This is part of a series of posts regarding how I am preparing, planning, and train to complete the 100 miles Ultramarathon Umstead 100: Road to 100. For all the ultrarunning series here is Road to 100 last week’s post and for additional ideas follow the link. Training for a 100.

The previous week I had the opportunity to join the great people of Bull City Running Co. at one of their workshops for runners. There was one representative of The Endurance Collective providing a workshop on strength training and how to incorporate such training in our daily training routine.

Elizabeth Hurley Raynor, a certified strength and conditioning specialist talked to us about the benefits of adding some routine or flavor of strength training in our schedules.

One of the Aha! moments for me was the recommendation to do strength training sessions after short runs, workouts, and even hard workouts; this to maximize the benefits of strength training. She also advised runners not to add a strength training session during the rest days. She added that rest days are to rest and recover, to let the body get back into a better performance state. Adding a strength training session, could hamper recovery and increase the chances of injury. I definitely have been making that mistake. Given that I thought that since I was not running that day, it was the perfect time to do strength training.

There are lots of resources to learn about the different types of strength training. From blogs, videos, podcasts with instructions and advice on how to have an initial gradual plan. There are also a lot of follow-on videos and apps with multiple durations, intensity, and/or complexity. This is unique to every runner, my advice is to do your research, read, listen, view, and adapt based on your new knowledge. One thing it really dawned on me is that it is not necessary to do a lot of big weights or continuous time. Adding a simple sequence or sets with not necessarily too many repetitions or weight is better than doing nothing. Even spreading those throughout the day can provide benefits and improvements.

I do remember when I did my 1st 100-mile event a few years back, I did have strength training as part of my plan. I worked with a Gym coach to determine a routine that worked for me at that time. This time I have been doing a variety of exercises on Monday and Friday, my nonrunning days. Based on what I learned I might consider adjusting a touch, at least one of the days.

Assessment:

Think about the time, schedule, and your current training plan. Could you add 15-30 minutes to do some strength training? I know it will be a little bit tricky or hard to squeeze as it is still minutes that you are taking away from something.

You can be a little bit creative by perhaps spreading the workout across the day. An example of this could be after your meeting or activity do some squats, one leg exercises, or lifting with weights.

Be aware of the frequency, how you feel, and do not overdo it. Strength training is to enhance performance not to jeopardize it.

Planning:

Pick a day of the week that you could intentionally add a routine, even if it is for a few minutes.

Pick a set, sequence, movements that you could add to your daily routine.

How is the plan going:

This week was another solid week. The workweek mileage was decent, here are some highlights,

Monday: Stretch session, with more intentional strength training.

Tuesday run: Easy run listening to podcasts.

Wednesday run: Short but a tad on the fast side. Intentionally faster to keep the leg turnaround active.

Thursday run: Longer short run

Friday: Rest with some stretching

The long weekend runs were good too,

Saturday: It was a rehearsal run at Umstead with Jay. We treated the route as if we were in the event, strategizing the approach. I accidentally left my fluid back at my vehicle. I decided to continue since it was going to be a short long run. Also since you never know what will happen during the event, great opportunity to learn about how my body reacts to a similar situation.

Sunday: Easy short long run, I added extra push during the last 2 miles. This allowed me to test the legs and train my body to find deep energy to push when I am already tired

This week actual numbers:

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Plan
Week 13:	Stretches & Rolling	6	3	8	Stretches & Rolling	14	10	42	41