Maintenance training on small Pacific island with no facilities
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I’m an ultra/mountain runner coming off of a summer 100 miler season feeling strong and (relatively) fresh. I’ve taken 4 weeks very easy, generally recovering while doing a bit of high-end speedwork to rebuild that neuromuscular connection after the big mountain work. My overall plan is to restart a cycle culminating in a 50k race in December, with ME identified as a key focus area.
My family is taking a 2 week trip to a small South Pacific island that will be enjoyable, but presents a challenging training environment. The island is so small that I might have to run laps on about 800m of trail, if the trail is even clear. Swimming is an option, as are bodyweight ME workouts. Unfortunately there are no workout facilities (weights, treadmill). I’m under no false impression that I’ll be building fitness, but I’d like to maintain as much as possible, and even use the opportunity to focus on some aspect of fitness I’d otherwise neglect.
Any creative ideas and/or thoughts of how to structure that time? Thank you!
Hi, rbj7787
Thanks for writing in. The ME workouts are obviously excellent for mimicking and training for vertical and general running events. If possible, bring a small backpack to add some liters of water making more challenge. You can also do a lot of sets (like 10 or more) in a workout, aiming to maintain high-velocity throughout.
A workout I and Scott have used is ‘water intervals,’ or whatever you want to call them: Basically, pick an interval length, eg. 3min of hard with 2min easy, and run in shin+ deep water for the hard period; wet sand for the easy rest interval. The sticky and heavy water is very effective resistance training. The intensity can be adjusted with velocity and water depth. Beware of running in sand as it can cause soft tissue damage under high load or long duration running – be conservative to start!
Hope the trip is fun and fitness-productive.
-Seth
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