6th-12th April

I’ve put a decent gym workout in there for you to try. I can always tweak it if you like? Let me know. How about coming and joining the team for the Spring 5K on Wednesday, would be great if you could make it, there won’t be any Tuesday efforts this week because of that race. Then Sunday (or Saturday) if it works better for you we’ll do the long run. Keep working hard Anna.

46 Points Achieved

MONDAY

8pts | Gym Legs/Core L1

8 POINTS

A good all round session to work the legs and core. You should have built up to this fairly gradually, so don’t dive in head first as you want to take your time building your strength. Be sensible with the weights to begin with.

If short on time combine 2 exercises together (superset) them to save on the recoveries. Ideally one leg exercises and one core exercise where possible. Eg squats and planks.

5pts | 10 Mins Stair Climber

5 POINTS

A great form of cross trainer for us runners. Take a few minutes to warm up at find your stride but then push hard. You can real bang for your buck with just 10 mins on the stair climber. I hit around level 10 when doing these but find the right speed for you that you can maintain, but you find this tough.

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

26pts | 5K Race

26 POINTS

I’m a big fan of consistent splits. With any race avoiding getting swept away with the crowds is key, so focus on that early pace and hold back, settle into a rhythm. Km 4 is often the hardest, so zone in on 4 and dig deep. You got this!

Damn! Had to drop out as leg was all jangly pain once I started running! It was the right decision though, and hopefully it won’t have delayed the healing too much as I dropped out so early.

Sorry to hear that. Will drop you a message to check how it is today. Well done for making the right decision and still nice to see you

thursday

8pts | Gym Arms

8 POINTS

Not essential as runners but it’s good to feel strong and can help maintain good form deep into races.

3pts | Core Gym #1

3 POINTS

Recoveries: 30-60s between sets.

A short, quick, but effective core workout. Unlikely you would go to the gym just to do this, but you can combine it with cross training, a class or even another S&C session.

Rest Day

0 POINTS

“Rest days are key. Our body adapts and gets stronger when we rest & recovery. Have a good one!”

10 Points

I didn’t do these exact sessions, but I spent 45 mins in the gym exploring what I could do without aggravating quadtricep! I did arm bike, booty builder, adductor and abductor, various arm/shoulder weights and abdominal crunches. Best thing is I quite enjoyed it! Not cardio enough, but hopefully I’ll be running again soon. I’m doing loads of walking (at least 15,000 steps a day) and leg is okay with that, so hoping in a week I may be running again.

Well done Anna. The Elliptical (cross trainer) is a good option, you might find on there the quad doesn’t hurt so you could do 60 mins easy instead of running for example and get the same benefits. As someone pointed out well, the heart has no idea if you’re running or cross training. Good to get a feel of what’s on offer at the gym and I’m happy to tailor a session just for you. Some of the machines are a bit specific (eg only work one muscles) where as if you do certain exercises you’ll work 2-3 muscles at the same time. But we’ll get there, and glad to hear you are enjoying it now. That’s the most important thing

FRIDAY

6pts | 20 Mins Elliptical

6 POINTS

20 Mins Elliptical (RPE: 6-7)

A good way to boost cardio whilst reducing the risk of injury. The elliptical can tone muscles and improve endurance whilst being gentle on your joints.

12 Points

I took your idea of yhe cross trainer and it was great! I assumed it’d hurt but it didn’t! I did 20 mins on level 15 mostly… left it at that today so I cokld use booty builder, ad/abductors, sit ups and various arm stuff… I will go back Sunday and maybe do an hour on cross trainer… what level shall I do? Machine controls were a bit baffling! So my quadtricep injury is just above my knee, which is why I initially thought it was a knee injury… it doesn’t hurt to walk but hills, steps or any speed start to either hurt, or just feel weird… which is probably because yhat muscle stabilises knee I think? Plus the odd massive twinge on certain movements… Anyway, I can keep going to the gym- it’s strangely enjoyable! But obviously it’s not equivalent to a 4 hour run… Looking on the bright side, I do think various twinges will benefit hugely though a short break from running… frustrating though it is!

Great work Anna. So I use quite a low level and let my heart rate determine my pace. So try and have my heart rate just below 140 as that’s aerobic, so the equivalent of an easy run. So then you pretty much get the same benefits from a cardiovascular point of view as you would on an easy run. Perhaps even more because you can keep your heart rate exactly where you want it, rather than it fluctuating up and down depending on elevation. Glad that you enjoyed it too.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

12pts | 40 Mins Elliptical

12 POINTS

A good way to boost cardio whilst reducing the risk of injury. The elliptical can tone muscles and improve endurance whilst being gentle on your joints. You want to be working at the top end of your aerobic zone, just under LT1 (zone 3 on Garmin).

18 Points

Did a ten min warm up on cross trainer then 30 mins non stop… HR was between 130 and 140 but it felt like a pretty hard workout… maybe I’m used to lower effort or maybe it’s psychological because sweat doesn’t evaporate like it does outdoors!! Anyway I followed that with half an hour on various machines and with sit ups.

Awesome work Anna, You do need to go quite fast on the elliptical to get the heart rate up to that level, that’s normal. I think it’s just less demanding that running, hence the extra effort needed for the right HR. But still a great option to be able to do this stuff whilst you rest the leg.