My Homemade Strength and Endurance Training Drill: SSS Run

The reasons why I've resorted to this:

• because I'm frugal; mainly for efficiency and economy in time and money
• to use what nature already provides at no expense, rather that buying extra gym equipment/gym member fees
• because I didn't have a suitable leg strengthening repertoire within my home gym
• because the greater long distance training time is cutting into my strength training time, and I'm risking over training some parts of my legs and under training others
• to use more time working out within range of home and less time commuting to the gym/track facilities
• to balance and compress both strength and aerobic exercise within a day using one shortened workout
• to build up more resilient joints for reducing shock and injury during forward and lateral motion, muscular endurance and strength for increasing acceleration/passing ability during races
• to collect free material for other drills/projects

Drill: Triple S Run A (South Saskatchewan Sandbag Run) Phase 1

Course Length: 6.5 kms
Frequency: Once a week, after a rest day; at least two days after longest run of the week
Shoes: Runners with orthotics
Other Equipment: Heavy duty backpack with chest and waist strap support, a garden trowel, a couple of doubled up shopping or garbage bags

Step 1: Load backpack with the other items, adjust straps such that when you wear it there is no loose jolting

Step 2: Run at 80-90 % through my local riverside park until 2.5 km is reached, and go to riverbank to a spot with beach sand

Step 3: Use garden trowel to fill garbage bag with 20 heaping trowel fulls of fine, clean, damp (not saturated) sand: it amounts to about 18-20 kg/40-44 lbs. Wrap and tie bags securely and load the sand into the backpack

Step 4: Run the remainder of the course wearing backpack. Alternate pace with intervals of walking/running/hiking, perform lunges, change up step work, find rough trails up the riverbank, or do hill charges.

Drill: Triple S Run A Phase 2

Course Length: 6.5 km (with reversed procedure)
Frequency: Once a week, two days after Triple S Run A Phase 1
Shoes: Seperated toe runners (Hobbit boots)
Other Equipment: Same as above

Step 1: Strap on the sand-loaded backpack, start with walk and gradually increase pace to slow jog. Be conscious to land on balls of the feet rather than the heels.

Step 2: When coming to 2.5 km spot on the trail, head toward the river using frontal lunges to the same spot where the sand was first collected. Finish with a set of 20 prisoner squats, planks/push ups while wearing backpack.Take a two minute rest; hydrate.

Step 3: Remove backpack. Dump the all sand back onto the beach by the river. Return it to the same spot it was first found.

Step 4: Re-adjust backpack to allow for comfortable fit.

Step 5: Continue running the remainder of the course, using fartlek/interval training

Step 6: Do a hill charge at the steepest trail to get back into Diefenbacher Park and resume running at top speed for the rest of the course

Purpose (Phase 1): To start with a warm up to loosen the leg muscles with the jog, then gradually build strength in the calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, and knee and ankle joints.

Purpose (Phase 2): Start with full body strength training, finishing with core and upper body; then use the physical sensation of being lightened to build on speed and acceleration training.

Inspirations/Motivations:

• That added weight of sand is equal to about the same amount of extra bulk I used to carry on me, plus a couple bags of groceries that added all that extra poundage. I seemed to have had no problem carrying around that extra food and lard before; therefore, I should be more eager to carry that same weight if it served to wear more of it off of me.
• This weight was lighter than what most of the Canadian soldiers had to haul while wading through choppy shorelines, and charging up Juno beach under machine gun fire during WWII. By comparison, this looks pretty simple.
• Being mindful that people in the Himalayas move up and down mountain paths that are only accessible by foot, on a daily basis, carrying more than this weight in rice, fuel, and other provisions just to live. People (mostly women) in some poorer African nations carry this weight or more of water (on their heads) over many kilometers just for their families' daily needs. It keeps me thankful that we live with access to many amenities to convenience and abundance.Walking or biking to a local store is not a hardship by comparison.