I have personally tested most of these( no chance to snowshoe ) and found them to work, but this year I focused on Wgt Training and Plyometrics as my primary Cross training/ Running Equivalent. So, I decided to try dropping most of my run days and doing just strength training and plyometrics instead, as my training for an upcoming Ultra Marathon. I did this 2-3x/week and had 1 rigorous long run day for 2 months.
Yes, I know this is tantamount to blasphemy in the traditional Track & Field world. And even Dr. Jason Karp-who wrote what I still consider the best article on strength training for runners (Strength Training for Distance Running: A Scientific Perspective, NSCA June 2010)-was against replacing running with strength training when I asked him a few months ago. So I was a bit worried, if my “research” might be a bad idea.
The results were good. Despite a very challenging course (at least for me-see Blog post 3-14-12) I ran a decent race and was able to sprint the last 3 miles when finally got to flat, non -technical trail. So for those of you with wacky work schedules, nagging injuries, etc. you might want to consider the idea of “running equivalents”. Remember the Coach K mottos- change is good, and work smarter, not harder.
No comments:
Post a Comment
What do you think?