Adding Mileage without running?

Hi There,

These tight calves have got me thinking (can you smell the burning from where your sitting?) If I can't keep the mileage that I'm currently doing how can I add more miles to my training? So instead of running to work I could ride my bike a couple of days a week an may run before work......the cycling would help my legs recover between workouts and I would then have at least 5 hours between runs (more than what I have right now) this way I'd still be home in the evening at a good time so I can spend some time with the young fella before he goes to bed.

The schedule would something like this:

Monday - Commute to work and Back Total (42K) Run 12K

Tuesday - Run Lunch = 12K /  Run Evening =15K

Wednesday - Commute to work and Back Total (42K) Run 12K

Thursday -  Run Lunch = 12K /  Run Evening =15K

Friday - Commute to work and Back Total (42K) Run 12K

Saturday - Long Run (30 - 38K)

Sunday - Recovery Run (60 minutes)

So between cycling to work and running I'd be doing approx. 250K a week. Now if cycling is 1.5 times easier than running I'd be doing the equivalent of 180K per week....which is a lot of Mileage. My only problem with adding cycling to the mix is cycling and running don't really work together. But on the other hand when I training for Tri's I never had any problems with injuries until I added more running (mind you I wasn't running very fast then either).

Also on Sunday afternoons I think I'll take the young fella swimming. Its not really swimming as such, but its a chance for me to let my legs recover from the weeks training (we were doing this throughout the winter, its just that the session ended about a month ago)

First things first - get the tightness out of the calves. Will keep you updated on how that's going.

Weekly Training - Week ending Feb 21st

Monday - Rest (Family) Day
Tuesday - 105mins total for day 24 K (long run)
Wednesday - 50 minutes @ Lunch total for day 11.5K
Thursday - 50 minutes @ Lunch 11.5K + 11K inc. 5x5 @ 5:40per mile pace
Friday - 75 mins total for day 17.2K (the running commute - ran to work)
Saturday - 135mins total for day 27K (Long slow run)
Sunday - 70 Total for day 18K with Fartlek

Approx for week = 120K
Good week for running. I think this is the biggest week of training that I've done for some time. Monday was family day so I spent the day with the family watching the Winter Olympics, I also took Tuesday off work and went running.

On Friday I ran to work (as we had a meeting at lunchtime), it was about a 75 minute but I got a call around halfway and had to resolve some computer issues while on the road.

Saturdays run was pretty good, albeit slower than I normally run. But that's OK right now as I'm not looking to make the long runs hard (just yet) I'm looking to spent time on my feet rather than distance covered.

Roll on this week - one more week building and then possibly a rest week

Weekly Training - Ending Feb 14th

Monday - 50 minutes total for day - 11.5K
Tuesday - 50 minutes Lunchtime + 5x3mins / 2 min rec @5:15 mile pace total for day - 22K
Wednesday - 50 minutes total for day - 11.5K
Thursday - Rest day + 30 minutes yoga
Friday - 50 minutes total for day - 11.5K
Saturday - 2hrs with APTS crew. including 6x2K (6 x 2 laps of the Legislative building 3 starting at top 3 starting at bottom) Times for each repeat 1) 7:41 2)7:32 3)7:15 4)7:11 5)7:04 6) 6:58 2min rec between repeats.total for day - 24K
Sunday 65 minutes total for day - 16K

Total for week - 96K
Not a very good week on Thursday I think I ate a little too much MSG as Friday mornings running commute to work was called off due to feeling hungover. On Tuesday the the intervals didn't go as easily as they had in the past. Only good day was Saturday's run. Roll on next week

Weekly Training - week ending Feb 7

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 50min lunch time + 50 min evening (15 warm up 5x3min @5:00 mile pace/ 2min Rec 15 min cool down) - Total for day 23K
Wednesday - 50min lunchtime - Total for day 11.5K
Thursday - 50min lunchtime + 70 mins evening (15 - 20min warm up 5x5min @5:20-5:30 mile pace/ 3 min rec 15-20min cool down) - Total for day 25K
Friday - 50 min lunchtime - Total for day 11.5K
Saturday - 2hr run with APTS crew - Total for day 22K
Sunday - 70 min (20min warm up 10x3 @ 5:40 mile pace /5min rec 12 - 15 min cool down) - Total for day 15K

Approx. Total for week = 108K

Summary of Week
Good training week this week. The run on Saturday was slower than I would normally run, but I was going for more time on my feet than for distance. By running slower a couple of others stayed with me for the 2 hours and since it was pretty cold out there the company was welcome. I'm also trying to get in more quality runs in per week than previous years. By March I plan on adding 1 mid week long run and then in April a second one.

