Thursday, October 24, 2013

gotta get stronger, let's plank!

Almost two weeks ago I got my ass handed to me at the Grizzly Ultra in Canmore, AB. At the 8K mark the lead group pulled away from me at which was already a stupid fast pace. As I watched Duncan Marsden gliding ahead I noticed how there was a certain togetherness to his stride which made running look almost easy. So I conclude, after comparing my running stride with his: Duncan looked strong, myself more wibbly and nonlinear.

Now to say I don't have an efficient stride would be wrong. I've had a good race season with a number of wins and increasingly faster times, but if I want to take my running to the next level I have to locate my weaknesses and address them. If I had a coach (which I don't because I have control issues) I'm sure this hypothetical coach would have a number of solutions to my number of hangups. Since I'm flying solo I will just have to go at it using trial and error.


The off season is the perfect time to improve your weaknesses. So the first one I'd like to take a stab at is my core strength; being that I have no core strength. On top of my regular strength workouts, my core workout currently consists of randomly hitting the ground and planking for a minute or two and...well...that's about it. My buddy Caroline Toppazzini is doing the 30 day plank challenge. So I plan to follow suit, but being that I'm bat shit crazy, I'm going to double the time spent planking. Basically topping out at 10 minutes on the 30th day....GULP! The goal is to develop significant strength in my core, hoping that by next year I can keep pace with the stone cold killers in the lead pack of a redlining 50K. In the meantime if it so happens I look better with my shirt off, I may just do as Justin Bieber does and randomly lose my shirt in public places.


http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/classes/30-day-plank-challenge/#_


6 comments:

Unknown said...

huh hum... i think i suggested that you should do it double, with your kids sitting on top... :)

runproctor said...

Half way into the plank I may stuff my kids under me proping me up...sweating was so yesterday.

Unknown said...

So I made it to a minute yesterday. The next nine will be easier right?

runproctor said...

Right?!?

Bernadette Benson said...

When you master that one, might I suggest the 40 push-up challenge? Or maybe you don't have Tyrannosaurus Rex arms like me?

runproctor said...

I could use all the challenges I could get my hands on.