Week 14 of 18 of 70.3 training:

I know I say it every week, but I just can't believe another week as past so quickly.

It wasn't all that long ago when I felt like this week would never come.

I've been posting here and on BT about shin splints and I have gotten so many emails and posts about it and thank you very much.

For me the shin splints are related to two factors:

1. My foot strike in the first mile(s) is a little off and it's only when I finally loosen up do I start to feel better.
   
2. My legs are not balanced, by that I mean my quads are out of proportion to the other muscles in my legs.
   

What that means to me.

I need to warm up better and work on my stretching routine, so many times I just start running and when I was done with a run I didn't always stretch.

That's all changed; I warm up, stretch then run or ride or swim.

I'm learning to stretch all of my muscles and I'm going at it at slow pace, I don't want to overdo it and snap something.

Because of all the running and cycling my quads and calves have been getting the brunt of the workouts and my alignment is off.

So to keep my legs in balance I have started a strengthening program to work my shins and quads.

I've found YouTube to be a great resource for finding video of exercises and proper technique.

One that I've found for calves is a simple toe raise, you just curl or lift your toes up and back and hold this for 5 minutes.

After about 2 minutes I can feel the burn and I know I'm getting a good workout just sitting down.

Also, I have taken to the treadmill, thinking that it's a much softer on my legs and I can control my warm up, run and cool down much better then on the road.

For the hams, I'm doing leg curls, nothing too heavy, I'm just looking to get a little stronger I don't want to get hurt now.

 

So, what's new?

We have out of state quests coming in this coming weekend, my Brother and Sister In-law are going to stay with us for a week.

We are all very happy to see them, it's been about 9 months and the kids are now starting to get excited.

This will be somewhat of a hard week, to balance my workouts, my diet and spending time with everyone will prove to be trying at best.

So this week really has to count

Speedwork/Quality Phase

WK-14	Swim	Bike	Run
Mon	(#9) 1500 yds. a.m	30 miles p.m.
Tue	(#14) 2500 yds. a.m		Quality Day
Wed		Quality Day
Thur	Quality Day a.m.		60 min p.m
Fri		20 miles p.m.
Sat	(choice) 1000 yds.		90 min a.m
Sun		50 miles a.m.	60 min. walk p.m

 

Train smart, train strong,

 

-Brian