As race day approaches it’s important we keep J.R.’s body in tip-top shape, last week’s focus was on recovery. J.R. ran his longest run to-date last Sunday and had to give his body appropriate time to recover, helping him to stay healthy until the race.

J.R.’s run last Sunday was his progression run. The focus was to start easy, in zone 1, and progress as the run went on to zone 2. The key to this run was to make sure he kept his heart rate under 171. If his heart rate went above 171 J.R. was instructed to slow down or walk to make sure he got back into zone 2. His run on Sunday lasted for 3 hours and 20 minutes and can be viewed below.

Following his long run, where he regularly monitored his heart rate to ensure he wasn’t overworking himself, we set him up with several aerobic workouts throughout the week to give his body the opportunity to repair itself and become more efficient and build mitochondria (remember biology class -  the powerhouse of the cell!) while maintaining frequency. The aerobic workouts were shorter and focused on things such as running hills to build strength and quality runs at a faster pace to get his heart rate up into zone 3.

This week and next we’re looking to continue to build J.R.’s frequency as the big day draws near with runs in both the morning and evening. Two-a-days anyone?