10 weeks out
Monday was a rest day from running and a chest & shoulders workout at the gym.
Does a runner in a marathon block necessarily need to train upper body? No, probably not. You could argue that, a faster, higher mileage athlete might not benefit from lifting at all during a 12 week block; especially if they haven’t engaged in strength training previously. To derive benefit from lifting (and not excluding practices such as necessary mobility work/pt exercises etc), you have to be able to recover from lifting. If your last build culminated in, say, 65-70 mile weeks, and you’re planing to push to 75-80+ on the next, your recovery will very likely be consumed by those miles. Engaging in progressive, relatively heavy strength training in a fatigued state (incurred from an increase in running volume and intensity) means that you are likely not going to be able to generate the force necessary to elicit the ‘strength’ adaptations you’re seeking. At which point your gym sessions risk serving no purpose other than to make you tired and increase risk of overreaching.
So, should you strength train as an endurance athlete?
Absolutely.
Should you introduce strength training for the first time during a 12 week or less build? Possibly, but volume, intensity and exercise selection must be introduced in a manner that does not detract from your running by way of incurring too much recovery debt and risking injury.
Sorry, that’s probably not very helpful..
Tuesday: 9 miles easy and a back workout at the gym.
Wednesday: Session Day: 12x3 mins at 4:00 per k off 60 sec recovery. Felt great. I know that my risk of injury increases when my cadence slows, so happy to report that my average cadence for the entire session was 188spm
Thursday: As far as I can recall, this was my first ever ‘double’ day. Due to clients, I couldn’t fit my entire 9 mile easy run in. I instead decided to do 4 miles on the treadmill at 7am and then followed up with another 5 easy miles later in the afternoon. Felt surprisingly ok. I think I’m slowly starting to adapt to the higher mileage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still constantly lacking in energy and I say more stupid things than I might normally, but I don’t feel quite as knackered and my body feels physically stronger. Normally I would train legs today but I’m leaving it until tomorrow…
Friday: I really need to stop speaking too soon. 9 miles easy but felt super fatigued on this run. Also, no legs…
Saturday: Never underestimate the power of a burger and fries to combat exercise induced flaccid brain and legs syndrome (FBALS). Last night we went to Tivoli - one of those hideously expensive cinemas where you get your own sofa and have food brought to you whilst you watch a depressing film about the life of a German family who live on the border of Auschwitz. On the drive over we listened to Ben Shapiro’s take on the Israel-Hamas war. The delineation between the life of luxury we in the west live and the horrors that others have endured for centuries is not lost on us. The fact that we seek suffering in the form of running marathons because our lives are, in general, very comfortable, it feels… I’m not sure.
Jordan Peterson recently made the following statement:
“You’re morally obligated to do remarkable things. Why?
Well, partly because life is so difficult and challenging that unless you give it everything you have, the chances are very high that it will embitter you. And then you’ll be a force for darkness. That’s not good. Also, the fact that life is short and can be brutal can terrify you into hiding. But you can flip that on its head and understand that, since you’re all in, you might as well take the adventurous risks. That’s a very good thing to understand.”
I digress.
Saturdays session was GOOD!
60 minute continuous run consisting of 20 minutes at MRP (4:12 per k) 20 minutes at 4:29 per k and then 20 minutes at 4:12 increasing every 5 mins in speed to HMP for the final 5 mins. 1 mile warm up and cooldown = 11 miles for the day
Sunday: Long Run: 18 miles. For whatever reason, I was awake frequently throughout the night with sore lower abs. At least that’s the best way I can describe it. Not a deep pain or evenly particularly when sitting up to get out of bed. Feels like the pain is just below the skin. Made the start of today’s run quite uncomfortable but didn’t hinder me in terms of my ability to move. Didn’t ease off either, but I managed to find my rhythm after a few miles and ended up ticking off an easy run at 5:20 per k with a HR in the 1:30’s (long run has lots of ups and downs). To be honest, I’m happy overall considering this is my longest training week pretty much ever. Straight home and into lounging pants. Nothing but food and coffee for the remainder of the day…
Total Mileage for the week: 67