My Running Workout

Last year I pretty much limped through the finish line of the Salt Lake 1/2 marathon. I registered for the thing in November and started running. I didn't run in December or January. In February, we got a tax refund, I got new Nike+ shoes and the accompanying pedometer sensor. I started running again. In my second week of running, I did 5 miles- more than I had ever run in my life. The 3rd week, I ran 8 miles- again, more than I had ever run in my life. I moseyed through the next week, got sick for a few weeks straight and all of the sudden the 1/2 marathon was a week away. I ran a few times the week of- 2 miles as fast as I could- and went to the race. I was confident because of the drastic success I had early in my training, but also very wary. I paced myself to a very conversational pace and bonked at 9 miles. The remaining 4 miles was walk/jog and extreme pain. I mean pain. My legs and hips were aching and burning all at once. I was miserable.



This year, I registered 11 weeks prior to the day of the race. There's a few reasons:

1) I know that I am a procrastinator, but also that I can turn out impressive work in the short amount of time I leave myself.

2) I really didn't think I could get myself to get running again. It's hard to get up and give myself time to run with everything else going on- the same lame excuse we always give and always hear.

I am in week 2 of running. Last week I ran 3 miles total- 2, 1.5 mile jogs around the block. This week I ran 1.5 miles, 2.2 miles fast, and today, 5 miles. I feel like it's riding a bicycle.

I credit my optimism and success with running to 2 things:

1) A genetic predisposition for endurance. (rather than speed as my football career displayed)

2) A very good workout regimen.

I got my workout online from a site I already lost track of, so I do not take any credit for it's results except those I have made for myself.

The workout consists of running 4 days a week and alternating intensities:

Day 1- Monday- Recovery
The purpose of day 1 is to help your body recover from the last run of the week before. Running easy helps the muscles pump out leftover lactic acid and other substances. It is an easy jog (60% intensity), conversation pace- you can talk freely without gasping for breath- and is timed. To begin 20 minutes is good. I've gotten up to 40 minutes with a focus on speeding up, but still maintaining my breathing.
This is a good out-and-back run: 10 minutes out (my sensor tells me when I'm 1/2 way) and 10 minutes back for a 20 minute run.

Day 2- Tuesday- Rest

Day 3- Wednesday- Fartlek
Funny name, very challenging. Basically, this is where you will alternate intensities. You can time it or use distance. I use time. Example:
35 minute run- 5 minutes @ 60%, 5 minutes 80%, 5 min. 60%, and so on until time is up. This is good overloading work. If there is a good hilly area to run on, that will give you the increased intensity you need without having to time it or anything.

Day 4- Thursday- Intervals
This is the hard day. I find a local track and jog and sprint alternating distances. At first I'll jog turns and sprint straightaways for 1 mile (4 laps). I'll work up to jogging a 1/2 lap and sprinting a 1/2 lap for 1 mile, then 2. After 5 or so weeks, I'll be able to jog one lap, sprint one lap for 4 miles or so.

Day 5- Friday- Rest

Day 6- Saturday- The Big One
Today is race simulation. I am at 5 miles this week. Next week I'll do 6 miles and I'll add 1 mile every week until race week. This is run at race intensity (60-80%), which is entirely up to you. I love the sense of accomplishment this run gives when its over. It usually hurts a bit, but I love a little workout pain.

Day 7- Sunday- Rest

So that's the workout. I try to eat healthy carb stuff throughout the week and within 45 minutes after a workout, I drink a full glass of Chocolate milk- it gives the perfect ratio of protein to carbs for your body to recover energy and build muscle at the same time. Nothing is better for you.

Benefits of Nike+:
Timed or measured workouts using your iPod. You tell it what your goal is: time, distance, whatever. It tells you how far you've gone, how far you have to go, how long you've run, how much longer you have to go, when you've gone half way. After the workout, you plug in the iPod to your computer and let it upload your workout to Nike+.com. On the site, you can set a long-term goal, coordinate goals with other people, have competitions (I'm running for Republicans, Men vs. Women, the State of Utah, and the 25-29 age group right now), but most importantly, you can see all your runs graphed by how fast you were running at each moment, what the mile splits were, your pace, etc. It gives great info. I highly, highly recommend it. And the shoes are the most comfortable I've ever worn.

Good Running!