Unlocking Endurance: Cait’s Road to a Half Marathon

I have always enjoyed being active, playing sport and have ran on and off and in phases forever! I never thought long distance running was my thing and at one stage thought 10km was my happy limit. But this year I decided is the year to attempt a half marathon! and have my eye on a run fun happening in November. I’m coming into the second half of the year with 10km under my belt and planning to use the second half of the year to increase the kms (obviously!), build on my strength training program to compliment the running and keep at bay any niggles and injuries that are bound to pop up!

I’ll be using the next four months of training to experiment with different running programs and strength exercises. My running schedule currently is one slow, easy run and one shorter, quicker pace run (much more challenging for me than the slower run!) and one-two strength training sessions each week.

Why is it important to mix up your run paces and distances?

Mixing up your run speeds during the week is important to prepare and condition your body to becoming more efficient at converting metabolic waste back into fuel! This prepares your body to tackle different obstacles that can present in a run. Incorporating varying distances into the week is important as you can put a focus on each run to reduce burnout and overloading. A slow/easy jog is good as a ‘recovery’ simultaneously increasing the kms into your legs and a shorter/faster run can increase your fitness quickly whilst gradually working towards increasing the speed and pace of the whole run.

Why do we add strength training to your running training?

The reason behind supplementing your running with strength training, importantly is to improve your tolerance and speed when making contact with the ground. Increasing the strength and power in your legs is going to recruit our motor units faster, increasing our speed and the quicker we can turn our legs over. Strength training can also work as an injury prevention mechanism, protecting smaller structures from the continuous, repetitive load of running.

A snippet of some of the resistance exercises I’m working on twice a week to increase strength, power and unilateral strength and stability:

Barbell back squat

Barbell reverse lung

Single leg kettle bell arabesque

Seated weighted heel raises

Stay tuned over the next couple of months for training updates through what is quickly proving to be a freezing winter!!