Recovery

I've been training for the Spartan Race for about two weeks now. I run three days a week and strength train two days a week. I used to just treat my days off as a regular day off...eating whatever I wanted, and considered the fact that I wasn't working out to be a genuine rest day for my body. However this dogma is already taking it's toll and I need to switch things up.

I'm noticing that my calf muscles in particular are getting tighter and tighter everytime I run and regular calf stretches aren't loosening them up. I've increased my 4k to a 7k and next week I'll attempt 11k without stopping. I don't want my form to be compromised or to have any injury result; so I've decided to incorporate yoga into my training regimen.

My new weekly training schedule will be as follows and I'll adjust week to week.

Sunday: Early morning yoga and hot bath to stretch and relax muscles

Monday: Strength training 

Tuesday: Run 7k

Wednesday: Run 7k

Thursday: Strength training

Friday: Run 11k

Saturday: Yoga 

Tomorrow will be my first day focusing on recovery and not just doing nothing and calling it a recovery day.

I'll keep you posted on my progress

Spartan Training Facility in Alberta

Below is a link for a training facility for Spartan Races. It's located in Fort Saskatchewan, AB. I realize its remote but it may pay off to practice on the obstacles they have set up. They allow drop-ins as well for those who can't commit to classes.

http://www.johnnybfitt.ca/Home.html

Train to be a Spartan

The decision to enter the Super Spartan race this September was an easy one. A group of my coworkers signed up without really realizing what we were getting into and we've all been pumped ever since. We have about 2 and a half months to train for a race that is approximately 15km+, and includes roughly 20 obstacles along the which include chin-ups, climbing 8 foot walls, and rope climbing.
To start we decided to work on our endurance level to make sure that we could at least finish such a race. I was running roughly 4km, 3 days a week and I've since increased that to 7km on my lunch break 3 days a week, and then I focus on strength training 2 days a week with recovery on the weekend.
I've got a long way to go, but I'll keep you posted. I'm doing a 5km race at the end of June as a bit of practice; I'm pretty competitive and I need a personal best to chase after to keep me motivated.

For more information on the Super Spartan race check out www.spartanrace.com