitis in the knee. Then, I progress to the leg routine, the upper body routine and the core routine before going back for one more pass at the Myrtl routine. I go from exercise to exercise without stopping to rest in between so it gets my heart rate going too. In a way, it’s a little like P90X.

I’ve been doing it three times a week and running easy on the in between days. Sometimes I run with the cross country team in the afternoon after doing the strength workout in the morning. I feel stronger and my knee feels more stable everyday. I can still feel odd pressure there, but the pain is gone. I think in another week, I might be able to throw in a tempo run or some cruise intervals.

I’m also leading a run group on Saturday mornings and a lot of people attending that group are doing the same race. So, it’s nice to share that common goal with everyone else. My long runs are at 10 miles and I’ll have no problem safely getting up to 15 for a few of them before race day.