Training Log: g.foz.foster

Moderate 60'

Warmed-up over 2-3km and then ran the session between Beck Wythop - Keswick - Beck Wythop.

Relatively flat affair with some smaller rolling lumps at the start and end of the route. Felt great all the way, though was hurried along in the final km by a car driving (illegally) down a disused road right behind me into Beck Wythop.

Near on perfect running conditions - cool, dry and no real wind to speak of. Cooled down by trotting back up the road from Beck Wythop to home.

Easy 60' w/ strides

Ran up into Beck Wythop woods and bumped into Dan M by chance. Ran about half the time with him before he drifted off homewards and I went the other way.

Spring is definitely here. Warm and pleasant in the sun for a change. Nice to be out and about. Felt really good in my legs. Took things nice and steady and never pushed any climbs etc.

Strides felt really fluid too, no issues at all.

Easy 20' fb 3 x uphill mile reps fb 20' Easy

Had company on this session in the form of an ever keen Calum. Trotted up into Whinlatter at a nice conversational pace before having a do at a mile I'd plotted out on Strava. Seems to be a good one to use in the future - much more consistent gradient compared to last week and more even underfoot, though slightly steeper overall.

Felt much better than last week - maybe better rested? Maybe because there was no wind this time around, though it was pissing it down? Either way felt good and was able to run the reps in a much more consistent way, averaging 4:22/km and finishing all the miles within 5" of each other (the last one being the fastest).

Paced it better and felt that I could pick up the effort and push where the gradient slackened a touch, which it does multiple times along the route.

Finished by jogging back the slightly longer way down the south side of the Whinlatter road and back home. The foot built in terms of tightness on the way back but again was never painful or a problem / hinderance during the session.

Core and Posture

A&D - 3 x 10 (both) @ 5kg Angel / 2kg Devil
Russian Twists - 3 x 30 @ 10kg
Hamstring curls Swiss ball - 3 x 20
Side plank knee to chest - 3 x 10 each side
Reverse plank with leg lifts - 3 x 20 (10 per leg) - found these pretty tough
Jane Fondas - 3 x 20 each side
Leg raises - 3 x 20
Kettlebell routine - rounds of 2' for each exercise up to 2' on the video

Easy 60' w/ hill sprints

Wet and windy so tried out a new hill for the sprints as my back-catalogue are all south or south-west facing i.e. right into the teeth of the onslaught.

Felt much more recovered than yesterday and much lighter on the legs. Despite the conditions it was pretty warm and, as my old Commando saying went, once your balls are wet the rain doesn't matter anymore; didn't take long to achieve this effect.

Wasn't happy with my first sprint (I was undecided until the last moment as to where I would start it from so the effort wasn't all that high) so did 7 in total; 6 quality.

Jogged back home. The tightness in the left foot is still there and at times (very rarely and randomly) comes on a little sharper than usual for a stride or two. There is zero pain at any other time and it passes the 'hop test'. Still no idea what could be behind it and it's currently not detrimental to my running at all. Rather it fucked off though.

Easy 80' w/ strides

Up into Whinlatter for a trot.

Legs tired from the weekend and just general increase in load the past couple of weeks, so really felt them today. Took things as easy as needed to keep feeling comfortable on the session.

A bit stiff feeling initially in the strides but good feelings soon came on and afterwards. Lovely afternoon to be out all the same.

Easy 2hrs 50'

Beautiful, warm day so had a run around the Ullswater Way on my tod. Good route, not too much climbing, not too busy (for a change). First time I'd run it fully.

Legs felt a bit tired towards the end but on the whole pretty decent. Took things nice and comfortably for the most part, though seemed to settle into a faster pace on the flatter sections, all within an 'easy' effort all the same.

Would be a good one to earmark for one of the slightly faster efforts that might come about in the future, though definitely not a sunny weekend one!

Strength

Warmed up with the ITB routine.

Squats: 3 x 7 @ 60kg
Deadlifts: 3 x 8 @ 40kg
Calf raises: 3 x 30 @ 50kg (slow and controlled)
Single leg squats: 3 x 6 @ 30kg
Bulgarian split squats: 3 x 7 @40kg
Cobra push-ups: 3 x 20 (all upper body work done between lower leg exercises)
Renegade rows: 3 x 16 @ 10kg ('8' per arm - better form with the lighter weight)