Training Log Archive: stiands

Treadmill run in the gym. Foam rolled and then did 20 squats, lunge matrix and the leg swings, plus 60 seconds of high knees, butt kicks, A-skip, hamstring extensions, grapevines and bounding prior to the run. Also stretched for about five minutes after the leg swings.

Legs felt fine. Surprised that the drills and warm-up exercises don't seem to fatigue me more, considering I haven't done them much before. I was breathing normally and time passed by surprisingly quickly on the treadmill today. Sipped some sports drink half way into the run, even though I wasn't breaking a sweat. The temperature at my gym is very good compared to other gyms I've been at.

Looking forward to doing a proper long run tomorrow.

Post massage session. I'm going to get massaged at least once a week from now on, and Fridays seems like a good day to get it done.

Foam rolled a bit before I did the entire drills/warm-up routine. Started out with 10 squats, the lunge matrix (5 lunges on each foot, 40 lunges in total) and the leg swings. I then put on shoes and went outside. Did 15 seconds of high knees, butt kicks, a-skip, hamstring extensions, grapevines (15 seconds each side) and bounding. I'm familiar with all the exercises from football, which was nice. I did some light stretching of the front and inner thighs and went running.

I ran with my mate, who's also my massage therapist. It was cold, about 2 degrees Celsius, but the weather was nice when we started out. We ran pretty much the same route as I did Tuesday and Wednesday. After a while, it started snowing, but it wasn't slippery.

I thought I'd feel last night's S&C session more than I did, but I wasn't sore at all. My legs felt pretty good, in spite of coming straight off the massage bed. It was nice to have company as well, especially when the weather turned for the worse.

Ran to the gym. Sleet on the roads, and it was hailing. Had proper footing though, as the roads were more wet than anything else.

Dressed up like it was winter. Did a proper warm up with my foam roller and some dynamic stretching, which helped as well.

My legs felt nice and so did the rest of my body. It's been a pretty rough week at school, but it hasn't affected my body it seems. Although the weather was terrible, I had a pretty good time on the run.

I did two sets of:
- Plank series on swiss ball
- Mtn climbers on swiss ball
- Hamstring curls on swiss ball
- Ball passes with swiss ball
- Swiss ball torso twist
- Side plank, knee to chest
- Reversed clam shells

I did them in that order as well.

For the plank series I did them exactly as Shalane Flanagan did, that is 10 reps of every variant. I then did 15 hamstring curls with two legs, before I did 20 Mtn climbers, ten on each foot. On the second set, I did 24 reps, because I lost count. I did 7 ball passes, 30 torso twists, 15 repetitions of the side plank and 15 clam shells.

The first four exercises were definitely the hardest. The plank series and mtn climbers had my core burning. The hamstring curls were brutal. I definitely have a lot of work to do with them and it's no wonder they cramped up during my marathon. For the ball passes, they are pretty tough. I only did 7 because my thigh started hurting a bit. It might just be a little tight or just weak.

I quickly got the hang of the torso twists and side plank. The side plank exercise is pretty though, so it definitely helped that I have done a lot of these (another variant, but pretty much the same) earlier. I definitely like the reversed clam shell. It definitely felt harder than the regular ones.

All in all it was a solid workout. It felt like these were tougher than the ones I did on Tuesday. Looking forward to trying a complete session with all of them next week.

The swiss ball was of standard size, same as I have got at home.

Ran the same route as yesterday, but added on a kilometer on the roads. A bit warmer than yesterday, but I was still using wind resistant pants and a waterproof jacket. It started pouring down a couple of minutes into the run, but at least it wasn't windy.

This is the first day that I don't feel the marathon lingering in my body. I was a little sore in my glutes from the glute bridge, but that was to be expected. Except for that, I felt fresh.

Spent some time warming up, foam rolling and doing some dynamic stretching.

After I got out of the shower, I ate a wonderful sweet potato stew. It had a beautiful orange color - perfectly suited for dark autumn nights.

Easy run on a hilly, gravel road that I probably run most of my easy mileage on. About 5 degrees Celsius and rain was pouring down. Dressed for the occasion and never froze.

Legs felt fine, better than yesterday at least. Still a little bit sore in my right quad for some reason, but less apparent than yesterday.

Spirits were high in spite of the conditions. The snow covering the mountains surrounding me and the fallen leaves on my feet makes for a poetic landscape.

For my first S&C workout, I did the workouts that required no equipment (for no reason, but it made sense as there were 6 of these and there were 12 in total):
- Clams
- Push-ups
- Sit-ups
- Single leg glute bridge
- Runner touch
- The Jane Fonda

I was going to do two sets as you said, but did the first set really slow while dialing in the technique with my dad who watched the videos with me. I've done all of these workouts previously, but I could tell it was a long time since I did a proper strength session. It felt rusty.

The Clams and the Jane Fonda were probably the easiest. I've done these a lot in the past. I'll probably be a little sore tomorrow. I did 20 reps each of these.

Push-ups and sit-ups were not as easy, in spite of being basic workouts I've done a bunch previously. I even did a month of focusing on push-ups in 2016 when I was still playing football. The first day of the month, I tried doing as many as I could. I collapsed after 35 repetitions. The final day of the month I did 100 reps. Today, I only managed 20 before I really started feeling fatigue. I did 20 sit-ups as well. It didn't feel like I could go on forever, but those 20 were ok. I'll probably feel my core burning tomorrow though.

I'm really glad you've assigned me to do a glute bridge workout and the Runner touch. I've got a lot of work to do here. I did 10 reps on each foot. Focused on doing it properly, so I probably did them more on the slower side than too fast.

First snow of the autumn, so I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. Eased into 12 km / h (5 min / km) pace and held it there. Heart rate was fine and I was breathing normally.

I was surprised when my right hamstring and quad felt a little sore. It went away after 20 minutes approximately, but I spent another 20 minutes after the run stretching so that it's better tomorrow. Going to get massaged on Friday, for the first time after the marathon. I hope that'll get me back to 100%.

Had a running nose this weekend, but that also felt fine. Running inside at a hot and humid gym probably helped.

Usually, treadmill runs are boring and feel like slogs. Today was different though. Maybe because it felt like Day 1 and I'm really motivated to start a new training block.