15k training: week 2 workouts + curtsy lunge demo
Florida won’t relent with neither the heat nor the rain. Several days in a row now the streets and sidewalks slicken with puddles and drops, not in the usual midafternoon pattern but night-to-night. The dreariness, admittedly, brings down my mood. I enjoy such weather for maybe one day, but consistently tumultuous conditions fog my brain, leaden my lids, heighten my want for sleep and stagnancy. Regardless, training continued as planned, quite smoothly overall.
Find week two workouts below, and a demo of one of my favorite/least favorite/most effective go-to stabilizing exercises: the curtsy lunge. Read on and learn!
Missed week one’s workouts? Here they are!
Monday, 8/12: 3.36 miles, 9:07 pace (AM) + 36 minute strength (PM)
Headed out for a 3:30a run and it was already 82 degrees and a sweltering 78 degree dew point. I’m quite hypervigilant so early (which, I think, is warranted) and tend to run much faster than I should. Something to keep an eye on as this cycle moves forth.
Post-shift, I completed a short full-body weight workout and finished with 10 minutes of restorative yoga based off my yoga for a hectic day sequence.
- 10 minute elliptical w/u
- 3×12 squat-to curl-to press
- 3×12/14/16 curtsy lunge (each side)
- 3×20 weighted calf raise
- 3×20 clamshell
- 3×20 inner thigh lift
- 1 minute boat hold
- 20 down dog crunches (I have no clue what these are called…you perch in a downdog position and do a bicycle crunch motion.)
- 1 minute plank
- 30 reverse crunches
Tuesday, 8/13: 4.84 miles, 9:18 pace – 3 x 5 min + foam rolling
Considering the dew point and my sore legs, this escapade went quite well. Clocked in at 8:26, 8:31, and 8:24 paces for the intervals – pretty satisfying range for an early build. Moving forward, I will likely shoot for tempo pace during these speed sessions to gauge what I might expect for my 15K race pace. It’s a bit early to say with much confidence, but I’m thinking 8:50-9:05 is not unreasonable.
In the evening, I foam rolled my glutes, calves, and IT Bands specifically since my weight training the day before rendered them mushy.
Wednesday, 8/14: 3.27 miles, 9:30 pace + restorative yoga
Along one of my common routes resides a pocket of Tampa’s homeless population – they’re never (in my experience) aggressive towards passersby, but this morning a pair of them seemed as if they were going to begin throwing fists at one another. Sometimes logic must overrule emotion, and I rerouted myself despite wanting to hit a certain waypoint on my course. Particularly in the early morning, such caution is needed, even if the situation isn’t likely to escalate and disrupt my safety and wellbeing. Otherwise, this run was rather uneventful, and a storm whisked through straight after to wash the roads and walkways. Oh, and a giant roach greeted me in our landing whence I returned. Delightful.
Thursday, 8/15 (Happy Birthday, Mom!): 1500y swim
The storms let up in time for me to hit the pool upon its opening. Beforehand, I really struggled to pull my cozy covers off and get dressed, but I liked this workout, and my body responded positively during the intervals. Again, pool is 15 yards per length so my measurements are quite unconventional.
- 360y warmup as 150 easy free/150 as 30 hard + 30 easy/ 60 breast easy
- 4 x 60y hard at 1:17, 1:17, 1:17 and 1:16; 15y easy in between, 30y easy after set
- 120y at 2:44; 15y easy
- 210y at 5:08; 30y easy
- 120y at 2:51; 15y easy
- 330y cooldown as 210 (30y hard + 30y easy)/90y free easy/30y breast easy
This took me about 40 minutes to complete.
Friday, 8/16: 3.45 miles, 9:15 pace (AM) + 30 min strength (PM)
This run marked the final with my Garmin Forerunner 35: at 1 am the previous night it went berserk and independently toggled the tracking function, which later quit responding entirely. I ordered a shiny new Forerunner 235 as a result, and received it in the evening!
Thankfully, Garmie woke up long enough to record this drizzly run at 4:45a, which involved about 6 hard uphill pushes, rather informal affairs over the bridges on my route. Paces ranged from 7:30-7:50 for these short bursts. After work, and ordering the 235, I performed the following weight circuit 3x through:
- 15 kettlebell swings
- 15 skullcrushers
- 12 lateral raises (I ABHOR these)
- 15 upright rows
- 15 pushups
- :45 side plank per side
- 1:00 rest
Ended with 4×10 squat-and-twists with a 20# weight. All day I was miserably tired, but the workouts were temporary medicine. I definitely napped later, though.
Saturday, 8/17: 8.42 miles, 9:40 pace + 2+ hours yoga
General fatigue, side stitches, and a deluge resulting in shifting shoe insoles marred the final three miles of this gallavant, but overall I’m okay with the turnout. With this run I know endurance and ability didn’t account for the rough patches encountered, which is comforting. I ran a touch too far on my route and thus halted about a half mile or so from my house to walk the remaining way – naturally, this is when the rain really began coursing down. I recorded the run in my new Forerunner 235, and so far love the watch.
Being a teacher training weekend, I practiced lots of yoga, mostly (thankfully) on the gentler end. Post-run I performed two ten-minute sessions of recovery postures, and at training we took part in a two-hour flow with lots of props, Child’s Pose, and a deep, satisfying final rest.
Sunday, 8/18: 40 min elliptical
Easy, no-impact session to complete the training week and energize before a long day of yoga training.
Total Mileage: 23.34
I want to briefly chat about curtsy lunges. This exercise is a fantastic hip stabilizer and glute strengthener, both of which are definite weaknesses in my kinetic chain (directly, I think, causing my recurring right hip pain and related issues on that side). Innumerable runners experience injury due to imbalances in both sets of muscles, whether such ailments are present in those exact areas or manifest elsewhere due to overcompensation. I love and hate these lunges, but try to incorporate them once per week and prefer them over traditional lunges.
When lunging, the front thigh should come parallel to the floor. Keep hips and shoulder square, spine straight, and head up and forward. Death stare optional. Reps can range from 10-15, or more, with bodyweight or additional plates or dumbbells. I typically use a 15+ dumbbell.
Shall we play “I spy the horrific tanline?”
