Uncategorized / January 27, 2020

big sur marathon training: week 4 workouts (a down week!) + 4 playful band-assisted unilateral yoga stretches

Successful week slicing 20% of my previous weekly mileage. I wrote about down weeks previously and strongly advocate for them during marathon training. In short, down weeks prevent mental burnout as well as physical overload, both of which can short-circuit a regular program in a flash. 33 miles down and many, many more to go.

On the Causeway Sunday, I played around with modifications of a few old favorite yoga postures that I don’t practice as often anymore. The resistance band, or a yoga strap if you have one, is a fantastic tool to build confidence in balanced unilateral poses. I often teach single-leg poses to my students to help bring evenness to the body. Most running injuries occur due to some instability on one side of the kinetic chain (if you’re really unlucky, both sides); hence, taking a few moments to work left and right individually amalgamates to a happier whole.

Tell me which pose you’d like to try first!

Monday, 1/20: 3.69 miles, 9:29 pace + 35 min strength

The temperature sunk from 60 to 40 in about two hours early this morning, but climbed up to a wonderful 56 or so by the time I returned home from work and started my session. Easy miles that felt relaxed and a good functional gym workout to top off the day. I derived my workout from last week’s leg day yoga exercises and focused a good deal on unilateral balance and stability:

3 x 12 Warrior 3 Knee-Ups
3 x 12 hammer curls
10/12/15 Yogi Squats
3 x 12 reverse flies
3 x 10 Warrior Hinges
3 x 8 single-leg dumbbell row
6 x 8 single leg jump
5 min cooldown stretch

Tuesday, 1/21: 7.96 miles, 8:49 pace – Yasso 800s

My first dive into this unique speedwork opportunity that converts marathon goal time into the same digits, but in minutes and seconds. Since I am shooting for a 3:55-4:00 marathon, I set my goal for 800m (1/2 mile) intervals to range from 3:55-4:00 (7:50-8:00 pace). After a 2.1 mile warmup with strides, I performed 6 x 800m and nailed my goal quite handily: 3:57, 3:54, 3:54, 3:54, 3:57, 3:54, or 7:48-7:54 paces. We had ideal conditions this day so the ease with which I completed this workout likely had such to thank, but I’ll take it. Eventually I’ll work up to 10 intervals as my fitness progresses.

I used Garmin’s pace tracking feature to keep myself honest, and I quite liked using it despite my worries of becoming annoyed by its reminders. I don’t want to depend on it for even pacing, but as I figure out how my body feels with any given range of speeds, it’s a useful tool for faster sessions.

Wednesday, 1/22: 1,700 yard swim (41:26)

For several weeks now I yearned for the pool, but my complex one isn’t heated and I wasn’t sure where to go that wouldn’t cost me a good amount of money. I did not want to slog away indoors today with the rare wintry conditions we had upon us, though, so I did some research and found out that the public pool about 10 minutes away has a drop-in price. Hence, I opted for a water workout despite the 46 degree and windy weather! The pool sits upon a roof overlooking a yacht basin and some of the cute architecture nearby, and I am so grateful I shunned the gym for an outdoor session. I swam 400 yards straight freestyle, then alternated 25 breaststroke/25 free for 400 yards, 100 free/50 breast for 400 yards, and 25 breast/25 free for 300 yards before a casual and unorganized 200 yard cooldown alternating the two strokes. I’m surprised I didn’t lose too much aquatic endurance over my five month hiatus, and I even got a brief run in hauling from the pool to my warm bathrobe.

Thursday, 1/23: 11.01 miles, 9:16 pace – steady state

I woke up later than I wanted for this workout and hence rushed a bit to get out the door: my sole fueling was a scoop of lemon lime Skratch in water. I managed the paces I was hoping for but they felt harder than warranted. Four mile warmup followed by 40 minutes steady state running, or about 4.6 miles today. 8:55, 8:43, 8:51, and 8:24 were the splits with 8:21 average for the final .6. I ranged in any given mile from 8:10-9:10. Not wholly unhappy with the workout but I DEFINITELY need to be more conscious of eating something before these harder runs.

Friday, 1/24: 4.39 miles, 9:55 pace + 25 min strength

Foggy recovery run I quite enjoyed, immediately followed with a short gym session. I initially thought to go back to the weight room later in the day, but figured I 100% would not do my workout if I tried such a maneuver. Circuit-like configuration today:

3 x 15 bench dips
50 clamshells/side
16 weighted jump lunges
3 x 15 weighted donkey kicks
50 clamshells/side
16 jump lunges
3 x 12 single leg bridge
50 clamshells/side
16 jump lunges
5 min cooldown stretch

Saturday, 1/25: 40 min treadmill walk + ITBS band work

Usual recovery day tasks: 3.8-4 mph with some gentle hills, and some PT moves to help my leg. 3 x 20 lateral band walks with 3 jumps every 10 steps, 3 x 20 bridge with abduction, and 3 x 20 supine hip flexions.

Sunday, 1/26: 6.72 miles, 8:56 pace

Can’t neglect downhill training when facing undulations in terrain. Tallahassee Half Marathon on Sunday, as well as Big Sur, contain both ups and downs, so today I focused on good form and relaxed posture while speeding on a bridge decline. I performed 10 x :20 reps with :40-:60 recovery. Hope my quads don’t hate me forever after those.

Total Mileage: 33.77

Cut down my mileage by about 20% from last week and, though the reduction felt nice, I’m ready to continue building for the big day!

Band-Assisted Yoga Postures

Cues for thought:

Use strength of arms, legs, and core for balance. Keep out of the low back
Keep soft bend in knee or knees, never hyperextend
Smooth tension in the jaw and forehead – no need to carry weight where it isn’t needed
Breathe!