Eric Frey.net

Today I ran my favorite course. Since I’m preparing for a 5k race on Thanksgiving, and the weather is nice again, I want to get in some more running. Also, I figured I’d use Mondays as a strength day, so I had planned to take advantage of some of the exercise stations along the route, and the parking ramps to get in a strength workout during a relaxing run.

The course I run is about 3.5 miles and I had intended to run up and down 6 stories of stairs, and do 3 sets of 5 pull ups, hanging sit ups, parallel bar dips, and knees to elbows. I also wanted to do 3 sets of 10 monkey vaults to squats on a picnic table, and 3 x 25 sit ups. That’s what I did in about 1 hour and 2 minutes. I wasn’t running for speed, it was just for enjoyment and some cardio in the context of a strength workout. That said, I need to make some modifications.

Since my upper body strength to body weight ratio is still pretty poor, I get a good strength focused workout with low reps of pull ups and bar dips. I had only allowed 30 seconds rest between sets, which is fine for endurance work, but doesn’t allow enough time to replenish ATP for strength work, so I’ll need to up that rest time to 2 minutes (except for the regular sit ups), and probably add another set or 2 to each exercise to maximize strength gains.

The stairs are fun, but again, that’s endurance work for me so if I omit them, I can cut about a mile off of my run to allow for the added rest time between sets of exercises. Even squats don’t give me much of a strength workout, so I’ll replace the monkey vaults and the stairs with sets of 5 reps of 1 legged squats the next time I do this run. That should be sufficient resistance to elicit some strength increase in my legs.

If you’re in Tucson, here is the route:

I also bike part of this route to work in the morning. This morning I encountered a coyote, not the first time for this route. There are always rabbits, and lizards along this run to provide something fun to watch. One more reason why I don’t understand people who run along busy roads (or bicycle on busy roads either for that matter). There’s lots more to see in a park.