Kick it Up a Notch!

Sundays are my off day since Saturdays are my long run day. However, rather than sit around all day and waste it, I usually look to get some time logged on the bike. Ten miles of hard riding is just enough for me on these days. I start out getting loose and up to my target speed of about 20 mph. Then, about 2 miles into it, I do a long hill. The bike has levels where Level 1 is the easiest. I usually ride at around Level 6 or 7 and on the hills I increase the tension to about 14, maxing out at 16 at the top. Sometimes I’ll do sprints around mile 7 or 8, but not always.

I’d like to get going on some strength training during those days as well. I take two days off a week from running right now (Sundays and Thursdays) although that will change once I get through this initial 30-minute program in mid-July. At that point I will probably move to running just four days a week and cross training twice with one day of complete rest. At that point I’ll start doing some speed work one day a week as well. All in good time, though.

For now, I’m building my training up from scratch and the next step of that is to learn some basic strength training exercises to add to my Sundays. I’m thinking maybe some weight training as well as some exercises targeting the abs and core. I think I will schedule a training session at my gym to get the weight training program underway.
Yesterday I reached the next stage of the 30 minute program: 13 minutes running, 2 minutes walking done twice. It was a good run and I didn’t get really tired. At one point I felt winded, but I pushed through it and ran on. Not bad. Today I think I am going to have to miss my running as I need to take Annie to her sister’s apartment in Arlington tonight. We’re leaving around 7 PM, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get home, spend the hour at the gym, come back, shower and be ready to go by 7. So, I will have to make Thursday a running day to make up for it, I think. That’s OK though. Annie leaves for Rome tomorrow and will be gone a month so I’ll have plenty of time to concentrate on running and getting faster.