A Peek Into My Program

The questions that keep popping up are, “Keely how many days a week do you run?” and “What do you do for workouts?” I thought I’d answer that question in greater detail than how I have been answering in person.

I run between 4-6 days a week and it 100% depends on how my body feels. Recovery is key, so if I have done a hard run or workout one day, I might feel that workout for the next two days and will need to lay low. Since entering perimenopause, I’ve had a lot of achiness and discomfort in my feet, ankles, and achilles tendons which have forced me to adjust the demands that I put on my body. I stretch more, I could drink more water, and I have become much more flexible in my training than I ever have. Maybe after my MFA I will get back to ultrarunning, because trails are definitely my happy place.

Here are examples of a good week for me and a bad one.

Good Week:

Sunday: run 8-10 miles, Monday: rest day or run 3-5 miles, Tuesday: rest from running or 3 miles with bodyweight workout, Wednesday: run 5 miles, Thursday: run 3 miles with bodyweight workout, Friday: run 5 miles, Saturday: run 3 miles with bodyweight workout.

Not So Good Week:

Sunday: 3 miles, Monday: rest day or stretching and/or elliptical, Tuesday: Sprint repeats, stretch, bodyweight workout, Wednesday: run 3-5 miles, Thursday: easy run or elliptical and bodyweight workout, Friday: run 3-5 miles, Saturday: easy run and bodyweight workout.

*Bodyweight workout: I do a lot of crawling patterns and plyometric-like movements. If I’m not in the mood for this, then I do a full-body workout with weights.

*I was meeting up with a friend 3 days a week to lift weights together and that was a lot of fun. It felt nice to exercise with a friend. But then homework took over and we haven’t worked out together in a long time. :( I look forward to figuring out a way to at least get together once a week.