Ultra/Marathon training (26/02/18 – 04/03/18)

Broken treadmill + crazy weather = one really crappy week when it came to running!

Only managed to get out for one run this week, managed a few kettlebell workouts and lots of snow shovelling though to keep me from going crazy and try to keep my fitness levels up!

Monday:

So this turned out to be my one and only run of the week! My “go to” 7.5 km loop. My legs were heavy from the start, I don’t know if it was from the two back to back long runs Saturday and Sunday… or the extra layers I was wearing due to it being -4 out! (You know it’s cold when your considering taking a post run ice bath just to warm up!)

Anyway between the tired legs and horrible conditions tonight’s run was a right old struggle! On the plus side really happy with my new Silva Ninox 2 head torch though! First time I’ve used it, definitely made running at night a bit easier!

Tuesday:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!! If I knew how bad the weather would be for the rest of the week I really would have run tonight! But instead I ignored the weather warnings and listened to my body! Yesterday’s run was hard enough, my legs needed a break, so I decided to take one!

Wednesday:

So it’s snowing! It’ll be ok though, I’m sure it won’t come to anything and I can still run after work… well that’s what I thought till I got home from work and it was still snowing! No run today!!

Thursday:

Snow day!!! And no chance am I going running in that. So I thought I’d make the most of my day off and fix my treadmill! At no point would I ever confess to being a handy man… changing a light bulb is probably the extent of my DIY skills, but after 20 minutes tinkling I had my treadmill working again… well at least so I thought. Two minutes into my planned 10k run the treadmill came to a grinding halt again. So another run missed I decided to get the Kettlebells out! 21-15-9 reps of burpees and kettlebell swings… followed by some one hand swings and Turkish get ups! Nice little workout!

Friday:

So it’s still snowing! So another day without running and another day of kettlebells! Today’s workout was:

50 kettlebell swings – 10 sit ups

40 kettlebell swings – 20 sit ups

30 kettlebell swings – 30 sit ups

20 kettlebell swings – 40 sit ups

10 kettlebell swings – 50 sit ups

Although I’m slightly gutted the bad weather is stopping me running I’m a huge fan of kettlebell training. I feel it has a huge benefits for my running. Not only does it improve strength (especially in the hips and hamstrings) it’s a great conditioning tool too, I managed to get my heart rate as high as 193 bpm in today’s workout.

Saturday:

Today’s long run was replaced with a long dig, three hours of shovelling snow… with some of the drifts over a meter high it turned in a half decent workout, worked up a good sweat and my heart rate reaching over 160 bpm! Plus it’s nice to do something good for the community!

Sunday:

The day after a long run my legs ache… the day after hours of shovelling snow, EVERYTHING ACHES! Oh my god I’m in a world of pain today! From my back and abs to the tips of my fingers everything is aching! Really hoping the roads will be clear enough tomorrow so I can run! Really had enough of this snow!!!!