Marathon training begins

I'm training for the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon in May and decided on a 23 week training program to give me time to recover from harder workouts, get stronger and deal with whatever other issues come my way.

One of the things I've realized with my other marathons is my leg and core strength is lacking.  I feel OK through 20 miles, but my legs, hips, and core start to tire out much more quickly and I end up slowing way down for the final 10K.  This year I decided to try a strength training program 1 or 2 times a week.   It's called the IronStrength Workout that I found on RunnersWorld.  It was developed by Dr. Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician who found that runners were coming into his practice with injuries more than other sports.  He figured out that runners were getting injured because they lack the overall body strength to do what they were asking their bodies to do.

The workout is a single 50 minute workout done with little rest and let me tell you it's a humbling experience.  Below are the steps.

• 2 minute warmup of 30 seconds each of lunges, jumping jacks, and squats.
• 6-8 sets of 15 plyometric jump squats with 20 seconds rest in between.  Bring your butt down below your knees and then jump up.
• 5 minute superset of rows from plank with dumbbells, then 10 pushups, then 10 situps and continue without really resting for 5 minutes.
• 5 minute superset of 10 plyometric jump lunges and then 10 single leg plyometric squats.
• 5 minute superset of 10 mountain climbers and then 10 Legs Down.
• 5 minute superset of 15 deadlift high pulls, 15 overhead presses, and 15 bicep curls.
• 6 sets of 10 burpees with 20 second rest between
• 1 minute of a right arm plank to a 1 minute center plank to a 1 minute left arm plank.
• Hamstring stretches
• Knee twists
• Hip flexor stretches

I found out that I am lacking in strength.  My initial thought was to do the workout twice a week.  We'll see how that progresses together. Today I ran 4 miles and my legs were stiff and tight.  A little rolling before I run might be in order for tomorrow.

So I've just started back into marathon training and I am looking forward to seeing my progress throughout the weeks leading up to the marathon.