Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Legs Better; Weight Training During M-Training?

My legs are feeling better this morning, still a little soreness and my ankle still has a twinge of pain when I walk down stairs. This pain started a week ago last Monday after I twisted my ankle while stumbling over a piece of wood in my workshop. Of course it didn’t bother me right after this so I did my 14K/8.7M run that night. It was first later in the evening when I walked upstairs that the fun started. I’m speculating that my hilly half-marathon from the same weekend also played a part in this injury.

In any case I did part of my weight training last night (just upper body exercises) than did a really slow jog for about 3K/2M. The first few minutes my legs, especially my right thigh were really sore, but once I warmed up I didn’t notice it anymore. Other than the first few minutes of each run over the past week I really have not had a problem with my ankle as far as running goes. The ankle is really stiff when I start out, sometimes I would even get a twinge of pain if I took too long of a stride, but any discomfort would subside once I warmed up. Freaky!

I have a 16K/10M hill run on my schedule for tonight, but think I will take my normal flat route to reduce strain on the ankle. I am more concerned about my 30K/18.6M long run on Saturday. I will probably drop my weight training (and jog) on Thursday night and take an extra day rest.

Spouse Training

After reading some of the comments from you wonderful guys, I see that juggling training schedules with mates is as fastidious as any other part of race training. Some have it easier than others - count your blessings!

I made it a point to sit down and spend a little time with my wife when I got home last night, just to remind her that I am interested. Usually I suit up and do my weight training right away. From this conversation I was able to gleam a few things for my to-do list that would gain favor from my spouse. After running a few errands, I sat down for a meal of my wife’s delicious (yep, I made sure she know’s this) zucchini-lasagna, then went in the shed for some cross-training. This consisted of scraping and sanding rust off our cargo-trailer getting it ready for painting. I think it was somehow satisfying for my wife to see me all dirty and sweaty from a little honest work, rather than just from running!

Finally about 7 p.m. I suited up and did my weight training. I asked my wife tenderly if she would like to accompany me on her bike when I jog, but she already had her feet propped up on the couch so declined.

To Weight Train or Not To Weight Train (during M-training)

A while back Jon was asking if I would keep doing my weight training during my peak marathon training period. At that time I assumed that I would be able to continue, as I really don’t workout with much weight. However, as I emerge into this timeframe I foresee that I may indeed need to decrease the number of WT sessions and maybe even put off WT until after the marathon. My almost (July 30th) 46 year old body just doesn’t seem to recover quickly enough.

For those of you who participate in regular weight training, what has been your experience when preparing for a race? Have you had to stop or make adjustments? I know I have read that one should not do any weight training the last week or two before a major race (e.g. HM, M).

Comments:
I never quit lifting weights. I'm convinced it's way to important for my body. However, I do lighten up on my lower body weights, and keep them placed well away from long runs. I only do legs once a week, and I'll do them on Tuesday or Wednesday, so that my longest run (Sunday) they are fresh.

Hope that helps!
 
I was thinking about the weight training this week again too. I want to do something. I'm not sure I can keep up the heavy lifting I did before, but the abs are getting saggy and I don't want my abductors and adductors to get weak again.
 
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