Your brain and the language we use, craft the reality we experience... so if you say I’m not that kind of person, you’ve built resistance to being anything else. It’s not easy, but we all have it in ourselves to lean in! A trick I use, is to remind my self why I’m doing it. So when I’m hurting, I’ll tell my self pain is just adaptation in progress.... the more it hurts(good pain of course) the more gains I’m making!! or think about how happy/proud you’ll be if you complete a challenging interval. Or think how bummed you’ll be if you stop and realize you had more to give. It takes practice and it won’t always be perfect, but it’s so worth it! And it really helps in all parts of my life now too, not just running
An array of dumbbells (or a set of the ones that you can dial in a weight) and a pull-up bar will get you a long way. Focus on compound moves, which is a time-saver, especially since you're not looking to build a "physique" but are looking for functional strength.
@Keels and I discussed this a bit. Fitzgerald is a very "hard sell" kind of guy and his sales tactics really turned me off, so I ultimately didn't get the program when I was really almost ready to shell out for it with a little more consideration. @Keels (it doesn't seem to be tagging for some reason?) said she knew a running coach who had a similar type of training plan and shared it. It is definitely fairly time-intensive (I would say 75 min 2x per week) and equipment-intensive. I cut out a few things that I was doing in other places and adapted a bit to equipment. I did that for maybe 10 weeks. Ultimately I couldn't stick with the time commitment.
It did, however, give me a few new exercises to use and made me re-think the emphasis I place on different muscle groups, so I've kept that in consideration in building the current routine that I'm using. (Background: I've been doing pretty serious strength training for 10+ years. I got into strength before tennis or running. So I have some moderate knowledge.) Also, it confirmed the idea that heavy weights and low reps can be beneficial to strength training for running.
If you're relatively new to doing total-body strength training, then you'll see gains pretty quickly with a pretty basic program. Especially since you're male.
The Huma packets are bigger than Gu or Honey Stinger brand... I don't know about other brands, but the Huma ones are abnormally big.
Nice recap Billy! I am also impressed by your recall! I'm with the others on race memory, "I saw some people and stuff happened, lol....". I'm glad you enjoyed your race, even if it wasn't what you planned a year ago. You made the best out of your situation and had a great race, that is something a lot of people couldn't do. And I think it is 100% your attitude.
out of lurkdom and stick around a while! The mental aspect come race day can be nearly as important as the physical aspect. Here's one of my favorite things I've written about the mental side of endurance running (towards the end):
Have you tried 21 day fix? I’ve done multiple cycles especially while training. I’m cautious towards the end so I don’t strain anything too close to s race but I’ve found no matter how sore my legs are (ie can’t walk up/down the stairs or try to sit down) I always run stronger. I do find that days 15-21 get a bit crazy with doubles (2 workouts/day) and running 60-90+ minutes. Just my two cents!
Eureka! The Quintessential Running Post
I only like math if I’m getting paid to do it ...
