- Monday: I had my 19.2 km run planned for Tuesday, and I wanted my legs as fresh as possible, yet I didn’t want to take a rest day (yet). The answer: all upper body strength work. I had a packed day at the office so I managed 30 minutes of chest and back exercises like dumbbell presses, bent-over rows, pull-ups, incline/decline bench press and the like.
- Tuesday: 19.4 km… read all about it here.
- Wednesday: The best option for me that day was to push a workout into the evening. After my struggles with winter conditions the day before, I opted to head to the gym and grab a treadmill. I took my iPad along and used Netflix to see what an episode of the new seasons of Futurama would be like. I loved this show in its first run (have all those seasons on DVD), yet when it was ‘reborn’ I watched a couple of episodes and felt like they had somehow lost the magic. It was like the balance of Crude vs. Clever was tipping in favour of the former. Yet on Wednesday night, it was like old times. As Bender would say: “I’m back, Baby!”. The really funny part, was the fact that what I was watching got shared to Facebook, and my wife commented: “I thought you were at the Gym?” iPad on the treadmill… watching SciFi cartoons…Biggest. Run-Nerd. EVAR.
- Thursday: I was behind on workouts overall, so I fit in 3.2 km on the treadmill (with more Netflix) before a PB Freakin Fit class. The WOD: 4 Rounds for Time of
- 20 Push-ups
- 20 Stationary Lunges (10/side) with 10 lb dumbbells
- 20 ‘Plié’ jumps (wide stance, toes out squat like a ballet plié – into a jump)
- 20 Shoulder presses with 10 lb dumbbells
There might have been a part two to that WOD (workout of the day) but I had to bail for a meeting. I also did a 55 second plank and two 30 second side planks.
- Friday: Tempo run on the treadmill (4 miles at 5:30/km). That’s my longest tempo run, and it was tough. It was also my third day in a row on the treadmill, and I still don’t like that thing. I think the problem I have is that I want to get the run over with, so for a given distance, I’ll set an overly aggressive pace (unless it’s the prescribed training tempo), and end up struggling so hard, that I can’t enjoy whatever I’ve set myself up with for entertainment. I should probably try slower paces and use the programs to create the variety needed to stay engaged with it.
- Sunday: The taper begins! My long run was a paltry 7.2 km (rather than the prescribed 8 km). While the conditions were better than Tuesday, it was still very, very cold, and due to new snow, I had to stick to sidewalks. I was pretty irritated to have my Yaktrax break on me (the buckle holding the strap on broke and vanished). If I can find the time I’ll contact the manufacturer to see about warranty, but it’s a lot of money to spend on something that’s only been on handful of runs.
Any Futurama fans out there? Or Dreadmill Haters?