A Track & Bag: The Perfect Combo

A Track & Bag: The Perfect Combo

Annmarie Licatese, DVRT Master, (Fit Foodie Mama)

I ended Sept with 104 miles, tapering my way into October, ran my little heart out at the Wineglass Marathon and then…not a whole lot of running.  In fact, I ended October with just over 50 miles. My lowest mileage month since last May!

At first I was just trying to give my body a break.  My right hamstring was still bothering me a bit and I was trying not to aggravate it.  Plus I was traveling a bunch during October.  That’s not to say that I didn’t workout, because I did, but my desire to run wasn’t really there.  You could say marathon training kinda burned me out a bit.  Now that we are at the start of a fresh month, I am determined to get my running mojo back but not while sacrificing my strength training routine.  

The one thing that I missed the most when I was putting in higher mileage while marathon training was strength training.  I mean, I did incorporate it into my schedule but the weeks that I was logging 20 milers, I toned it down a bit.  After allowing my body to properly rest and heal, the first thing I did was start back into my strength routine again while slowly easing back into ramping up my mileage.

 If I have to be totally honest, there were days following the weeks after the marathon that even 3 miles seemed like a struggle.  HOW does that even makes sense?! I have no clue except to say that it was mostly mental.  SO, in order to overcome that roadblock, I did what most runners do when miles seem never ending, I broke it up into smaller pieces. 

Not only did I break it up into smaller pieces, I COMBINED the two! With a strength training system as portable as the Ultimate Sandbag, it’s easy to do. 

*5k Pace= Pace for 5k road race. Calculate here: http://www.runnersworld.com/pace-calculators/training-paces

Since we’ve had a stretch of unusually nice days for November around here, I decided to take my running and my strength training workout to the track.  Though this could just as easily be done on a treadmill once the weather becomes more seasonable (aka, snowing in another week or two).  

The goal with this workout is to combine both strength and conditioning all while working on speed.  In order to really get the most out of this workout, I try to go at my 5k pace or faster during those 800 meters and after a quick recovery (2 minutes or so), I transition into the DVRT exercises, recover and run again.  

What I REALLY love about this workout is that it makes those 3 miles feel so manageable. Breaking it up in this fashion also makes the strength exercises feel like a breeze.  Both are workouts in their own right but by breaking them down into attainable pieces and putting them back together this way,  it creates a system that makes it easy to accomplish.  Not to mention that it creates a powerhouse of a workout which’ll leave you feeling like a badass once you’re done.

Feelings of badassery are a surefire way of making mental roadblocks be gone.