Day 52 - Warrior Training Revised: Part 3

I guess I just felt like making these revisions to my training into a trilogy in honor of The Dark Knight Rises. No, actually, I seem to have picked up an injury along the way, so I will be altering my schedule (yet again). The injury I have picked up is in my left elbow. I am not sure if it is tendonitis or some other similar injury, but I have a bit of inflammation and it gets sore/achy whenever I do an exercise where my triceps are involved (pushups/extensions/etc.).

So, I am giving my upper body a rest for the rest of this week, and then I will jump right into my "Performance Phase" or Phase 3 starting this upcoming Sunday (June 17th). The benefits to this schedule change is that I am giving myself over a week of extra time in my Performance Phase, which will allow me to be on top of my game for Warrior Dash. Not only that, but I have been able to add in a few more distance runs to improve my endurance as well which should translate well come race time.

For the rest of this week I plan on doing some more running in my Vibram Five Fingers to get used to running in them, as well as some stretching and recovery stretch work with foam rolling. I am only skipping out on one week of my "Strength Phase" but to be honest, after coming off of my previous Mass Phase, as well as the other total-body conditioning and strength work that I have been doing, I have hit a lot of personal bests for resistance and reps during this strength phase, so I know my body is strong and ready to take the next step.

The idea of performance training is to take strong muscles to the next level. 

What does this mean? 

Muscles go through adaptation when you resistance train, and although they have been trained to be stronger, I must now train them to be explosive, powerful, and more efficient. 

How will this help my performance at events like Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder?

Since both of these events involve running, and other total-body movements, the more powerful and efficient you make your muscles, the less effort they must exert to perform tasks. What I mean by this is that when my muscles become 'springier' (more plyometric in nature), things like running, for example, become less strenuous, which can improve my running economy, and therefore have greater endurance.

The schedule is below. Keep in mind that when I have "Run Training" listed, that will be running intervals for set periods of time near my house. There is a high school nearby that has a track with some great hills for sprints. The Warrior Dash is being held at a ski resort, and remember from last year how much my hill sprinting lacked at the time.

Also, when you see "LSD", I am not referring to running while spaced-out on some hallucinogen, I am referring to "Long, Slow, Distance" which is a distance run, not necessarily for speed, but to improve my aerobic energy systems and increase my distance endurance. This, coupled with my interval runs will allow me to hone both types of energy systems which will translate into better race performance.

The schedule:

June

17 - P.A.P. Lower

18 - AM: P.A.P. Upper   PM: Hockey

19 - Yoga/Recovery

20 - P.A.P. Lower

21 - P.A.P. Upper   PM: Run Training (20 mins)

22 - Yoga/Recovery

23 - 5.5km Run

24 - P.A.P. Lower

25 - AM: P.A.P. Upper   PM: Hockey

26 - Yoga/Recovery

27 - P.A.P. Lower

28 - P.A.P. Upper   PM: Run Training (25 mins)

29 - Yoga/Recovery

30 - 8km Run (LSD)

July

1 - P.A.P. Lower

2 - AM: P.A.P. Upper   PM: Run Training (30 mins)

3 - Yoga/Recovery

4 - P.A.P. Lower

5 - P.A.P. Upper   PM: Run Training (35 mins)

6 - Yoga/Recovery

7 - 8km Run (LSD)

8 - P.A.P. Lower

9 - AM: P.A.P. Upper   PM: Hockey

10 - Yoga/Recovery

11 - P.A.P. Lower

12 - P.A.P. Upper   PM: Run Training (40 mins)

13 - Yoga/Recovery

14 - 5.5km Run

15 - Yoga/Recovery

16 - AM: 5.5km Run   PM: Hockey

17 - Yoga/Recovery

18 - Light Run

19 - Yoga/Recovery

20 - Yoga/Recovery

21 - Warrior Dash

My bridge program between Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder will remain the same, you can view it here.

Quote of the day:

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
-Thomas Edison