Rants and Raves of a Hobbyjogger

Again I've had another two strong weeks and feeling good.

Last week was busy, so I didn't get as much mileage (35 miles last week), but this week I ran 60 miles!

I had a heavy weightlifting session on Monday that felt very successful. Heavy barbell deadlifts with varying grips and stances - wide stance, wide grip, narrow stance and grip, etc. Bodyweight dips were next, but with a real focus on going slowly and really feeling the contraction. Finally, I wrapped up with some shoulder rotation isolation exercises. I could really feel the rear delts engaging, which is something that will help with posture and arm motion while on the run.

Tuesday and Wednesday were back to back 12 mile runs, with back to back 8 mile runs on Thursday and Friday.

On Friday evening, I hit my home gym for some barbell bicep curls and some wide-legged kettlebell squats. I could really feel my hip flexors engaging in the wide kettlebell squats. It seemed like an excellent compliment to the deadlifts I'd done earlier in the week. Additionally, I think this exercise was helping address some weaknesses that will strengthen my long runs in the future.

Saturday I took a rest & Netflix day!! 😂

Then, for my long Sunday long run today, I ran 19 miles! As I've said before, I really like to celebrate the changing of the seasons with a long run. Today was the first day of spring, and it was an unseasonably warm and beautiful day. 62 degrees at the outset, I wore a tank top and shorts and didn't even bring a long sleeve shirt, which ended up being the correct decision.

I worked my way north along trails, through Palmer Park and up to Pulpit Rock Park. Then I looped around Rockrimmon along the sidewalks and returned on the Pikes Peak Greenway and Rock Island Trail.

Around mile 13 or 14, I started to feel a little sluggish. I had just eaten a small amount of carbs a couple miles prior. It took a few more miles to help, but by mile 16 or so, I felt fantastic again. The feeling of "tired legs" gave way to feeling light, almost like I was floating along. I was so glad that I was feeling this way in the last few miles of a long run! Maybe the kettlebell wide-legged squats were already helping. I wrapped up my run with the last uphill to my house, feeling accomplished.

We are expecting a spring snow tomorrow. It's very satisfying to complete a long run on the day before a snowstorm, because then you can relax at home and watch the snow falling.

Here's a few photos of my runs over the last two weeks.