She Strengthens

Finding Your Rhythm in Week 3

As you hit the midpoint of your training plan, it’s essential to maintain momentum and focus on consistent progress. This week, you’ll tackle a mix of running workouts, strength training, and nutrition advice to help you power through.

Running Workouts

Easy Run and Strides
Kick off the week with a 35- to 45-minute easy run, followed by 6-8 x 20-second strides to get your legs moving. If you’re feeling fatigued, stick to 4 strides maximum. If you’re feeling strong, aim for 12 strides.

Ladder Workout
Get ready for a challenging ladder workout, consisting of hard efforts of 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute, with equal jogging/walking recovery in between. Cool down with a 1-mile jog.

Easy Recovery Run
Take it easy today with a 30-40 minute run at a leisurely pace. If you need more recovery time, swap this run with a cross-training session or extend your run to an hour.

Tempo Run
Push yourself with a tempo run, aiming to maintain your goal 10K pace or faster for 4 consecutive miles. Start cautiously and bring it home strong. Cool down with a 1-mile jog.

Long Run
Finish the week with a 55-85 minute long run, prioritizing a hearty breakfast 2-3 hours beforehand and staying hydrated with in-run fluids or gels.

Strength Workouts

Choose from three options:

Option 1: Movement Drills and Supersets
Perform movement drills like 90/90 transitions, dead bug, and single-leg deadlift, followed by supersets of tempo squats, foam roller bridges, push-ups, split squat iso holds, side planks, and hollow holds.

Option 2: Movement Drills and Supersets
Try movement drills like 90/90 knee rolls, wall stride, and A skips, followed by supersets of 1 1/4 split squats, quadruped holds, single-leg hip extensions, butterfly drills, calf raises, and wall planks.

Option 3: Movement Drills and Strength Circuit
Perform movement drills like 90/90 transitions, 90/90 knee rolls, wall stride, and slow march, followed by a strength circuit of heels-elevated squats, long lever single-leg hamstring bridges, renegade rows, dead bugs, and single-leg deadlifts.

Nutrition Advice

As your weekly mileage increases, so does your need for carbohydrates. Focus on consuming breakfasts that combine carbs and protein, while minimizing fat, fiber, and artificial sweeteners/sugar alcohols. Examples include oatmeal with blueberries and peanut butter, protein waffles with almond butter and honey, and scrambled eggs with whole-grain toast and fresh fruit.

Don’t forget to replenish electrolytes lost through sweat with sports drinks and electrolyte-containing products. Aim to consume 0.5 to 1 liter per hour, depending on your sweat rate. Potassium-rich foods like russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, dates, lentils, edamame, bananas, and orange juice can help meet your daily needs.

Get ready to take on week 4!