Training log July 2018
Here is what my training looks like these days.
Endurance training
I have a 25km race coming up in 6 or 7 weeks. My goal is to finish it and since I can already run 20km without dying too much, I am focusing more on running shorter distances more often. I will try to do this by running 5-10km three or four times a week depending on my schedule. I am also playing around with the programming of my long runs (over 18km) as they tend to interfere with my strength training.
current goal is to hit 50km a week.
Strength training
I am still playing around with which protocol is most compatible with my endurance training. I seem to be able to hit the gym at least twice a week which is enough to maintain strength, but not enough to increase it.
I mainly focus on back squats, bench press, shoulder press and pull ups. I haven't deadlifted in a while because I take too long to recover from them. I would like to do them again later but I need to figure out a hybrid protocol that works first.
I keep my reps fairly low, between 3 and 8 and try to do a total of 15 sets per muscle group that I train by doing 3-4 exercises.
Motivation is the biggest struggle because I feel drained by the cardio workouts.
Nutrition
In order to increase energy and motivation, I've started eating more. I lost a total of 10 pounds over the last couple months without altering my nutrition so it looks like I need to eat more anyways to maintain muscle mass.
Veggies and rice have been a new staple, as well as my new pancakes I love to make.
Have been trying to drink a lot more water as well.
Supplements
I am focusing on limiting my supps to BCAAs, glutamine, omega 3. I take these to ensure speedy recoveries between workouts.
I will be adding spirulina (high vegetarian protein content and anti oxidants) and ashwagandha (anti oxidants, anti cancerous) to further speed up recovery.
I also have a bag of Iron Vegan athlete's gainer which is just protein powder mixed with carbs and is designed to up daily calorie consumption for when I don't have time to eat all my meals.
Recovery
I quickly realized that to reach my goal next year of increasing my squat strength and running an ultra marathon, I will need to prioritize recovery between workouts above all else. This will ensure a good consistency which is the only way I will be able to do this.
I am trying to go to yoga twice a week but failing miserably right now. I only do hot yoga and it's hard to do it during the summer when it's so hot out. Instead I have been doing 15 minutes of daily yoga with 5-10 minutes of foam rolling.