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

It is the new year, and we are ready to get ready to succeed in our New Year’s Resolutions. Right? Yeah, yeah, every year you make a list (Mental, paper, calendar, or journal), but how often do you really commit and fulfill those resolutions? Or this time, you say, well, I signed up for a 100-miler event, there is nothing else to commit or make a resolution for. Right? Well, yes and no; here is the thing. New Year Resolutions time is a fantastic time to approach the following, 1) do a retrospective on what is going well and what is not 2) take note of what things you would like to adjust, and 3) Commit to one or two things you would like to be better at. Or 4) Add something new to your training block that will help you become a better runner.

Speaking of new to add to your training block to increase the chances of better performance. For the past few months, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to have a monthly training session with a weight/strength trainer at the gym I belong to. Since I do not own big equipment or a complete set of dumbells or any other sets, I had to go into the facilities for additional strength training other than bodyweight strength training.

You probably have heard or read that strength training is an important component of a runner’s training regimen. The benefits of strength training for runners are numerous and include things like increased bone density, improved muscle balance, minimized injury, and help with an improvement in running economy. In addition to the health benefits, runners will also notice a boost in performance on the track, trails, and events.

I often listen to the StrengthRunning podcast/channel by Jason Fitzgerald, where he discusses many running topics emphasizing the importance of strength training. As Jason will say, strength training is vital for runners who want to improve their performance and avoid injury. Strength training is important for all athletes, but it’s especially critical for runners who have a time-constrained plan or an ultramarathon in mind.

He is, like many other running coaches, a proponent that strength training should be included in your weekly routine as a way to build endurance, increase strength, and reduce the risk of injury.

Good examples of strength training workouts are the ones that emphasize both the upper body and lower body – such as combined squats with overhead presses or lunges with bicep curls. Or a different approach is, concentrating on a specific set of muscles, either upper body, core, or lower body at a session. These exercises engage many muscle groups at once and can provide a great workout in a short amount of time.

One of my learning from last year’s strength session at a local running shop was the recommendation to do strength training sessions after short runs, workouts, and even hard workouts; this is to maximize the benefits of the strength training session. Also, advise runners not to add a strength training session during a rest day since rest days are to rest and recover, to let the body get back into a better performance state. Adding a strength training session on a rest day could easily hamper recovery and increase the chances of injury.

There are lots of resources to learn about the different types of strength training. From blogs, videos, and podcasts with instructions and advice on how to have an initial gradual plan. Similar to StrenghtRunning, RedefiningStrength also has a lot of great information and alternative to different ways to properly approach strength training. There are also a lot of follow-on videos and apps with multiple durations, intensity, and/or complexity.

Strength training is unique to every runner, my advice is to do your research, read, listen, view, and adapt based on your new knowledge. One thing that dawned on me is that it is not necessary to do a lot of big weights or continuous time to gain benefits. Adding a simple sequence or sets with necessarily not 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 training plan. I worked with a gym coach to determine a routine that worked for me back then. This time I have been doing various exercises twice a week (mostly Monday and Friday), my nonrunning days. Based on what I learned, what advice I received from my current coach, and focusing on learning different alternatives to address the three main areas, upper, core, and lower body, with and without adding weight. I have already seen some benefits on some of my runs where I feel more comfortable with speed work and pushing the last few miles of the long runs—seeing paces that I have not seen in years.

Simple definitions to keep in mind if you are new to this:

1) Repetition (Reps) is how many times you will do a movement or series of moves. It can fluctuate from 6, 8, 10, up to normally 15 reps. There is an approach that is to do reps until “failure to produce a rep” which literary you will continue until you can’t complete a move anymore. This, in my opinion, is a little bit extreme from what we are trying to accomplish in adding strength training for running. An example can be how many or the number of sequences of up and down when you do a squat.

2) Then we have the number of sets, which normally goes for 3-4. A set is a completed group of repetitions of the movement. For example, ten squats are one set.

3) Rest is, of course, the time between sets and the time between specific exercises. A minute or so between sets and 2-3 minutes between exercises/moves.

4) Warm-Up and Cool-Down, being a runner, you are familiar with the concept. Some of us use the first and last miles or so on the runs for warm-up and cool-down. You might add an initial set with less weight and reps to warm up the muscles. Or warm up with some light/bodyweight moves to prepare the body for the strength training workout.

Make it simple, start with bodyweight exercises, then start transitioning to light weights and perhaps graduate toward some more heavy/machine movements. Your bodyweight routine could start with three sets of 10-15 repetitions. Then as you increase the weight, you could focus on three sets of 8-10 reps. There are various proponents of higher weight and reduced amount of reps to build strength for running.

Assessment:

Think about the time, schedule, and 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 weights.

Be aware of the frequency and 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 for a few minutes. If you can add a second day, that is going to help you out in the long run. Pick a set, sequence, or movements that you feel comfortable doing them properly and that you can add to your daily routine or the session.

Once you get comfortable, you can start adding/increasing weight and/or different moves to target the different muscles. But most importantly, have fun with it.

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How is the plan going:

Summary: Nice recovery week; although the weekday had me doing very light running, I opted to add a few miles as I had time off work, and the family is sleeping for the morning part of the day.

Monday: Gym was closed, went out for a 13-mile run. I sprinkle eight 400-meter speed work after the turnaround.

Tuesday: Easy 10-mile run, trying to keep the heart rate under 135. Not as easy as it looks.

Wednesday: Visited the gym to do some leg work, followed by three easy miles

Thursday: Another easy 10-mile run, trying to keep the heart rate under 135

Friday: A visit to the riverwalk, trails, and oldest Nascar track at Hillborough, NC, for an easy 16-mile long run.

Saturday: After a very short night’s sleep as I want to watch the Orange Bowl with the family,

GO VOLS!!!

We headed out early in the morning for a 16-planned miler—a very easy pace with many stops to talk to other runners and friends. Pushed the last 2 miles at the end; feeling great, I went ahead and added an additional mile to make it 17.

Sunday: As I was updating my running log yesterday, I realized that I was so close to a 70 miles week that I decided to head out this morning for a quick 1 mile. But let’s be serious, who goes out just for a mile? so I ended up adding five more miles to finish this week at 75 miles. Honestly, I did not even realize I had run that many miles this week until I was doing the logs. My body is still feeling fresh, just a little bit tired, but not more than usual.

Happy New Year!!!

This week’s actual numbers:

Week 13	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Plan	3	3	Gym	6	16	16	Rest	44
Actual	13	10	3	10	16	17	6	75

Next Week Plan:

Week 14	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Plan	Stretches & Rolling	4	3	6	Stretches & Rolling	15	26	55