Goodbye shin problems and a gym strength session

I realised in the shower yesterday (don't ask me why) that I didn't have any shin or knee twinges during the speed session on Monday. Great news! Hoorah. I thought I'd be in for a good month of niggling twinges.

My right ham isn't quite right though. It's tight along with some tightness in the glute - a long term niggle for me. I'm seeing my physio this week so I'll get him to work on it again.

Anyhoo, back to the training. I do a gym strength session every 2 weeks to reduce load on knees and ensure I have decent lower and upper body strength, including midriff. From Rannoch Moor onwards in the WHWR2007 my intercostal muscles and ribs were really sore from the slight torsion that happens every step when running. After hours and hours I guess they just get sore but I'd like to strengthen these areas in prep for this year.

I try to keep a high heart rate in the gym workout by doing exercises in groups of 5 with no breaks then having a 30 second breather to set up the next exercise. The groups of 5 have 1 leg and 1 upper body exercise and alternate leg - upper body - leg - upper body - leg so that I focus on legs more than upper body (appropriate for running I reckon). Each exercise within a group is done at a weight that means I can get 15 reps out. If I can get more I increase the weight next time.

The session went like this (numbers = number of sets at 15 reps each):

Single leg press x 3, bench press x 2
Break
Single leg press x 3, pull-ups x 2
Break
Single leg raise (top 15 degrees only) x 3, shoulder dumbell raise x 2
Break
Seated calf push x 3, seated row x 2
Break
Single leg raise (whole lift) x 3, Dips x 2
Break
Seated calf raise x 3, hammercurls x 2
Break

I then do a midriff routine consisting of:

Leg raises x 30 (the one where you dangle and lift your legs up straight in front of you)
Back hyperextensions x 15
Crunches x 25
Back hyperextensions x 15
Sit ups twisting to the side x 15 each side
Back hyperextensions x 15
Lateral dumbell lifts x 15 each side (hold dumbell in one hand and bend to the side)

All went well but I definitely notice on the single leg press that my right leg (where ham problem is) is weaker than my left. I'll try to gradually rectify this over the next couple of months.