half marathon training: weighted vest and strength training

My half marathon training needs to start at the beginning of February, however, I decided to start at the beginning of January in order to better build my running base.

Life had other plans. All of us got sick last week. Mine was a sinus infection that just wouldn’t go away. Not my cup of tea. We also took our second son back to college which is always a 2-day trip due to the 6-hour drive. I decided not to stress over the sickness, and simply reboot myself this past week.

Part of my rebooting had to do with my strength training program. I’ve been working my way through Mind Pump’s Anabolic program without much progress. An ear infection in the fall and the holidays made it difficult to be consistent with the program. I decided to switch to Mind Pump’s Performance program and combine it with MP’s OCR program. While a trail run is not OCR, there is enough overlap to help a trail runner.

My main concern for the half marathon is the need for strong, mobile legs. I always say that trail running is dynamic. I never run a trail the same way. Even if the conditions remain the same, our pace can change and our choices for foot placement can change, too. If a trail is technical, i.e., rocks and roots to navigate, a trail runner needs to be able to hop, jump, and lunge while running. Since my ankle mobility is less than ideal due to previous injuries, I also need to strengthen my ankles to prevent injuries while training and during the race.

I decided to incorporate a weighted vest into my dailies, the exercises that I do every day as a base. This helps me challenge my body and also helps me build towards doing the full Murph with a weighted vest, a goal I have for the year. So, every day, I do 10 pull-ups, 10 dips, 10 pushups, 10 pistol squats, 10 kneeling lean backs, 10 reps of 3 different lunges, and 10 single-leg calf raises. That’s my minimum for the day. Then, I do additional rounds of 5 reps per exercise. This week, I decided to use a 20 lb weighted vest for the additional rounds. I’m already feeling myself get stronger!

I found my weighted vest at Target several years ago. It can hold up to 40 lbs. If it ever decides to fall apart, I will go with a vest with a different type of velcro strap. The strap on this vest often does not stay in place.