Run

This workout will take a little pre-planning. You need to find a place to run that has a medium steep hill. It doesn't have to be a really long hill- just long enough that you can run about 20 seconds up the hill.

Run 25 minutes easy, finishing at your hill. Do 4x 20 second hill strides. These should be at about 2 mile race effort. Easy jog down the hill afterwards. Easy run 3 minutes after the hill reps. Total time should be about 32 minutes, counting your hills and jog downs.

NOTE: When running up the hill, focus on staying tall (don't bend over at the waist), and driving your knees up (kind of like kneeing a soccer ball to someone).

Planned: 32:00

Run

30 minutes

Planned: 30:00

Post-run circuit - Circuit #1

General Strength Circuit # 1:

1) Front plank x 30 seconds.
Elbows right under shoulders, head is in line with your spine, not dangling down.. “Pull” your elbows toward your feet, but don’t actually move them- just pull and contract your abdominal muscles as you do so.. Squeeze your glutes. Hold for 30 seconds.

2) Side planks x 20 seconds each side
Lie on your side in a straight line, with your heels, hip, and elbow all in a line.. Your elbow should be directly under your shoulder. Stack your feet on top of each other.. Lift up your hips so that your body is straight from shoulder to ankle. Pretend you have a wall behind you, and the back of your head, your butt, and your heels should be touching the wall. Keep your head in line with your spine.

3) Hip lifts x 10 reps
Lie on your back with your knees pulled up and your feet flat on the ground. Arms are lying relaxed by your sides. Squeeze your glutes, and lift your hips towards the sky. Lift up until your body is in a straight line from shoulders to knees. Keeping your glutes, squeezed, slowly lower your hips back to the ground.

4) Runner pushups x 10 reps (just lowering, not raising up)
Start in a high pushup plank position (the top position of a pushup). Your arms should be straight, your hands right under your shoulders, and your head is in line with your neck and spine. slowly lower yourself to the ground (keeping elbows close to your sides, not sticking out widely). Then just get yourself back up in the high pushup position any way you want, and lower yourself again, slowly. Repeat till you get to 10 reps. If you can do full pushups- both down and up- WITH GOOD FORM (straight body, head not dangling, butt not in the air, stomach and low back not sagging, elbows close to body), that is fine. Otherwise, just stick with the lowering motion for now, focusing on good form.

5) Side leg lifts x 10 reps each leg
Lie on your side in a similar position to side planks, but rest your head on your arm, lying down. Lift your top leg, using your glute medius muscle on the side of your butt/hip. Lead with your heel, and keep the moving leg slightly behind the leg on the ground. You shouldn't be able to lift the leg super high if you keep your body position straight. If you are wobbly, put your top hand on the ground in front of your stomach as a support, sort of like the kickstand on a bike…


REPEAT THESE EXERCISES ONE MORE TIME

Run

30 minutes easy on a hilly course. Try to find a course with rolling hills, not mountains...

Planned: 30:00

Run

25 minutes

Planned: 25:00

Run - 4x 20 second strides (or 4x 100 meters)

Do these strides after you finish your run.
Run 20 seconds at a faster pace than your easy run pace, but not a sprint, about mile race effort will be fast enough. Jog 40 seconds in between. Repeat this pattern until you have run 4 strides. This should take you a total of 4 minutes.

If you have access to a soccer or football field, you can do 100 meter strides instead. Stride 100 meters at about mile race pace/effort, then jog back to where you started. Repeat till you have done 4 strides.

Planned: 4:00

Post-run circuit - Circuit #1

General Strength Circuit # 1:

1) Front plank x 30 seconds.
Elbows right under shoulders, head is in line with your spine, not dangling down.. “Pull” your elbows toward your feet, but don’t actually move them- just pull and contract your abdominal muscles as you do so.. Squeeze your glutes. Hold for 30 seconds.

2) Side planks x 20 seconds each side
Lie on your side in a straight line, with your heels, hip, and elbow all in a line.. Your elbow should be directly under your shoulder. Stack your feet on top of each other.. Lift up your hips so that your body is straight from shoulder to ankle. Pretend you have a wall behind you, and the back of your head, your butt, and your heels should be touching the wall. Keep your head in line with your spine.

3) Hip lifts x 10 reps
Lie on your back with your knees pulled up and your feet flat on the ground. Arms are lying relaxed by your sides. Squeeze your glutes, and lift your hips towards the sky. Lift up until your body is in a straight line from shoulders to knees. Keeping your glutes, squeezed, slowly lower your hips back to the ground.

4) Runner pushups x 10 reps (just lowering, not raising up)
Start in a high pushup plank position (the top position of a pushup). Your arms should be straight, your hands right under your shoulders, and your head is in line with your neck and spine. slowly lower yourself to the ground (keeping elbows close to your sides, not sticking out widely). Then just get yourself back up in the high pushup position any way you want, and lower yourself again, slowly. Repeat till you get to 10 reps. If you can do full pushups- both down and up- WITH GOOD FORM (straight body, head not dangling, butt not in the air, stomach and low back not sagging, elbows close to body), that is fine. Otherwise, just stick with the lowering motion for now, focusing on good form.

5) Side leg lifts x 10 reps each leg
Lie on your side in a similar position to side planks, but rest your head on your arm, lying down. Lift your top leg, using your glute medius muscle on the side of your butt/hip. Lead with your heel, and keep the moving leg slightly behind the leg on the ground. You shouldn't be able to lift the leg super high if you keep your body position straight. If you are wobbly, put your top hand on the ground in front of your stomach as a support, sort of like the kickstand on a bike…


REPEAT THESE EXERCISES ONE MORE TIME

Run - Plus light strides

40 minutes easy. If you have struggled to do 30 minute runs this week, do run-walk for 40 minutes: easy run 4 mins, then walk 1 minute. Repeat that pattern until you get to 40 minutes.

After the run, do 4x 15 second strides at a 'feel good' pace. These are just to shakeout your legs a little after the long run and usually help you feel better. You can just stand around in between the strides and go again when you feel ready.

Planned: 40:00

Rest Day