Week 2 - March 14th thru 20th
Monday 14th Easy/Light Run 30 minutes
Include 4 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run
Tuesday 15th No Run - Cross Training Day
Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:
Warm Up 10 minutes on the Stationary Bike - THEN
Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga
Cool Down 5-10 minutes on Stationary Bike
Wednesday 16th Light Fartlek Workout
Warm Up 10 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides
5 x 2 min controlled with 2 min easy
Then 4 x 75 sec steady/hard with 60 sec easy
Take 2 min Easy between Sets
Cool Down 10 minutes
Thursday 17th Easy Recovery Run 30 minutes
Friday 18th No Run - Cross Training Day
Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:
Warm Up 10 minutes on the Stationary Bike - THEN
Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga
Cool Down 5-10 minutes on Stationary Bike
Saturday 19th Easy Longer Run 45-50 minutes
Relaxed Effort-Pace
Sunday 20th No Run - Rest Day
Easy/Light/Recovery Run - Conversational Pace/Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort
Fartlek/Tempo - Run between 65-85% effort of Max
Coach's Notes
You'll Notice I have given you the Option to Cross Train on Tue/Fri. Read these notes below to make sure you are not overdoing it.
Runners Cross-Train to prevent injuries, so it's ironic, to get injured while cross-training. Pilates and Alternative forms of exercise can improve your fitness, prevent and re-habilitate injuries, promote recovery, and revive a stale routine. The trick is to approach them as a Runner.
Runners have their obvious strengths: power, endurance, tenacity, however, within those strengths lies the potential for weakness: quads that overpower the hamstrings, neglected upper bodies, and poor flexibility - qualities that could lead to problems. Understanding the 3 most common problems runners experience will help you cross-train safely and benefit you without incident.
Weak Hamstrings - quads are larger and have more muscle than hamstrings, so generate more power. Running increases this imbalance because it's such a quad-dominated activity. You cannot expect to get your hamstrings to 100 percent of the strength of your quads, so work to do 50 percent of what the quads do.
Weak Upper Body - a strong upper body helps process oxygen more efficiently, which allows you to run faster with less effort. Adding upper-body work to your routine will also help maintain form in the later stages of a race when it deteriorates. Runners new to strength training tend to get injured either from lifting too much or lifting with incorrect posture. Lift at 50-75 percent of your max weight and try do your exercises in front of a mirror to keep proper form.
Tight Legs - yoga and pilates build core strength, mental focus, balance, and flexibility. However, in an attempt to loosen ones hamstrings, calves, and hips, one may push too far and end up with a strained muscle or joint. Start with a Beginners Class and build from that.
Cross Training can BENEFIT your Running!!!