An unusual thing to think of when one considers fitness gifts, but 7 days in a week works out extremely well for periodization.
Monday’s a success just to get out of the door, and can be turned into a great day with a great workout. During the fall and darkest winter, it’s also usually a pretty great day to spend an evening in the pool when others are plunked down on the couch watching the gridiron.
Tuesday’s great for continuing momentum, or as a second chance when Monday just doesn’t happen. Natural day to ride if you’re doing a 4 or 5 day per week running program (Easy run Mon, ride Tues, Track run Wed, ride Thurs, race pace Friday, long run Saturday, long ride/easy run Sunday). And, it’s not Monday.
Wednesday – Stupid camels. But, it’s halfway to long-run Saturday, and a great, great chance to either kill an early AM hard workout, take a long lunch and do a mid-week stretch workout, or still salvage a slow start to the week.
Thursday – Full of grace. Good time to do some Pilates and think about long, lean, and strong, or ride, or spend some time in the pool working on smooth strokes and tight flip turns.
Friday – School’s out for summ… er, yeah. Great day to make sure everything’s loose and ready for long run Saturday.
Saturday – Fire up the smug, ‘cause when you get to your kids’ soccer game, everyone will be in awe that your big mileage is done. The downside is that the alarm doesn’t stop for the weekend – good runners are good parents. The sweet, sweet reward is not feeling guilty one bit when the feet go up on the couch or hammock, and the eyes go shut until the first “Hey, my brother just…â€
Sunday – Honor the Sabbath and keep it rolling. A-Merckx.