Hello runners. How are you? More specifically, how’s your strength training?
Many of you have signed up for our big HU event on 27th April. And if you haven't, then why not? healthunlocked.com/marathon...
How’s it all going? Are you doing any strength work to help you along the way towards your chosen target distance? Perhaps you are aiming for a longer distance than you have run previously and you have started some strength training to support your runs. If so, tell us what’s working for you.
I think that, as we get older, any strength work is beneficial for us all, but as a runner I am aware that I need to do even more to help keep the dreaded niggles away! I’ve found that on just two sessions a week I can run my HM races feeling strong and niggle-free at the end. Definitely a bonus!
I use weights, balls and resistance bands and have a good little routine for upper and lower body. I’ve recently added two more moves for my TFL because I’ve had some tightness in this area and these exercises appear to be working 👍 so I’ll keep at it. These are my favourite moves at the minute 😊
Have you got a favourite exercise? I guess it might depend on what our weak areas are. Mine are knees and lower back so my strength training focuses on these spots.
Whatever you’re doing this coming week, running or not, strength training or not, we hope you have a good one.
From your team, linda9389 , Beachcomber66 and me xxx
I'm on week 3 of a marathon plan & I've completed all 5 runs each week & none of my two strength sessions. Oops. In my defence, my new gym area in our new house is still covered with move rubbish. I'm going to do a kettlebell routine. Promise 🤣
I ran my 1250th run today since completing C25K, so I know the running habit is established. Strength is still very much a work in progress.
Gorgeous photo as usual RW 😍 You have just moved so have an excuse but having said that, I do think that moving house is a workout in itself! Think of all those unpacking boxes and moving things into their new home 💪
That’s great mileage! I think it’s fair to say that you have established a routine now 😂
Your training for last year’s marathon will have taught you a lot RW; I suspect that you could teach me a lot! Lifting all of the stuff out of gym area would be good cross training 👍😂
Haha. But then if your meileage warrants the calories….
I’m not a pie lover generally but I had a yummy beef and ale pie on Friday night when we went out. I had done a long run that day and was ravenous and it blinked at me from the menu so reckoned I earned it 😋
Hmm. We have both lost a lot of weight over the last year; prediabetic test results to blame! There is only 10st 4lbs of me now, so the odd pie shouldn’t hurt! Got to have something nice to tuck into.👍 today’s run used up 1335 calories!
Hi Irishprincess and all VRBS Oooh might try those exercises. I'm on a "get fit campaign " as Kenny left yesterday for London and his daughters operation this week! 🤞 so have house to myself for an extended period and was going to try some workouts.
Running wise had good week despite sore IT band , but managed to book at short notice with my massage lady last Saturday (last one was June apparently!!) She said everything was v tight .
But did my 1st night time trail in a while which was nearly 7 miles Weds eve, then a chatty parkrun with an old friend, then 5.5 miles yesterday with Sunday run group ! 😁
Looking after Dad still taking up a fair amount of time but have a carer and my sister to share with luckily .
Hi IP and pals. I never used to do any strength training, but as I’ve said before I started a circuits class on Wednesday mornings a few months ago and ended up loving it. That, plus some low key exercises at the gym, I’m pretty sure enabled me to complete my HM a couple of weekends ago, especially as my running miles were tiny compared to normal over the winter. 🙏
Last week I did nothing except yoga however. Lots of reasons, all broadly unavoidable, but I excused myself with the HM achieved! 😇
This past weekend we’ve had the grandsons. Oh holy mackerel how did I manage with 3 little kids of my own 30 odd years ago? I’m back at work this morning for a break! 😂 Full on, but tons of fun of course. I also had a choir concert, so my energy levels today are zero! 😴 One more night’s stay before mummy and daddy return tomorrow evening, and I’ll go to circuits on Wednesday morning for another rest! 😂
The key is in the 30 odd years ago 🤣 20 odd years ago I had 4 grandchildren under 5, and they spent loads of time at my house, even in my late 40's I was exhausted at the end of the day, full time working and a few miles in the evening on my treadmill..... absolutely bonkers 🤣🤣🤣, but oh my aren't grands special?
