Mark's got too fat blog

Last night I went for a run for the first time in a while. I was intending to do a Half Marathon, but as that's tomorrow I thing its off. The organizers have kindly deferred my entry until 2007 anyway.

My last attempt at training resulted in crippling shin splints, which also hurt when walking and mountain biking. This time, armed with new trainers and running off road on the canal, I made it through 20 mins of 1 min running and 1 min brisk walk with no shin pain. I intend to do this once a week and build up very slowly so that my legs toughen up.

My actual training plan goes like this:

Monday - Gym, 30 min HIT weight training session, 5 mins on bike to warm up / down
Tuesday - Cycle or swim or Rest
Wednesday - Gym, 30 min HIT weight training session, 5 mins on bike to warm up / down
Thursday - Running
Friday - Gym, 30 min HIT weight training session, 5 mins on bike to warm up / down
Saturday / Sunday - 15-30 mile off road cycle ride on one day, other day is rest. If no cycling, may do 10-15 mile hill walking.

The weight training sessions are based on HIT - High Intensity Training. I do 8 exercises, with one set of each exercise, performing at least 8 reps. I continue to failure - where I cannot move the weight any further at all. The trick is that you take 4 seconds to raise the weight and 4 seconds to lower the weight. This is pretty intense, making each set around a minute in length, and lifting slowly prevents you cheating and using momentum to lift.

A typical routine for me is:

Leg Curl
Leg Press
Calf Raise
Bench Press
Lat Pull down or Cable Row
Shoulder Press
Back Extension
Ab Crunch (Machine)

I try to adjust the exercises every month or so. I plan to design a program which leaves out leg work on Friday - as I am now running on Thursday and often cycling on Saturday, and I need more recovery time.

Posted by Mark at 9:54 am