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PRE + Spfd + Fairmount + South Eug

July 31, 2014 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 90s, hot

Comments:
Pretty good day at work - ANOTHER filled day. I think I've had one opening all week! On a positive note, the allergies have gone way down.

I ran after work, from work, going north to Alton Baker, then the classic PRE+Fairmount loop. The IDEA was to run 4x200 at South HS...

...but I was SOOO TIRED. The legs don't feel sore...they're just HEAVY. I've been doing a crazy amount of strengthening lately. Here's what I've been focusing on over the past six+ weeks:

- Bridges. TONS of bridges. At first, straight leg bridges, but I even backed off those to doing TONS of "short bridges", working up to >40 in a set.

- "Air squats". Been doing this the past couple days: basically a shoulder stand, then extending the legs straight up in the air. Clearly there's leg muscle being used, but TONS of core

- Deadlifts. This may be THE most important running exercise: it's hip loading, hinge, neutral "arched" back, and even neck/shoulder blade posture.

- Plank + "short & long". Bruce LaBelle showed me this one: long arm plank position then, keeping the back flat, flex the knee up as "short" as it will go, then extending the leg as LONG as it will go, then putting it down long. You go SLOW on these, so to do 20 of them can take 60-90 sec.

- Doorknob rows. Less pull-ups, and more of these. They're more running specific, and easier (as my pullups have REALLY fallen off this spring/summer).

- General abs: boat pose-ups, chop abs, "long & short" on my back, etc.

Been doing some stuff in the AM, with patients, and and lunch - sometimes ALL in the same day!

The neuromuscular improvements have been ENORMOUS. It's shocking to think about how much FASTER I have gotten...THIS MONTH. Shit, on 7/4 I struggled to do 6.2mi at 5:5x pace! I think (rested) I would CRUSH THAT right now.

Therein lies the issue I faced today: RESTED. I really haven't taken a true rest week since..."Western States"? But damn, that was anything but restful!

Today? I felt worn. Again, the stride felt great, the legs weren't sore, but I was just WORN OUT. I ran through PRE, honing the good stride mechanics. I felt like I was running low-7s even with a HR in the 12x.

But once I got onto Fairmount, I could tell I would NOT be doing 200s today. Not only was I tired, but I felt sore from the strength work, and I didn't want to tweak anything. When I finally got to SEHS, I couldn't even bring myself to do any stride-outs!

Jogged back to work, then biked home. Ate a bit, then fell asleep on the couch! I texted with KacR a bit, but actually went to bed at 9PM!

All in all - INCREDIBLE MONTH. 35x miles on 27 running days, with enormous gains in strength and efficiency! Praise the Lord...and my ability to document what I did four years ago!!!