PM: 11 miles easy, 6 x :10 hill sprints, gym
Time to get back on the wagon. After a busy month of work, travel and general self-imposed stress and insanity, I'm now ready to start getting back to the little activities I've been neglecting. This includes both getting to the gym for core work and drills, as well as short hill sprints. With a big XC race coming up, the short hill sprints are critical right now, and I've been putting them off for too long.
My body was just starting to respond to them well when I had to push them by the wayside for a few weeks, but they go a long way in building efficiency and legspeed (or so I've read--Brad Hudson loves him some hill sprints, for example, and so did Arthur Lydiard).
I even ambled my way to the gym a couple of hours after the run: core, 3 x max. pull ups, 3 x max. push ups, 2 x max. dips, heel walks, mirror runs, toe-up hops, and burpies.
We still have unreal cold here in DC. I've never seen Rock Creek frozen all the way across, but during my run today, the ice was so thick in some places that dogs were freely running across from bank to bank. I stopped to try the ol' "heave a big log or rock on the ice to see how thick it is" trick, and the impact on the ice split the log in half without denting the ice. That means that not only is it cold right now, but it also certainly got cold in a hurry.
3 comments:
Lydiard "hill bounding" is interesting but he has a very complex and rigid method he prescribes including how you should run back down the hill. What are toe-up hops and mirror runs?
Yeah, as far as that part of Lydiard goes, I don't agree with him as much. It's more that short hill reps = good.
Toe-up hops would be easier to show you in person, but you basically act like you're jumping on a pogo stick, then lifting your toes high in the air on the way up.
Mirror runs are more straightforward. Take a two- or three-pound weight in each hand, and, standing with one leg forward and body leaning slightly forward, drive your arms as fast as you can while holding the weights, like you're kicking at the end of a race. After a minute, switch legs and go for another minute.
You do mirror runs in front of a mirror to monitor your form, making sure your shoulders, etc. stay relaxed. So the point of all of this is to build some fatigue resistance in your arms while teaching you to hold form and stay relaxed in your upper body when tired.
What are burpies?
Slurpees made of beer?
Sweet pic of the Oregon Trail. I loved killing all the buffalo, only being able to carry 200lb of meat and then starving later cause I killed them all.
Cause I'm American, that's what we do.
Post a Comment