Day 1: ME upper body/bench, light recovery run
Day 2: REST
Day 3: ME lower body, speed/interval work
Day 4: Short race pace run
Day 5: DE upper body, running form drills
Day 6: DE lower body
Day 7: Long slow distance run
The rationale is as follows: Starting with day 1, your heavy upper body work will (clearly) not fatigue your lower body, and a light, relatively short distance slow pace run will be easily handled. These may seem like “junk miles” (running for the sake of running with no real benefit or goal in mind)- in reality, recovery runs are pretty critical. They are NOT meant to fatigue, they are just meant to shake out the tightness. Day 2 is pure rest- absolutely critical, as day 3 is your heaviest leg day of the week (where you want to be at your highest level of recovery). Note the speed/interval work directly afterwards. This may seem counterintuitive, since your legs are already smashed, but for all intents and purposes this workout will be taxing the same muscle fibers you just beat to hell- simply put, it is better to condense this into a single workout and not be destroying yourself twice a week.
Day 4 should be a very short run, focusing just on good form and solid pacing (and helping your legs loosen up after heavy lower body), leading into day 5, where you are combining upper body with running technique work. Running drills… these would include any sorts of exercises such as repeats, strides, pacing practice, even quick feet/high knee drills or other accessory work. These are CRITICAL- You NEED to be doing form work, particularly if you’re not a lifelong runner. Good form can make the difference between completing a marathon versus crapping out at mile ten with a stress fracture and leg cramps (more on this in a later article.) Day 6 is pure lower body speed work (the drills did not appreciably fatigue your nervous system), and day 7 is your PURE aerobic, long slow run of the week (This is where you increase your mileage the most as you progress).
Powerlifting and running a fast 5k
Though this routine may seem to have less complexity that the miler routine above, the lack of metcons simply allows for increased focus on the lifting. This is essentially the routine given in the previous article, with distances included for reference.
Again, worth noting is the recommended distance for the interval work. Shorter distances at higher speeds would encourage unsustainable speed and alter running form, thus negating the purpose of the exercise. I would recommend rotating deloads, with a lifting deload every six weeks, and running deload every eight. This is the sort of program which can be easily modified for all skill levels and experience levels, and one which I put the majority of my hybrid athletes on.
