How To Tet Your Butt Kicked 101

So I'm on a mission to run a sub-50 minute 10 k.  This year still.  Yikes!  My goal 10 k race takes place on 6 December, which gives me less than two months to prepare...  [Now a sub-50 minute 10 k may not seem like much to all you speed machines out there, but believe me when I say that to me the idea of clocking a sub-50 10 k seems pretty much like running at the speed of light for almost an hour.  In other words it hurts just thinking about it.]

Having trained for the Fish River Half that took place on 27 September, I have a pretty good endurance base at this stage, but I definitely still fall short in the speed and strength departments - I need to get fast and I need to get strong, stat!  

I have the speed work covered with a programme from an old UK Women's Running magazine, but have been hum-and-ha-ing about the strength part.  I needed something brutally efficient that I can do with the kids in a stroller if need be - something without frills or plenty of equipment to hog around.  Ahhhh, and that's where getting my butt kicked comes in.  Ooooh, I got it kicked so bad!

I very unscientifically threw together some of my favourite moves to make up this mama-friendly-time-efficient bad boy*:

Trust me, you'll need your big girl panties for this one!  I did the running portions solo this time, but you can obviously also do it with either a single or double stroller.   Oooooooh, it's a goodie.  What I especially love about it, is it's versatility: You can shorten the running parts if you prefer a more strength-focused workout, or you can increase or decrease the number of reps of each strength exercise.  You can also increase the intensity of the workout by pushing for a better time - the options are literally endless!    

I completed my three rounds in 31:47 (with no stroller, knee-push-ups and I limited the number of burpees to 10 for each round) and will aim to bring this time down over the course of the next 8 weeks (until my goal race).  If this doesn't make me strong, I don't know what will, right?

Getting strong!

First things first, though: Here's hoping I'll be able to get this battered body out of bed tomorrow morning...!

                                                       *   *   *

My speedy Namibian cousin has started a brand new blog, Life at Large, though which she shares her and her family's running and other adventures.  She recently smashed her half-marathon PR by more than 7 minutes - go have a read!


*You know you need to get your physician's approval before starting any training programme, right?  I'm also not a qualified fitness trainer - this is simply a plan put together by a mom who needed a plan.  Do at your own risk - and watch your form.