workout

Another week closer to the Spartan Race

I’m still not up to the distance I need to be, around 9 miles overall. I’ve been trying to follow some half-marathon training plans but I’ll be honest, they’re not working. I’ve successfully gotten to just under 4.75mi on most runs but I can’t seem to break that barrier just yet…and my calves end up hurting/being overly tight for days on end afterwards. So I’m still just under half the distance I need to run and I can’t make any progress because what I’m running now is setting me back…what a conundrum. At this point, I’ve decided that I’d rather keep running at whatever distance I make it to rather than follow a prescribed plan which may just ramp up the miles too quickly, leaving my poor bare feet beaten up and sore. I figure that since I basically made it this far simply by running until I stop comfortably, I can make it further. In the last few months, I’ve become too goal-oriented and running went from fun to something I did on routine. That makes it a lot less enjoyable. It’s gone from fun to a chore and I don’t like that at all.

In interest of training for the Spartan, of which I’m doing two of in three weeks, I’ve been adding in a lot more randomized weight training. I know where my weaknesses are and I know that I can’t fully address them in a matter of a month, but it’s at least a start. In order to hopefully address my on-going ITB issues, I’m adding in lower body stuff like dead lifts and front/back squats. I’m also adding in stuff specifically to slam the glutes and hamstrings like GHD sit-ups which are anything but fun. While the last 9+ months of running have certainly whipped my legs into shape, I can feel that it’s been to the detriment of other muscles and cross-training is now necessary rather than something I would like to avoid. I just need to cement a training regiment and a stretching routine to make sure I nail that stuff to keep things supple and flossy.

All of this stuff should help build a strength base that I will then use in the upcoming FAU Strong Owl strongman competition that the University puts on twice a year. It’s funny, a year ago, I was just trying to fit into my jeans but now I’m signing up for crazy ass obstacle course races and strongman comps, and for the most part, I’m having fun doing it. I’m still not sure what my girlfriend thinks of all this, she doesn’t really say much about it, I think she’s just appeasing me at times since all I do is talk about training in one form or another. Maybe I’m just being overzealous right now since I’m having fun.

Got a photography club meeting today that I’m on the fence about, not because I don’t enjoy the club, but because I’ve literally got nothing to address or talk about today (and I’m tired). I hope we can cut the meeting short to get some administrative business out of the way and then come home to veg out.

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February 16th, 2012
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chitchat
running
workout
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2012-02-13 Workout: Empty the tank

So I felt great all day, not too much tightness anywhere and was mostly amped to run. That is, until I got down to the nitty gritty of it.

Warm up
2 min jump rope
5 pull ups
5 toes to bar
5 GHD sit up

Workout
4.68 mi, 65mins (includes warm-up time).
For some weird reason, the Timex Run Trainer had a hell of a time getting a GPS lock. This is a known issue on the newest firmware but it’s the first time I’ve had this issue.

Cool down 5 pull ups
10 toes to bar
10 GHD sit up
5 back squat 135 lbs
5 front squat 105lbs
5 dead lifts 105 lbs

All those squats seemed like a good idea at the time but they weren’t, I was way too stiff to do them right. And that weight blasted me after the run, now I’m paying for it. So sore today. Next time I’ll just do the regular cool-down routine

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February 14th, 2012
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workout
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2012-01-31 workout: Shin Smasher

I have dubbed yesterday’s workout the *Shin Smasher* for no other reason than I almost bonked a 10lb sledge against my leg at least a dozen times.

**Warm up**
10 sledgehammer around the worlds/windmills
5 kettlebell halos
15 knees to chest (and some other goodies from KB master Mike Mahler)

**Workout proper**
2-hand slam, 5 rounds alternating 5/5
Tire carry, ~26lbs ea, approximately 140ft between rounds of slams
10-10-10-10-13 2-hand overhead slam
~36lb water carry approximately 140ft between rounds over overhead slams
10-10-12 butter churn ladder

**Cool down**
10 sledgehammer around the worlds/windmills
10 kettlebell halos
5-4-3-2-1 burpees ladder
12-10-8-4 knee to elbow plank ladder

This workout itself has made me rethink my future workout regimen. I’ve got two “heavy things” to lift and use to workout (as the line goes from Richard Nikoley and Mark Sisson:

    1. Sledgehammer
    2. Kettlebell

Working out with both is very fun and very challenging but I think I may stop the kettlebell training for now as I’m very worried about tweaking my back. Or I’ll stop until I can take a few classes with a reputable RKC to tweak and refine my form rather than continuing to swing mine and do some serious harm. I think I’ve got the form down but I am not terribly certain that it’s exactly right as my KB workouts don’t totally kill me despite doing 5 or 6 sets of swings with upwards of 15 reps. Sure, I’m sweaty but really, I’m not feeling it especially the next day.

But that’s where I like the sledge workouts, it’s totally self-correcting. If I’m swinging wrong, I’ll feel it almost immediately either in my shoulder or my delts. If I hit the tire wrong, the sledgehammer’s head twists and wrenches right on my wrist. It’s immediate and it hurts like hell. But with my KB, it’s more nuanced and it’s hard for me to always track whether I really am popping my hip flexors or if I’m just using the bell’s momentum to swing. Doing that with a sledgehammer will either result in it not moving at all or bouncing off the tire straight into my face…and then not moving at all, probably because I’d be on the ground gushing blood and passed out. That lack of pendulum-like motion is an excellent feedback loop, I just don’t get that so far with my kettlebells. I like feedback, it’s important to get it to make sure you’re not about to crunch a disc or pop a joint out.

So, perhaps for all of February I will train with sledgehammer work only until I can get enrolled in an RKC-led kettlebell class to get some input on what I may or may not be doing wrong and go from there. Plus, I think swinging a sledgehammer looks way more manly.

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February 1st, 2012
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workout
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2012-01-29 workout

Last night’s gut buster

7×10 kettlebell swings, 1 pood (linked to a series of Jeff Martone videos from his CrossFit KB cert class)

5 kettlebell military press r/l

A bunch of half assed one arm swings

Farmers carry, ~36 lbs each, 140 feet, 6 rounds (used 5gal buckets of water)

8-6-4-2-1 burpees

10-8-6-4 Everest climbers

Stretch cool down

Elapsed workout time: roughly 40 minutes

Today, my delts are smoked from the presses and farmers carry. I’m still not terribly confident in my swing form as I do not believe I’m generating enough power, either through an improper hip hinge or something I haven’t identified yet. I cannot believe I’m so busted up over such a simple workout, I’m still feeling it. I think February may be the month of all sledgehammer workouts, those ripped my abs last time.

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January 30th, 2012
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workout
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2012-01-23 workout and follow-up

Ran at the FAU track with a buddy.

C25k training, week 1 day 1, 0:24:39 1.58 miles

Half marathon/Spartan race training, 0:34:34 3.17 miles

Total for the day: 4.75 miles

That was my longest run that I’ve logged so far. Surprisingly, except for some calf tightness, I was not too sore, even my ITB was OK. That was, it was OK until I actively stretched it out. During the State of the Union address, in an attempt to help stave off any ITB tightness, I seemingly overstretched and since then, it’s actually been hurting a little bit so I have laid off the runs for the last two days. Hopefully I can log another one this weekend before the run resumes on Monday, but I may just lay off and do some strength work instead.

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January 27th, 2012
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