The last three weeks have been filled with some pretty strong (and incredibly COLD) running. I've slowly built mileage since the last time I checked in with a training report HERE. And with the exception of some tightness after my track workout this past Wednesday, my hamstring has been a non-issue. I've built up to forty miles which finally feels solid to me. I'm going to take a "step-back" week this week and reduce my mileage back to the 30-35 ish range just to give my body a break before moving forward into higher mileage. Step back weeks are always a good idea, especially if you're building towards a goal race. It can help prevent injury and burnout. And if you're looking for guidelines on how to build mileage safely, Jesica over at rUnladylike.com just wrote a great post on the topic. You can find that article HERE. My weekly training goes something like this:

Monday: Jillian DVD and 3 easy miles on the treadmill

Tuesday: Outside run 5-6 miles. These runs have been COLD! The last three weeks the temps have been 5, 5 and 10 degrees.

Wednesday: Intervals either on the treadmill or at the indoor track at The University of New Hampshire. The last three interval workouts have been 5x1K, 3x1mi and 6x600 (actually turned out to be 540m since I miscalculated the number of laps I needed to get 600m...oops). Wednesday evening I do a quick PT and core session in the living room after the kids go to bed.

Thursday: Another outdoor run usually 5-6mi. The pace on these runs has been a bit slower (probably due to Wednesdays workout and the fact that after three early AM wake-ups and not going to bed early enough it starts to get to me.) these runs have been just a cold as my Tuesday run sand last week I had a doozy of a BAD run.

Friday: For the last four weeks I've been going to Barre class, which is a killer workout in and of itself leaving me sore and tired. The last three weeks I've added running to the mix: three miles before and two miles after. I take it easy on the first three knowing that in a few hours my legs will be shaking with fatigue in class. And the two miles after class have actually been easier than you'd think. I'm nice and warmed up and it's a good way to flush out some of the lactic acid built up in class. By Friday night I am stick a fork in me done.

Saturday: Long run. I've been building these long runs and am up to 13 miles. The first few miles are always a little tough because I'm tired from Friday, but running tired is just another way to build endurance. This past weekend I joined a few gals I'd never met before for a long run along the beach in Maine-it was beautiful and fun. The pace on these long runs has felt smooth and easy, except for last week when I was so cold I just wanted to be home so I booked it.

Sunday: rest or a super easy recovery run

Here's a look at how the miles have added up.

I feel like I've hit a pretty good rhythm with my weekly runs and cross training. The fact that I've consistently cross trained three days each week for the past three weeks is amazing to me. But there's something about that Friday barre class that showed me that I could both run and cross train, which has encouraged me to keep at it on Monday and Wednesday as well.

This month I'll be adding a little extra to my cross training by participating in the FitFluential/Under Armour Burpee Challenge. The challenge is to complete 1000 burpees by February 28th. There are 25 days left in the challenge, so that's 40 burpees per day. You can join in too! Tag any instagram and twitter posts with #FFBURPEE and you could win a head to toe Under Armour outfit! This will be my first social media fitness challenge, we'll see how it goes!

How is your training going? Have you ever incorporated step-back weeks into your training? Have you ever participated in a social media fitness challenge?

-Sarah

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Training Update and #FFBURPEE Challenge

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