Monday: Strength training and stretching

My long runs are generally on Sundays, because that is usually the day that races occur. Granted, right now my Sunday runs aren’t exactly “long.” Even so, my training schedule during the week is fairly light. My schedule for this week isn’t too strenuous:

Monday: Strength training and stretching/yoga

Tuesday: 3 mile easy run

Wednesday: 2 mile run with hills

Thursday: 3 mile easy run and strength training

Friday: Rest!

Saturday: 30 minutes of cross-training

Sunday: 4 mile run

I haven’t worked out with weights in a while, so today’s strength-training has been a little hit-or-miss. I’m trying a large number of exercises to see which ones hurt my joints the most. The ones that work my muscles well without putting too much pressure on my already stiff and sore joints will be the ones that I work on. After it gets warmer this spring, I will retry some of the exercises that hurt my joints to see if there is any improvement.

As far as strength-training is concerned, I’ve really let myself go. Just a few months ago, I was much stronger than I am now. But now that I do not work at a gym, I don’t have access to the weights that I did back in Dallas and I’ve slacked off a lot. Getting strong again will take a lot of effort, but will be worth it. I only own 8 lb, 5 lb, and 3 lb weights, which are perfect right now. But soon I might have an excuse to go buy a new set of heavier weights :-)

Today’s workout:

Upper body: Not necessarily in this order
Tricep dips – 3 sets of 12 reps
French press - 10 lb – 3 sets of 15 reps
Tricep kick-back – 5 lbs – 3 sets of 15 reps
Tricep lifts – 8 lbs – 3 sets of 15 reps
Preacher’s curls – 8 lbs each – 3 sets by 15 reps
Concentrated Curls – 8 lbs each – 3 sets by 15 reps
Crazy 8s – 10 lbs total – 2 sets of 36
Shoulder presses – 5 lbs each – 3 sets 15 reps
Referees – 3 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Lateral raises – 3 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Front raises – 3 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Chest presses – 16 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Chest flyes – 10 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Bench presses – 16 lbs – 3 sets 15 reps
Girly Push-ups - 20 (I'm so weak!)
One arm rows – 8 lbs – 3 sets of 15 reps
Resistance band rows – blue band – 3 sets of 15 reps

Lower body:
Calf raises – 3 sets of 25 reps
Wall sits – 1 minute holds, 3 times
Plie squats – 3 sets of 25 reps
Leg curls – 14 lbs – 3 sets of 15 reps
Hip adduction – 3 sets of 25 reps
Hip abduction – 3 sets of 25 reps
Genie sits – 2 sets of 12 reps (these put a lot of pressure on my knees and really started to hurt)

Core: A mix of supermans, bird-dogs, crunches, bicycles, planks, bridges, and sit-ups

Stretching/yoga: 30 minutes