Texas A & M just won the men's and women's NCAA Div I National Championship for the 3rd straight year. They also had 46 All-Americans in men's and women's track & field. This may be one of the main reasons. Listen to their strength and conditioning coach. She mostly works with sprinters but the rules apply to everyone.
"Hold your posture while applying force to the track."
"If I can apply more force [to the track] over a longer period of time, I am going to win the race."
"Get as strong as humanly possible without getting bigger."
Showing posts with label strength training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strength training. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, January 7, 2010
7 mile slow run 58:00
I haven't felt great all week. Very tired in the morning, a tight left hamstring, and some upper back pain. I have started back to my lunch workout routine and had good workouts on Monday and Wednesday for 20 minutes each. I usually feel better after doing those workouts. They involve band walking, reverse lunges, kettlebell swings, pushups, planks, mountain climbers, side planks, and different variations on all these exercises.
This morning I ran my Quartz Hill hill run which included 3 half mile hills in the second half of the run. My left hamstring gave up on the second one and I took it really easy. I finished the 7 miles in 58 minutes. I hope this hamstring loosens up before the AVC track meet on January 30th or I will not be ready to run on the track.
The Zoom! Yah! Yah! Marathon in Northfield, MN is this Sunday. A marathon in MN in January? Well, they run it at the 282 meter indoor track in the athletic facilities at St. Olaf College (my dad's alma mater). It's only 150 laps, anyone interested? The course record is 2:52:31. Don't ask me how they keep track of laps.
"Nothing hurts more, but is so rewarding at the same time."
--Runner Sandy Zanchi on the Marathon
This morning I ran my Quartz Hill hill run which included 3 half mile hills in the second half of the run. My left hamstring gave up on the second one and I took it really easy. I finished the 7 miles in 58 minutes. I hope this hamstring loosens up before the AVC track meet on January 30th or I will not be ready to run on the track.
The Zoom! Yah! Yah! Marathon in Northfield, MN is this Sunday. A marathon in MN in January? Well, they run it at the 282 meter indoor track in the athletic facilities at St. Olaf College (my dad's alma mater). It's only 150 laps, anyone interested? The course record is 2:52:31. Don't ask me how they keep track of laps.
"Nothing hurts more, but is so rewarding at the same time."
--Runner Sandy Zanchi on the Marathon
Friday, July 31, 2009
65 minute tempo run in Long Beach with new July totals
Clay and I are in Long Beach at the Functional Training Summit. This morning one of the courses I attended was on pediatric (age 6-18) training with an emphasis on childhood obesity. In the morning I attended the "hands on" portion, in which the presenter, Brian Grasso YCS, put us through a high intestiy balance, coordination, and plyometric workout. The first exercise was to lay on your stomach with your eyes closed, then when he said "go" you had to get up and stand on one foot as quickly as possible. That was one of the easier activites, YIKES! In the afternoon I attended a course put on by a PT on training the warrior. He also put us through and hour workout that included 100 pushups, 100 abdominal exercises and 20 lunges! I am going to be sore tomorrow!
So this evening Clay and I drove down to the beach and ran for an hour. We started at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier and ran north. I felt great and didn't have my Garmin but felt like I was cruising at about 7:00 pace, maybe a little faster. I made it to the Queen Mary and turned around. I met Clay up on a grassy area and then took off for a few more miles. I finished the run in 65 minutes and estimate that I ran about 9 miles. That changes my monthly total for July to 135! Pretty good considering that I only ran 25 miles in the middle 12 days of the month.
See Clay's blog for some pictures.
"We only eat food that doesn't have a label." quote from Juan Carlos Santana, CSCS at the seminar
So this evening Clay and I drove down to the beach and ran for an hour. We started at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier and ran north. I felt great and didn't have my Garmin but felt like I was cruising at about 7:00 pace, maybe a little faster. I made it to the Queen Mary and turned around. I met Clay up on a grassy area and then took off for a few more miles. I finished the run in 65 minutes and estimate that I ran about 9 miles. That changes my monthly total for July to 135! Pretty good considering that I only ran 25 miles in the middle 12 days of the month.
See Clay's blog for some pictures.
