It hurts when I laugh

     While I was in San Diego I came to the realization that I need to incorporate some additional training in my routine.  Over the last year I dabbled in a little bit of strength training at the gym but ended up dropping it to concentrate on my running.  I have limited time in the early mornings to run before work and I felt like it was more important to get that extra mile or two in vs. lifting weights.  I wanted to challenge myself at Ragnar so I volunteered for the 2^nd highest total mileage (22.7 miles).  I put in a lot of work over those few months leading up to the event so I could cover the distance of the three legs and do it as quickly as possible. 

     
      Now the best part of Ragnar is the team aspect and all the fun that 6 of the the 12 team members stuck in a van can have.  Extreme laughing is a buy product of all that fun and by the time I reached the end boy did it hurt to laugh!  It amazed me how much of my “core” muscles are used while running.  Well I thought to myself, if my abs are this sore after Ragnar, how would I feel 20-23 miles in during my first marathon, and the answer I came up with is not that good.

     

     I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to decide what to do and how to do it.  After all kinds of research on the internet I have boiled it down to this: 2 Days of Core workouts, 2 Days of upper body and 1 Day of lower body.  I have had an app on my phone for a while now that I never had gotten around to using called the Gorilla Workout.  In a nutshell, this app has several workout plans using only your body weight for your resistance.  Each plan has 4 stages of roughly 9 workouts in each that get progressively harder the further into the program you go.

 Core workout days will consist of:

Gorilla App – 200 Sit Ups

(Works you from 0-200 sit ups)

Standard Plank

Left & Right Side Plank

Superman/Bananas

(you start out doing the superman pose on the floor and then attempt to roll over onto your back and make a banana shape without letting your arms and legs hit the ground.)

Upper Body workout days will consist of:

Gorilla App – 200 Push Up

(Works you from 0-200 push ups)

Supine Holds

Lower Back Extensions

Opposite Arm & Leg raises

Lower Body workout days will consist of:

Gorilla App – 200 Squats
(Works you from 0-200 squats)

Fire Hydrants

(Think of a dog & a fire hydrant) LOL

Here is what my weekly schedule will look like
(Click on the schedule for a blown up view)

          I am going to keep this routine pretty fluid and make adjustments based on how my body feels.  I don’t officially start my Marathon training until June 1^st and I am still sorting that plan as well but I wanted to get this going ASAP so it would become routine during marathon training and I think the only way to get me going and make me accountable is post it here for all to see!