So I signed up for my first 24 Hour foot race and detailed my high level training plan and my nutrition plan.
So now I will detail my training from Week 5
The biggest thing of note from last week is that I basically kept to my overall schedule that I originally created (except for the stairclimbing) and survived.. which is pretty cool. It was tough but doable.
Some other things that I learned (or just wanted to discuss) from last week:
- My foot isn’t being actively treated anymore, but it still doesn’t feel 100%. I will say that I “feel” it but it isn’t impeding my ability to do any of my training. I was told that it is due to the newly formed collagen (that is in place of the damaged tissue) remodeling and gaining it’s propriecption. Because it is new collagen, it needs to “learn” it’s proprieception (as the other good tissue already has).. so it won’t feel “right” until then. Maybe 4-6 weeks. In the mean time, it “shouldn’t” have an impact though.
- I need to stretch my upper body more. It is that simple. I don’t do it very much and I know it is important. It isn’t having an impact on my training at the moment (and probably won’t for some time) but it is important for my long term mobility etc. and I will be writing a post on an easy way to do it.
- I am not going to start working my calves in the gym this coming week, but am planning on doing it the week after. Obviously easy at first and building up. I notice when I run that my upper legs feel strong and pretty locked in, and my calves feel like the weak link. They will get stronger as I run more but I would like to work them for 4 – 6 sets twice a week too. I will try to start that soon.
- I really need to start working my forearms, grip and bending. I write that because I notice my upper forearms getting “not right” sore after serious lats and bicep work. They need to be built up but it is really hard to figure out how to fit it in. I used to have a whole workout each week devoted to working them (and it was awesome.. I loved it) but I don’t have that luxury of time anymore with this schedule. Many (including former World’s Strongest Man Magnus Samuelsson) work their grip and forearms in between sets on their leg day (because they don’t need their grip to work legs), but I don’t have a “leg” day.. I work legs in the beginning of my other workouts 3 days a week and I need my grip and forearms for the rest of those workouts. So I don’t know yet… but I do know that I will need to figure it out.
So now I will detail my training from Week 5.
So onto last week:
Tuesday the 13th: Hack Squats (on a heavy sled) 30X20, 50X20, 70X15, 90X12, 110X8 — Significant improvement on these.
No time for Abs/Obliques
18 sets for Chest
8 sets for Traps
followed immeadiately by racewalking on the treadmill –> 1 mile at 12:00 min pace, 1 mile at 13:30 pace and a 400m at 11:30 pace. This was my first jump on the treadmill (or go outside the gym and run) directly after working my legs and having a long hard workout in the gym.. and it was tough but doable. When I got off it was a weird feeling.. I felt like I was floating, like my legs were light as a feather. Interesting. I also hit the best paces racewalking so far and that was cool. Make no mistake walking fast is damned hard.
Wednesday the 14th: 4.6 miles of running at decent paces 8:59, 9:05, 9:09, 8:52, and last .6 at 8:28 pace. Was happy with this.. especially after yesterday’s squats and treadmill work.
Thursday the 15th: Glutes: Walking lunges 35lb Dbs for 20X20X12 (felt a bit tight on these so I stretched well later and the chiropractor loosened me up), 2 sets of Side Lunges with 50lb barbell in crux on elbows for 20, and 2 sets on the Glute Machine with 110X12X15
Neglected abs and obliues again because I was seeing the chiropractor early in the morning and I had to try and wrap things up as quickly as poosible.
16 sets for Delts
Ran out of time to do Biceps –> Didn’t get to biceps this week, but it’s not the end of the world.
Then got on the treadmill and did my fastest paces yet for racewalking. 11:19 for 400m and 11:06 for 400m. I know I definitely need to go longer on these as time goes on but it felt good to be able to get so much quicker in only 5 weeks!
Friday the 16th: 4 hilly miles (my 4 mile really hilly loop around the house) at 11:26 pace overall with 3 walking breaks. This was an absolutely brutal run. A number of factors contributed to it I think.. the biggest one being a pretty serious night out for a Happy Hour for a good friend of mine where I got in at 11:00. I also didn’t sleep much (and not particularly well) because of it. Also I ran after work around 4:00pm and it was pretty hot and humid (like 82 and humid), and I guess this was my first time doing a legs and walking, run, legs and walking, then run week.. and it’s a tough schedule and that probably had an impact. But to be honest I am virtually certain the biggest factor was the enjoyable night the night before. It had a pretty significant impact. All that having been written.. I wasn’t really disappointed in this run (I’m not saying I want them to happen every week) because I was running under bad physical conditions and I wasn’t enjoying it but I kept on going. There will be a lot of hours of that at the race in December, so it was good physical and mental training.
Saturday the 17th: Conventional Deadlifts ending with 305X3 (an increase of 130lbs since last time 4 weeks prior… a nice increase indeed). No straps and double overhand.Felt very good about this and was using a new back support belt that I got from Jackals Gym that I will be doing a review on soon.. suffice it to say I loved it!
3 sets for Abs and 2 sets for Obliques
23 sets for Lats
18 sets for Triceps using for the first time a pair of elbow sleeves that I got from Jackals Gym that were phenomenal and really helped keep my elbow warm and thereby my elbow tendons very happy.
This was one of the best workouts in a long, long time. Serious volume and felt very strong. Was nice to be able to have a great workout (albeit a different form of workout) the day after a brutal one (the run).
