Mile Repeats… :)

I met at the indoor track at BYU. There were 6 guys and 1 other female. We took off on a 18 minute warmup. We headed up the hill going towards the Provo LDS temple and MTC… (We call them the MTC/Temple miles).

We stopped and re-grouped… Then off we went and ran our 1st downhill mile (the last 100 yards was a slight up-hill… That was tough). My 1st mile was a 5:18. We then made a loop and jogged back up to the “starting” line (across the street from the Temple). 2nd mile was a 5:17 and the last one with just 3 of us remaining was a 5:20. My legs were wobbly! I had to fight hard to keep going, especially the last stretch. It was great to have those around me. 3 miles at a fast pace might not sound that bad but when you do the downhill miles and run as fast as you can, it wipes you out! We ran a total of 71 minutes with the warm up, mile repeats, recovery run and cool down. (About a 15 min cool down.)
The Benefits Of Downhill Miles… 1. Running downhill you can go faster than flat running with less effort. So you reap more neuromuscular benefits (i.e. training your legs to move fast) than just running intervals on a track. 2. It is psychologically beneficial for you seeing you are able to run that fast. 3. Many people That live here in Utah do a lot of races that are downhill, so it is good to train for what you are racing for.

I drove home and did 2×50 leg hops (50 leg hops on one leg, then 50 on the next leg… Repeat).
The Benefits Of Doing Leg Hops… In most plyometric exercises, the goal is either to move the limb beyond its standard range used with running or to isolate and work on a specific aspect of running form. One legged hops help work on the stance and push off phase of the foot strike. It also helps the neuromuscular aspect of cadence by training you to move your legs quickly. (Thanks Danny Moody and Hawk from Runner’s Corner for helping with the explanation of miles and hops:).)

Corom and I got all the girls ready for school, he left for work, I took the girls to school and then I (and a few other neighbors) went to our neighbor Jana’s house to sing her happy birthday. She is the sweetest person you could ever meet!

Then I went to South Valley Gym for about 15 to 20 minutes. I worked on the Lat machine (I don’t know if that is what the machine is called so let me know what the proper term is if I’m wrong :).) I did 4 sets of 10 at 60 lbs.

I then did 20 with the bar in front.

I have never really lifted weights before but for the goals I want to accomplish, I need to do some upper body strength. The lat pulls are excellent for runners. It helps open up your rib cage… You are able to breath better and you have better posture. Helps with your form! I went to the pull-up machine and put the bar at 60 lbs also. I cannot do a pull-up on my own so I will be using this machine for a while.

Pull-ups are also excellent for runners. It gives you the arm strength to drive your arms while you are running. It gives you more power. So at least 2 (sometimes 3) days a week, I will be doing these upper body strength workouts. It will be on my hard days. When I have an easy day of running… That is all I will do (with sit-ups and 20 push-ups). You want to make sure that your hard days are your hard days and your easy days, easy! It is very important to remember that. I think easy days are more important than hard! Anyway… Great workout!