Cherry Blossom Training

So I owe everybody a couple of posts this week on both my running and brewing exploits. We'll start with my training for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile.

After about a month of training, I finally feel like I have my base. My legs feel great and cardiovascularly, I feel good. This week, I ran 5 days for 16.2 miles, all on the treadmill. Average pace was approximately 10 minutes per mile, although I did shorter stretches at a faster pace (~9:30/mile).

In addition to running, I added a day of cross-training, spending 30 minutes on the exercise bike once during the week to break up the running. For now, I'm going to stick with the bike although I may start swimming as well. Our new gym has a pool that would be great for swimming a few laps.

Finally, I added weight training to my regimen this week. I spent 30 minutes with a personal trainer working on lower body exercises to strengthen my legs. While training for previous races, I have suffered tendinitis in my knee as well as pain related to my IT band. I plan to push it hard during this training and hope that these exercises will contribute added strength and prevent recurring IT band issues. I plan to do these exercises twice per week.

Now it's time to get out and run!