"We only eat food that doesn't have a label." quote from Juan Carlos Santana, CSCS at the seminar
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
5 miles on treadmill (39:40)
Anticipating wind and rain I got on the treadmill this morning for 5 miles. Man does time go slow on a treadmill. I need a flat panel TV for the wall in front of me. I started with one mile at 7 mph, then one mile at 7.5 mph, and finished the rest at 7.8 mph (7:40 pace) all on a 3% incline.
At work we did our lunch strength training routine and then I went into the parking lot for form drills and short sprints. That is a great time to do form drills. Do an easy run, then some strength and core work. Once you are tired, try and maintain good form on the drills and sprints. I was fatigued by the end of all that!
If you are too tired and not able to maintain decent form this is also a good time to get hurt so be aware of your body's position and do not attempt if too tired.
At work we did our lunch strength training routine and then I went into the parking lot for form drills and short sprints. That is a great time to do form drills. Do an easy run, then some strength and core work. Once you are tired, try and maintain good form on the drills and sprints. I was fatigued by the end of all that!
If you are too tired and not able to maintain decent form this is also a good time to get hurt so be aware of your body's position and do not attempt if too tired.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Half mile hill repeats x4 (total mileage 9)
I postponed my Tuedsay morning run to Wednesday due to lack of sleep Monday night (the boys were up off and on all night). It sure is dark at 5:45am since the time change.
I did the same half mile hill that I have done in the past but this time I did 4 repeats. Started with a 2.5 mile warm up. Recovery was half mile down the hill to the start. My times on the hill were faster 3:30, 3:22, 3:15, 3:15. Ran 2.5 miles home for a total of 9 miles for the morning. Total time was 1:08:14 (Avg pace 7:34).
Today was the first day that I did our circuit workout on the same day as a morning run. I was definitely tired but still got in a good 25 min workout. I will probably be stiff tomorrow. Planned an easy 10 mile Thursday.
Here's and interesting running log from a girl who ran 214 miles in a week while working 20 hours. (Not recommended unless properly trained).
Cool pictures from a cross country ski race in Switzerland.
I did the same half mile hill that I have done in the past but this time I did 4 repeats. Started with a 2.5 mile warm up. Recovery was half mile down the hill to the start. My times on the hill were faster 3:30, 3:22, 3:15, 3:15. Ran 2.5 miles home for a total of 9 miles for the morning. Total time was 1:08:14 (Avg pace 7:34).
Today was the first day that I did our circuit workout on the same day as a morning run. I was definitely tired but still got in a good 25 min workout. I will probably be stiff tomorrow. Planned an easy 10 mile Thursday.
Here's and interesting running log from a girl who ran 214 miles in a week while working 20 hours. (Not recommended unless properly trained).
Cool pictures from a cross country ski race in Switzerland.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
10k easy run (47:39) WINDY / Karl's take on strength training for runners
It was another windy day in the Antelope Valley (AV). I got out just before it started to get REALLY bad. I wanted to try and keep around 7:40-7:50 pace which is what I want to run my first 12 in tomorrow. I ran mostly north and south which gave me a cross wind most of the way but my splits were all over the place. I won't even mention them. It will be hard to hold back a little for 12 miles as the pace felt pretty easy.
My average pace was 7:40.
For those of you that did not see the article in the AV Press on the running clinic that Clay and I put on in February, you can read the article at Clark's Blog. Take it with a grain of salt, things were taken out of context and we were slightly misquoted.
The NY Times recently posted two articles that are directly related to the topics we discussed at the clinic and are an interesting read.
Can Weight Training Make You A Better Runner?
Can Stretching Prevent Soreness And Injury?
A research team from the Human Performance Laboratory at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, is gathering information about the strength-training habits of regular runners. You can help. Just take their simple survey here:
I have done resistance training before but rarely lifted legs until recently (last October) when I joined Clay in evolving a circuit training, or super sets, workout at our lunch break to complement our running. I think runners don't strength train their legs, number one, because it makes them so sore that they cannot run for a few days, and number two they think they will gain weight and it will slow them down.
The strength training that we do is a complete body workout with an emphasis on core training, hip and knee stability, and dynamic lifting. It is a complete body workout. Currently it takes us 20-25 minutes to complete, and there is very little rest.
