Tough Mudder Oct. 26th Prep Blog 3/5

Week two was easier--no doubt about it. It got a lot easier because, by then, I was a little more familiar with the running course and lot better at keeping my leg muscles relaxed and heart rate down while running. Breathing is particularly important when running, and learning to keep the breathing controlled while under great physical pressure is the key to success.

Anyway, here is the breakdown for the week:

Tuesday: 5.9 miles

I was able to run about a minute faster per mile this week than I did on the first week. The one thing that sucks is that my cardiovascular engine is not that bad, but the endurance in my legs, especially uphill, is terrible. It’s been a very awkward transition from mainly bodybuilding leg workouts to running.

Thursday: 9.4 miles

This was my first distance run over 6 miles in over 3 years, probably. Although the environment was hilly, at a slow pace, it wasn’t too bad. This actually bumped up my confidence a decent amount because I didn’t think I could do it, but I did with ease. At the end of the run, I wasn’t even fatigued. Add another 2.5 miles to that and that’s the Tough Mudder. I wouldn’t be finishing with Kenyan-worthy times, of course, but I would be able to finish without stopping.

Sunday: 6 miles

The hills proved unforgiving again. This week was definitely easier than last, but it was still fairly brutal--once again, it was hard on the legs, not my heart and lungs. The lactic acid in my legs becomes pretty ridiculous at times, especially when the hills become 45 degrees or steeper, and I try to continue to run regardless. Nonetheless, I was able to grind through and finish the mission. To help bump up the intensity, we did Indian runs at the end, which were really cool. I made a big mistake, however, in not stretching and foam-rolling my legs out after this run. This oversight made them super sore on Monday, and hindered my Tuesday running time. This proves how important it is to stretch and foam-roll your legs after a solid run.

Indian runs: basically you position your running team in a straight line with everyone spaced about 10 feet apart. Person leading the group yells “go”, at the point the person at the end of the group sprints to the front of the line and you repeat on and on.

Lessons learned from week 1:

1.       Stop doing weight lifting workouts for the legs over the next two weeks. Training your legs will help you be a solid runner in the long term. However, in the short term, especially when you’re trying to improve your run time from week to week, it’s just going to slow you down.

2.      Work on increasing endurance of the legs by doing long-duration endurance leg workouts.

Week Three routine: Notice, as compared to week 1 routine, all I did was up my running quantity.

              Main goal is still to work on increasing my cardiovascular engine.

Monday: (Morning: cardio/off) Evening: weight training/chest: 3 exercises with a rep/set setup of 3,2,1,3 for each exercise with a rest interval of 2-3min)

Tuesday: (Morning: cardio/6 miles as fast as possible) (evening: weight training/legs/calves: 3-4 exercises with a rep/set setup of 3,2,1,3 for each exercise with a rest interval of 2-3min)

Wednesday: (Morning: cardio/off) Evening: weight training/back/calves: 3 exercises with a rep/set setup of 3,2,1,3 for each exercise with a rest interval of 2-3min)

Thursday: (Morning: cardio/ long steady distance run of 10 miles) Evening: off)

Friday: (Morning: cardio/off) Evening: weight training/chest/arms: 4-5 exercises with a rep/set setup of 3,2,1,3 for each exercise with a rest interval of 2-3min)

Saturday: (Morning: cardio/off) Evening: weight training/shoulders/calves: 4-5 exercises with a rep/set setup of 3,2,1,3 for each exercise with a rest interval of 2-3min)

Sunday: (Morning: cardio/run in the hills (7 miles) with body weight exercises at middle and end) Evening: active recovery/ massage and stretch nude in the steam room for 30 minutes)