Weekly training for week ending Jan 31 2010

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 45 - 50minutes easy in River Valley(lunchtime) / 15min warm up 5x3minutes @ 5:22 per mile pace going up to 5:05 per mile pace, 2 minute recovery 15minute cool down. Total for day 20K (evening)
Wednesday - 50 minutes easy, total for day 11K (lunchtime)
Thursday - 52 minutes, total for day 12K (lunchtime)
Friday - 50 minutes easy, total for day 11K (lunchtime)
Saturday - 95 minutes easy total for day 22K
Sunday - 15min warm up 2x12minutes @5:30 pace 4 minutes recovery 20 cool down in 5fingers. Also spent 30 minutes in the pool with my son.
Weekly total of 95K

Good week of running, though I was hoping to get a second run in on Thursday it didn't happen due to life getting in the way. Saturday and Sunday went pretty well but I had to cut both runs a little short due to the weather and poor footing.

January 29th 2010

Hi There,
Well it’s been an interesting week or so since I last spoke to you. I took some time off from work and trained a little more than usual, I didn’t however get out and ski at all. Instead I decided since it was so nice that I would ride my bike out on the road. I ran in the morning and then rode out towards Devon in the afternoon. Thinking that it would be warmer in the afternoon than the morning. I had forgotten that my left foot gets frozen out on the bike… it’s been awhile since I last rode my bike in the winter. On one of my spins my foot wasn’t that bad, but on another one it took almost an hour for me it to warm up afterwards. I had also forgotten how much clothing you need to wear while out on the bike, more than I would wear while out running in similar temperatures. One of the things I like about cycling this time of year is that drivers almost always do a double take when they see you.

I was reading on the Irish independent website about how the cold snap that they had in Ireland during January had caused some of the country’s top runners to head to warmer climates so that they could train properly without the risk of getting ill due to the cold or injured due to the snow and ice on the ground. This made me laugh, and I seriously thought of emailing the reporter that wrote the piece about what it’s like to run outdoors in Edmonton during the winter. I mean Ireland had approx two weeks of the kind of weather we have for 4-5 months of the year, only in Ireland would snow bring a country to its knees.

So far in 2010 I have changed my mind as too which events I would concentrate on, and depending on how things shape up I think that this year will be a marathon heavy year with (right now I’m thinking) 3 marathons. I’m thinking of both Calgary and Edmonton, although they are only about 10-12 weeks apart that I’m not sure how that will work out. I’m thinking Calgary as it’s the provincial marathon championships and then I heard on the grape vine that the course for this year’s Edmonton marathon is changing to a flatter route than the previous year’s course. So we’ll see how that develops, I’ve spoken to a few people about the Edmonton marathon course and they reckon that it is much harder than Boston, which I’d believe as running up MacKinnon ravine can’t be easy after having run 18 or miles.

I read Nate Jenkins blog pretty regularly and as you may notice he always posts his training from the previous week, it gives you a good idea of how a professional runner trains, he always has a summary of the week and some pretty good quotes at the end of each posting. But what I like most about Nate’s blog is that he takes time to reply to people that shoot him any questions. So I thought that I would try to include my mileage per week and break down some of the workouts as I thought it would give you an idea how a not so professional runner trains. Please bear in mind that running (as much as I love it) is only a hobby for me as I work full time and have a family to look after and provide for, before I can head out running.

I’ll start next week with the mileage, my weekly mileage (until the snow melts) is about a steady 100K per almost every week. The only thing that changes are the length of the intervals and whether I run a hill workout or a tempo workout that week. Due to work and family commitments I’m limited in the amount of time during the week that I can put into my running.

Anyways thanks for reading
Niall