Absolutely SueAppleRun , they’re such fun and a constant source of amusement! They were my little groupies at the concert yesterday. I was aware of lots of whoops and cheers! ❤️
That's absolutely precious, and it's something that never goes away, I swim with my 20 yr old grandson and my 22 yr old granddaughter can't wait for uni to finish next week so she can come home and we can run, jump, skip and play on the beach 😁
Just out of interest why aren't your arms free when brushing your teeth? And why do you need them for squats? I built up from.10 a day while teeth brushing to 10 here and there throughout the day, I did a challenge with a colleague once and we both did 100; squats.....very boring, 20 is my limit, then I get bored
I made a micro-gym out of the garden shed, got a concept 2 rower and a Wattbike that I use for cross training. Not sure if either count as strength training, although the rower finds my weak core pretty quickly 😝
I’ve also been given an iso bench, but struggling to get to grips with it (need more time)
Hi IP. I am determined to write this response before crashing out. It was long run day and the NRC Marathon Programme said 20k. Early in the run I decided that I was going to test myself out with a full HM. The 20k run wouldn’t load anyway, so I found a good HM one. Only 34/35 days to my Metric Marathon attempt so I saw this as a gap analysis!
The weather was warm, with a bit of a chill in the wind, so a two shirts and one pair of shorts (no leggings) day. Straight away I settled into a steady 6:40 pace, and maintained that fairly well until it was affected by a long hill which goes on for a couple of K’s around the. 9/10k mark ! Long story short, I finished the HM in 2:25:03, which is 6 minutes and 9 seconds better than last September’s PB.
My conclusion is that I need to do some more work if I am to use this route for my MM attempt at the end of April. My legs were pretty tired in the last couple of K’s; happily the cafe was close by the finish(not a coincidence!). I did manage 10k of walking later in the day, including Molly’s walk.
I need to borrow SueAppleRun’s squats and add in some training band work. I am already doing quite a bit of cross training/yoga; 265 workouts lasting a total of 3326 minutes since the end of July 2024. On top of that there are lots of Molly walks of course, and my repeating 5k Park Run PB’s. So, doing ok but need to do better over the next few weeks I think if I am to manage that MM. I will give it my best 👊
Whoop whoop 🥳 Fantastic BC! You couldn't have done 20K without rounding up to HM could you? Hers’s a nice medal for you 🏅Well done on the time improvement too 👏
I think it would be fairly usual to have tired legs after running a HM, but I know what you mean. We want to finish and finish strong where we can and that’s where strength exercises can help. But your legs can’t have been too tired otherwise you would have struggled with a 10K walk afterwards!
Thanks IP 🙂. I am feeling much brighter today and my heel has stopped complaining. Realistically some part(s) of the legs and feet are going to make their objections clear after a HM. This is my first since 23 September, so some niggles were to be expected. That extra 5k on top of 10 miles is a significant step. Next one should be easier 🤞.
Thanks Dexy5 🙂. Time for a few steady runs now. I think that the only pb untouched this year is 10k, but I have no plans to change that! Hope is all is well with you and UTS; this warm spell is very welcome 😎
Oh; breaking news; after a delay because two parts of the local hospital were not in agreement over who should tell Mrs BC that she can drive again…..DVLA came up trumps and her licence came in the post today! It was waiting when I came back from my run. Such a relief after 15 months. Game changer for both of us 🙂.
I just found these posts Many congratulations to you on your long run. That's at a decent clip over tough terrain. You've certainly got a metric marathon in you,
Fantastic news about Mrs BC's driving licence arriving too. It's always heartening to hear good news and this us exceptionally good news. The celebratory steak meal must have tasted particularly good last night as a result. 😃
🙂 it certainly did taste good! It has been a frustrating time because I am sure she could have been driving all of this time. Long story; best to just close the chapter and move on 👍.
Do I have a favourite exercise? That will be a resounding no! I am terrible when it comes to exercise reps. Having said that, I did get my bike out twice last week; if I can ride regularly it really does support my running. But I do like decent weather before I get on my bike!