Sunday the 18th: Much better run today than the brutal one on Friday and my longest yet during this training period. I intended to do 7 miles (2 more than last week’s Sunday run) and did but it was definitely challenging. It was quite hard for a couple of reasons. The serious deadlifting the day before, the 74 degree heat and 100% humidity (yuck!) and just getting longer in my runs. I would definitely say the deadlifting had an impact.. but as I have written.. I am expecting and wanting it to. Was hard in the beginning but than I loosened up.. and then it got harder at the end. Miles were 9:32, 9:21, 9:11, 9:27, 9:26, 9:25 and 9:05. Was happy that my last mile was my fastest. I don’t know how long it will take for my runs to feel relatively easy with the serious leg work in the gym (and the race walking) and to be honest I don’t know if they ever really will.. but the runs will get longer and harder and my hope is that when I taper off of the extra work that my legs will feel like steel at the race. It is an interesting experiment. One thing that did happen on this run that was annoying (and I am not anticipating/hoping happening again soon) is my left foot went a bit numb after a few miles. It has happened a few times throughout the years and I am almost certain that it happened this time because I tied my shoelaces too tight.. it got better when I loosened them during the run but didn’t completely go away.
That is about it for week 5 of 24. I didn’t get stair climbing in last week and will attempt to this coming week (and will see if I can do it on a regular basis.. I don’t know yet.. having that one full day off on Monday may be very valuable we will see). I was very happy and proud though to do my entire training plan last week (except for the stair climbing).. certainly my distances will have to increase (and they will) but last week was a nice jump up in intensity and I feel good about it.
So know that I have been able to run for 2 weeks, I will write out what I will attempt for the next 6 weeks from a running and race walking perspective (the gym work will stay basically as it has been.. just trying to get stronger):
Week of Aug 18th: Tuesday: RW 2 – 3 miles Wednesday: Run 5 miles Thursday: RW 2 – 3 miles Friday: Run 5 miles Sunday: 7 miles
Week of Aug 25th: Tuesday: RW 2 – 3 miles Wednesday: Run 5 miles Thursday: RW 2 – 3 miles Friday: Run 6 miles Sunday: 13 miles at the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group Flatlanders 6/12 Hr Race performing the run in the run/race walk style that I plan to race Across the Years
Week of Sept 2nd: Tuesday: RW 3 miles Wednesday: Run 6 miles Thursday: RW 3 miles Friday: Run 6 miles Sunday: 9 miles
Week of Sept 9th: Tuesday: RW 3 miles Wednesday: Run 6 miles Thursday: RW 3-4 miles Friday: Run 7 miles Sunday: 10 miles
Week of Sept 16th: Tuesday: RW 3 miles Wednesday: Run 7 miles Thursday: RW 3-4 miles Friday: Run 7 miles Sunday: 10 miles
Week of Sept 23rd: Tuesday: RW 3 miles Wednesday: 1 mile W/U 5 miles at 8:30 1 mile C/D Thursday: RW 3 miles Friday: Run 7 miles Sunday: 12 miles
Definitely beat up sitting here writing this (from my lumbars down to my feet) but I’m good and excited about a new week!
Best of luck in your training,
Chris
Wow – that is a crazy impressive training schedule!
Hi Claire!
Thanks. Yeah there are times when it feels more crazy than impressive 🙂 like right now as I am writing this having gotten up at 4:00 this morning to try and rush to the gym by 5:00 because my Tuesday mornings take close to 2 and half hours, but it seems to be working so far.
Thanks for stopping by and I really loved your latest post!
Looks like you are making good progress on the running. With how beat up you say your legs are feeling, I have two suggestions. 1. Check out Maffetone training for your runs – focus on Zone 2 HR, which will emphasize boosting your aerobic & fat-burning systems without stressing your body as much as higher-intensity runs. You can still get fast doing this – I am nearing 7 minute miles in Zone 2 and elite athletes get under 6 minutes. 2. Your plan for August and September has you constantly building your total mileage for the entire period. Almost any endurance training guide you check out will suggest no more than three weeks of building before taking a rest week to let the legs recover and rebuild. If you are tired now, 6 weeks of increasing mileage will not be pleasant, and maybe not effective.
Jason,
Thanks for stopping by and both of your points are legitimate.
I am definitely not doing my runs at any type of a threshold (anaerobic, lactate or aerobic) intentionally. For me they have been perhaps just slightly faster than easy run pace. I plan on getting them a bit faster (and doing some light tempos here and there just to freshen things up) but definitely plan on staying basically in that aerobic (or even slower sometimes) zone. I don’t plan on running anywhere near a threshold during the race, so I am less inclined to do a lot of training in it. I think the sometimes deadness in my legs has mostly been from running on legs tired from serious leg gym work. This has been intentional (to train them to continue to run when very tired and get them stronger and more resilient) but is for now really tough. My anticipation is that it will get better, but it may never get “great” until I start to taper.
You are right about taking lighter weeks in general. I agree. I plan on doing this with my both my gym work and my running… but I guess I felt my current volume build up for the next 6 weeks is overall so low to what I had been used to that it is mostly just building me up to actually start training. I will see how the next few weeks go though. If I really start to feel it then I will probably have a down week in 3 weeks.
Thanks for the advice! It is sound.
Chris