When I first started the program I was sore for a few days after each workout. Now I have no problem running the next day, and we complete the work out 2-3 times per week. The strength training, I believe, has allowed me to increase my mileage quicker without injury. It has also allowed me to POWER up the hills I run stronger and with better form.
Many elite runners are doing similar types of core training. I believe, and it has been proven in many articles, that strength training for runners can be very beneficial. It can even be more beneficial than adding miles just for the sake of adding miles.
Read also Paradigm Shift in Training Endurance Athletes.
Currently our workout is as follows:
3 laps of the gym side stepping with resistive band
2x25 reverse lunges each leg
30x alternating arm swings kettlebell squat
2x15 kettlebell bent over rows each arm
2x15 Bosu ball pushups (or to failure)
2x10 Bosu ball planks with leg extension
5x each, side planks with rotation into plank and back
15x each side kettlebell figure eights
30x double arm swings kettlebell squats
2x25 reverse lunges each leg
3 laps of zombie walk with resistive band
We get all this done in 20 minutes!
It is the equivalent effort of running an all out 5k.
The workout is always evolving. Occasionally we add a new exercise such as dips or other variations of plank exercise. We only started using the Bosu ball about 2 months ago. I will begin posting a weekly video of one of our exercises this week.
I do not recommend starting any of the kettlebell exercises without proper instruction. Some of the plank exercises are also very advanced.
A final note: Running alone does not make us stronger. Even running hills, which runners have thought for many years is their strength training, does not make one stronger. Running more and more miles trains our neuromuscular system to become more efficient at one thing, running. Our body will adapt for any weaknesses or imbalances we might have, and with enough stress will lead to injury.
My average pace was 7:40.
For those of you that did not see the article in the AV Press on the running clinic that Clay and I put on in February, you can read the article at Clark's Blog. Take it with a grain of salt, things were taken out of context and we were slightly misquoted.
The NY Times recently posted two articles that are directly related to the topics we discussed at the clinic and are an interesting read.
Can Weight Training Make You A Better Runner?
Can Stretching Prevent Soreness And Injury?
A research team from the Human Performance Laboratory at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, is gathering information about the strength-training habits of regular runners. You can help. Just take their simple survey here:
I have done resistance training before but rarely lifted legs until recently (last October) when I joined Clay in evolving a circuit training, or super sets, workout at our lunch break to complement our running. I think runners don't strength train their legs, number one, because it makes them so sore that they cannot run for a few days, and number two they think they will gain weight and it will slow them down.
The strength training that we do is a complete body workout with an emphasis on core training, hip and knee stability, and dynamic lifting. It is a complete body workout. Currently it takes us 20-25 minutes to complete, and there is very little rest.
When I first started the program I was sore for a few days after each workout. Now I have no problem running the next day, and we complete the work out 2-3 times per week. The strength training, I believe, has allowed me to increase my mileage quicker without injury. It has also allowed me to POWER up the hills I run stronger and with better form.
Many elite runners are doing similar types of core training. I believe, and it has been proven in many articles, that strength training for runners can be very beneficial. It can even be more beneficial than adding miles just for the sake of adding miles.
Read also Paradigm Shift in Training Endurance Athletes.
Currently our workout is as follows:
3 laps of the gym side stepping with resistive band
2x25 reverse lunges each leg
30x alternating arm swings kettlebell squat
2x15 kettlebell bent over rows each arm
2x15 Bosu ball pushups (or to failure)
2x10 Bosu ball planks with leg extension
5x each, side planks with rotation into plank and back
15x each side kettlebell figure eights
30x double arm swings kettlebell squats
2x25 reverse lunges each leg
3 laps of zombie walk with resistive band
We get all this done in 20 minutes!
It is the equivalent effort of running an all out 5k.
The workout is always evolving. Occasionally we add a new exercise such as dips or other variations of plank exercise. We only started using the Bosu ball about 2 months ago. I will begin posting a weekly video of one of our exercises this week.
I do not recommend starting any of the kettlebell exercises without proper instruction. Some of the plank exercises are also very advanced.
A final note: Running alone does not make us stronger. Even running hills, which runners have thought for many years is their strength training, does not make one stronger. Running more and more miles trains our neuromuscular system to become more efficient at one thing, running. Our body will adapt for any weaknesses or imbalances we might have, and with enough stress will lead to injury.
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