Right now, rolling on my squash ball is my favourite complementary activity. I took my long run up to 23k last week (with an inadvertent 200+ m elevation) and my hip/thigh niggle is still keeping quiet. I am so, so happy about that. Today an easy 5k followed by quite a lot of walking (just shy of 40000 steps in all!), and still my leg is silent. I do hope I'm not jinxing anything by saying that, because I really do hope to run a metric marathon at our HU event on 27th April. Right now,T te main question is whether I squeeze in another long run of 24 or 25k, or just wait til 27th to do the 26.2k. The jury is still out on that one and will probably depend on what sort of journey I have to Canada in April!
Right now we are in Gibraltar for a few days (well, La Linea in Spain to be more accurate) and there is a lovely flat prom to run along besides the sea. Absolute heaven and food for my soul!
It was IP'S comment about only training to 16k for a half that got me thinking ... So many HM plans stop at 10 miles in training.I'm not going for speed on 27th, just distance. So maybe I'm better doing that on fresh legs. Doing a 25k and a 26k in Canada is a bit of a stretch in terms of route planning and organisation. Another option I'm considering is 14k one day and 12k the next (I never normally run back to back days, so it would still be a challenge).
🙂 I have gone straight from 10 miles to HM today; I think ultimately today will leave me stronger, but just at the moment I feel shattered! On the plan, next week is a HM, following week a 120 minute run (so 10 /11 miles) and then 25k…..I will think of something!
I have the added complications of the Monsal trail 10k using up one of the weeks. I think you will be right to fit in an interim long run. There is time. Just take those long runs slower than normal, no more PBs (mileage increases and PBs don't belong in the same training run 😊)
You are right of course, but the pace felt really comfortable, until the last couple of k when I backed off. It is, in part, a question of stride length. With the help of the NRC plans I have increased my stride length on long runs; so more pace without extra effort. My average heart rate was only 136. I know that I will have to back off pace to run a longer distance though. The base of my left achilles is a bit sore; ice last night. I feel some stretches coming on!
Such great news about your hip Linda. Long may it continue.
I’m no expert but I would guess that 23K is long enough to go for the MM for the next long run. You just need to keep things ticking over in the meantime. What did you do last time? I remember that you did a MM before the FM?
Have a lovely time in Gibraltar 😎 A flat prom sounds fab!!
Of course my hip has grumbled on today's walk. I should just stay quiet! But 40,000 steps yesterday and over 31,000 so far today ... it has been working hard.If I don't get another long run in before the 27th, I'll not be too worried - indeed it may be the best strategy.
Strength training (together with appropriate diet/hydration) is crucial and not just for running. Equally, another crucial part is finding out what muscles we need to work on and how. As ever, we’re all different and if a Romanian deadlift works for you, it may be a bit of a struggle for me. It’s imperative to find out what suits you best (through some private lessons with a good personal trainer maybe?) and then you can take it away and have fun at home (with weights) or in the gym. Muscles, if not used, will waste away, so if we desire to walk tall when older we need to apply ourselves. Our (not only running) bodies will be grateful. ☺️ 👊👊👊
This is so true mrrun , last year I could not manage even a single press up or hold a plank for 40 seconds. I've been working on strength training a lot more consistently this year and can plank for 90 seconds and managed 22 press ups and few days ago. The thought of becoming frail and unable to get about later in life is terrifying to me.
At age 73 I know what you mean! I got into running through fracturing a vertebra when I fell on black ice at age 66. I had to sit around for months while it healed, and I thought “I need to do something” . That is when I started C25k. It is still a journey of discovery, finding out what I can do at this age; but I don’t want to go quietly into a time when I am too frail to do this. I recently met a marathon runner who is in his mid eighties and didn’t start running until his mid seventies! That cheered me up 🙂
Hello Irishprincess and fellow runners, I know I should, but I’ve been hopeless at doing exercises on a regular basis. I must try harder. It’s now 10 days until the Monsal Trail, and I did a solid 8 km run last week, so I am sure that I will be fine with the distance on the day.
I thought I’d do a long run yesterday and then changed my mind and put on my new shoes to do a freedom run with some inclines. Southsea is pretty flat so I did a warm up run to Southsea Castle and then ran up and down the slopes there. It was quite liberating, mixing it up, and not sticking to a known route. I then jogged/walked back and did a speedy loop around canoe lake (500m). It was My 2nd fastest circuit , according to Strava.
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