posted on August 30, 2019
I’m finishing this month STRONG in my training.
My long runs have been getting progressively longer, and taking up a ton more time. I’ve been so grateful to some of our newer Cardio Lab instructors – Rachael, Steph, and Cayt – for stepping into our popular Saturday morning slot. Having that time means I get out a little earlier and don’t deal with as much of the August heat.
My long run focus recently has been SLOWING DOWN. I’ve consistently been doing them a little too fast, closer to my hopeful marathon race pace than they should be. This past Saturday, I did my first half-marathon distance of the year, and the goal was the have it be my slowest half-marathon ever. I managed it and combined with some of the physical therapy movements I’ve been implementing before runs, I came back with no joint pain! I spent the rest of the weekend recovering and started this week feeling excellent.
My strength training has been going smoothly too (I count my blessings daily). I’m running a Triphasic program right now for my squat and bench. Triphasic as I’m talking about it basically breaks down to a three-stage program (see?): a period of time working on the eccentric portion of a lift (like the descent of a squat), then a period of time working on the isometric portion (in the hole of a squat), and finally a period working on the concentric portion (the part where you go up as powerfully as you can).
Eccentrics beat you up pretty good, so I knew my running might take a hit during that phase, which was most of August. My upper body felt strong, but my legs did feel fatigued on my interval days. Again, this was planned for and expected, so no worries there.
This week I’m entering into the isometric phase, which is my FAVORITE. I love paused variations. It’s Tuesday, I just finished a looooot of paused squatting, and know that my legs are going to feel fresher for intervals tonight than they have in the past several weeks. I’m pumped.
Here’s a peek at that workout, and some footage for good measure!
1a. Paused Comp Style Squat, work up to 5×5 @ 205 (around 75% of my training max)
1b. Medball slam, 5×5
2a. Paused Front Squat, work up to a tough set of 5 (155)
2b. Seated Jumps, 3 reps after every set of front squats
3a. Fatbell Reverse Lunges, 3×8 per with 35s, front racked
3b. Banded Fatbell RDLs, 3×12 with 35s, orange band
4a. Stability Ball Hamstring Complex, 2×10 per variation
4b. Banded Monster Walk and Side Steps, 2 rounds each
5a. Slow Eccentric Step Downs, 2×8 per leg
5b. Ab Wheel Rollout, 2×10
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