Exploding

 Ok, not literally.

At least I hope not!

I am, however, trying to regain some of the power and explosiveness that long endurance running tends to blunt. I have some stuff coming up that will require a very different kind of fitness than I've been tootling around with for years, so I've been trying a couple new things to see what my over-the-hill, chronically-damaged body can manage.

The first thing - and probably the least hazardous - is some tire dragging. A dear friend was kind enough to give me a tire pre-threaded with some polypropylene rope, so all I needed was to improvise a harness. This video from Gwen Jorgensen (who credits coach Bobby McGee with the idea) shows how to craft a simple and effective one with a bicycle inner tube.

In short, put both your arms through the middle, with the top against the back of your neck and the bottom at your lower back. Use whatever you have on hand to keep the front together against your chest.

The stretch of the inner tube helps prevent too much jerking on you as you pull the tire along behind you - essentially playing the same role as the bungee cord in these (quite expensive) pre-made setups. I've only pulled it a couple of times so far, always on pavement: I'm told that a cinder track or gravel road is best (presumably rail trail would be similarly well suited), as the looser surface helps reduce friction.

I got to experience this for ~100m when there was some debris on my street that I ran through - it was definitely easier than dragging the tire on clean pavement!

Because I'm just starting out and not particularly strong yet, I've only been doing a short bout of pulling - I live on a crescent that is about 440m 'round, so I've been pulling for 1 lap of my block, popping off the harness by my front door, then continuing on with the rest of my run. 

Bonus: it feels like you're FLYING for the first couple of minutes after you ditch the tire!
(Yes, I'm still slow as heck with or without the tire)

I'm looking forward to taking it to a track at some point so I can do some intervals, and hopefully working up to being able to pull for a couple of kilometers or more. The effort level feels similar to snowshoe running in not-too-deep unpacked snow, so this may actually be a way to continue to reap the benefits of snowshoe running through the rest of the year.

Oh gawd can we please get to that ice-free rest of the year?

So there's the "power" work, but how about the explosiveness? For that, I'm using one of the most basic ways to try to build fast-twitch response: plyometrics.

Really just a bunch of bouncing around

Here's the thing: I already lift weights in the mornings, doing a variety of different strength stuff that I rely on to keep myself functional. I don't want to mess with that, and I also know that I should be nice and warm and loose before jumping around a bunch - not still bleary-eyed before I've even had a cup of coffee or a bite to eat - so I've been adding in a short circuit after one run each week.

I give myself a minute to walk and cool down a bit after ending the run, then do the plyometric stuff down my street

I've kept it pretty short and simple: I started 2 weeks ago with two sets of 8 jump squats (first gif), 12 alternating jump lunges (second gif), and 20 alternating speed skaters. Last week I added a third set.

You can see the speed skaters at the end, which were super sketchy on my snow-covered street that day!

Throw down a set, walk down the street for 30sec, crank out another, walk another 30sec toward home, then bust out one last set, and finish it all off with some dynamic stretching. The whole thing only takes a few minutes.

With the high impact inherent in plyometrics, I'd rather err on the side of too little than do too much

I've only been working on these for a couple of weeks, but I feel like I'm already starting to see some minor adaptations. I don't know how much I will ultimately be able to improve in the short timeframe I have before I'll be putting whatever gains I'm able to make into action, but I believe this may make me a more resilient runner as well, so I hope I'll be able to maintain these additions to my weekly training consistently enough to discover just how much I can benefit.

If it helps things function a little better when I'm hours-deep into the trail, some burning quads here and there will totally be worth it!

So tell me: do you use any strategies to build or maintain power and explosive strength? If so, let me know what you've found that works, or just what you enjoy!

I'm always open to trying new things!