Heyup, superstars!!!
How is it all going? Did you have fun squatting last week? How are you finding the longer runs? Tell us all about it in the comments 😊😊😊
See the pinned INFO POST for all the Magic Running Plan details, useful links, and the list of Magic VRBs 😊
healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...
💥 THIS WEEK’S RUNS WILL BE:
Distance runs (to be completed in any length of time, and in any order you wish)
★ 3.5 km
★ 5 km
★ 7 km
Timed runs (for those not yet ready to do the distances in the 10k Plan. Can be run in any order)
★ 15 minutes
★ 30 minutes
★ 44 minutes
Please make sure you are warm before exercising - have a 5 minute+ brisk walk before you begin your run, and if you are going to try some faster intervals within the run ideally you should have been jogging for at least 5 minutes before you start them. After your run is over, finish off with a nice, reflective, cool-down walk.
💥 Here's a slightly older video from Ju-Ju (she's not actually in Spain at the moment), where she talks about a cool strategy for tackling longer runs:
💥 THIS WEEK’S OPTIONAL STRENGTH EXERCISE IS BRIDGES!!!
Bridges are a great exercise for the gluteals, hamstrings, and lower back! And you get a bit of a lie-down while you're doing it - winner 😄
★ Here is my information about bridges - I have concentrated on elevated bridges (with feet up on the sofa) as they will give you the best bang for your buck (or butt), but feel free to keep your feet to the floor if that works better for you!
drive.google.com/file/d/1kl...
★ As previously, do your exercises up to three times a week - I suggest straight after your run when your muscles are still warm, and then everything is done and dusted for the rest of the day 😊 But if you feel too tired after your run to do that, by all means do your exercises later, or on a non-running day!
★ Do up to 20 bridges
★ After your bridges, slowly and gently gently lower your spine to the floor. Bring your knees toward your chest, hug them with both arms, rounding your back. Relax and gently rock side to side for 30 seconds or longer - feel good!
★ ALTERNATIVELY: now there are a few strength exercises to do, you may like to start thinking about putting them all together into a workout. It may be better to do these on a non-running day, once or twice a week. Do a quick warm-up first - an nice simple one is just to march on the spot for a minute, lifting your knees high and swinging your arms strongly. Then work your way through each exercise, and repeat if you feel ready (take a few minutes break first).
💥 HILL RUNNING!!!!
A few of you have been talking about hill running as a useful addition to the plan - and I cannot agree more! Hill work is fabulous for improving your strength, stamina, and running form. Running uphill vs downhill changes the load on different parts of the body, for example you will feel your hamstrings (back of the thighs) working much harder going uphill, whereas on the way back down your quadriceps (front of the thighs) really come into play.
I thought that this week I'd share some ideas about incorporating hills into your runs.
★ Of course you can choose to take some (or all!) of your runs on hills. You may even have no choice 😊 You may well find that you will run out of breath going uphill and eventually need to walk, but these walk breaks will reduce as you gain fitness. A good idea to help push yourself to run further is to pick a landmark up ahead and promise yourself a break when you get there. You may find that when you do get there you can pick another landmark and keep running further!
★ Another great thing to try is 'hill intervals' or 'hill repeats'. At their simplest, all you need is a short uphill stretch, which you can run up, then walk or jog back down - and repeat.
Here is an article about hill intervals which is useful because it goes into some detail about gradients.
HOWEVER PLEASE DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THE SPECIFIC GRADIENT OF A HILL - PICK ONE THAT FEELS REASONABLY STEEP 😊😊😊
In summary I suggest you begin with:
- One or two 8-second sprints up a hill which feels reasonably steep to you!
- Walk back down the hill and wait until you feel fully recovered before going up again
- Increase the number and/or length of intervals as you feel ready
runnersconnect.net/sprint-t...
Here is another article with some more advanced suggestions:
runnersworld.com/training/a...
★ If you don't live near any hills you can use stairs instead for an excellent workout!
★ Enjoy your hill runs! To my mind there's nothing like getting to the top of a hill, enjoying the view, and then having a blast running down again 😊😊😊
★ Speaking of DOWNHILL RUNNING! You can Google for and find much advice about how best to run downhill. I admit I am not the bravest going downhill on technical terrain (working on it!), but my tips would be: Keep glancing down to check where you're stepping, but try to face up and forwards as much as possible, keeping a nice relaxed upright posture; make aeroplane arms to help with balance!; be a little bold with your strides - small steps are necessary if it's really steep, but otherwise try and keep it much the same as on the flat, otherwise your quads will suffer!
Enjoy your running this week, and remember to treat yourself!!!
roseabi xx
September 9th, 2019
Last week's post: healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...