Non Omnis Moriar

Let's try this again

2012-02-06T08:55:00.001-08:00

Ok, after a short break due to injuries and a few life expectancies I am back. Let's try this a gain, the third times the charm.

So here is what I have done this week.....
Sunday... run cadence work for 30 minutes on treadmill working from 8/mile to 6/mile with 1% incline. I used this as a good workout keeping my HR at around 85-90% of max. I jumped off quickly and did 555 ft clime on a versa climber for time. I finished that in 5:12.

Lift workout (wendler week 1):
Military press 3 x 3 (95, 105, 110)
Single leg DL: 3 x 5 each leg @ 40#
Ring pull ups: 3 x 6
Wheel outs / GHD sit ups super set 3 x 5 each
Peg board climbs: 3

Recovery Day

2011-03-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

So I still feel pretty good. I have to admit my knees are a little sore but not nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I also have to share this... so as I was pacing there was another runner who's name was Brian. He rocked, wore a kilt and gave me some great conversation for the first 15 miles or so. He is also training for an ultra and was doing 40 that day to include the marathon. Just wanted to share the pic. I also decided if I was to get one with skull and crossbones I would totally wear it through the mountains. Either that or one with a cammo pattern. I guess just so i could be that guy!
Today was pretty much just an ice and stretch day. Tomorrow I will do some recovery WOD's and begin to get back in it. Honorable mention... I totally forgot to pull out my GoPro camera... sometimes I just forget stuff (just ask my wife).

Shamrock Marathon Race Report

2011-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Shamrock Marathon Race Report
The day started off pretty normal, got up walked the dogs grabbed some hardboiled eggs to eat and took off. The weather with wind chill at the beginning was around 35 degrees so it was cold to say the least. This feeling may have also been due to the lack of clothing I was wearing too (shorts, long sleeves running shirt).
We started a few minutes late and by the time our coral got through it was probably around 8:30 am. Since I was pacing I made sure that I went slow knowing we could easily make up a few minutes by the end if we had too. This wasn’t the case at all though. We were pretty locked on to pace but fluctuating by five seconds in either direction. I call that success in my book.
I felt really good going out and for pretty much the first 10 miles or so. At around 11 my feet began to get a little sore but not painful by any means. I am figuring the cause of this was related to three factors, the first being running in f-lite 195s. The second was the fact this was on pavement not dirt which only compounds over time. The third I would say is really two factors being not too many long time trials and the fact I am still learning POSE running. Like I said, it wasn’t painful by any means more like I just felt them.
We were right on pace hitting the 6 miles which worried me since we had the wind at our back but it was still only six miles in. We started to come back towards where the start was and everything was going great. I was in the lead at this point carrying the pacing flag. I knew once we hit the boardwalk it was going to be a fight for some people to keep pace with the 10-15mph winds that were going on. I had three runners stay up with me and told everyone else to just fall in behind and draft hoping this would save some energy. Not sure it did or didn’t but hopefully it helped some people. As we thought, the boardwalk was kicking for sure. We were on it for a few miles, turning off and going up the main street which turned out to be just as bad. This took us to the halfway point (13.1)feeling good. We hit the time we needed with a few seconds to spare. That made me feel good since at this point my garmin watch was just not working at all. It kept stopping, and pausing which made my job extremely difficult. We were on time to finish which is what matters.
We pushed on hitting shore drive and heading towards Fort Story. I didn’t realize it but due to passing people we picked up the pace a little. At the 18 mile marker we were now 30 plus seconds ahead of schedule which is good and bad. Good because it gave a nice cushion, bad because people start to really complain. Maintaining morale is just as important as pace since good spirits keeps people running better. Turning into Ft. Story (2 miles later) we were only 10 seconds fast so we slowed a little too much in my opinion. I tried to pick up the pace a little but the other pacers slowed me down and said we are ahead and this is the point when people will begin to bonk. I agreed and slowed down. By the 22 mile mark we were 5-10 seconds slow and I knew we were going to have to pick it up. As it turns out we did, not only did we but we ended up pushing a sub 9/mile for nearly a mile. After realizing it we turned around and lost nearly all of the runners.
This is kind of a bad thing since our only job was to maintain a good pace. We pretty much slowed way down gathering some runners back and pushing on. This point I saw a sign for a hash house stop (beer). I made it a point to grab a beer (yuengling) and down it. Good stuff, really. So we pushed on picking up a few runners hear and there but we really lost 75% of our group by our little stunt (as it turned out they were already falling behind and told us later they wouldn’t have made it). We came in back onto the board walk and ran it in with our small posse of maybe five runners. We ended up pacing in 4:14::21 which I call mission success since we were scheduled to come in at 4:15.
Now to the good stuff. I would probably rethink wearing flites with no cushioning on a marathon on the road. I think the 230’s would be a much better choice. Oh well! My shoes were a little tight which causes a very small bruise on my right foot which I believe was from when the swelling started. My ankles feel good, normal almost. I really contribute this to the flites as well. I have found that the strength in my feet and ankles has nearly doubled due to these types of shoes. My shins/calves feel 100% normal. I was wearing compression sleeves on them which I am sure helped. My knees feel it but not too bad. They feel ok though. I think a few days and they will be completely fine. The only thing I can really mention is the piece that connects my right calf to the knee or flexor. It is swollen which is obviously over use related. I think this is due to the POSE attempt of running and all the heavy squats I have been doing. It will be fine and get better as I get stronger and more technically sound running this way.
My hip flexors are fatigues and I have a good knot in my left side. That makes me wonder if there is a connection between the hip flexor knot and the pain at the tip of my calf. I have a feeling it is but it will get better. My legs have felt worse after doing Helen so I feel pretty good.
My nutrition was pretty locked on for me. Of course it could have been better but the best I have ever done. For the first two hours I took two salt sticks, two gels and consumed a 50:50 gatorade to water mixture in my hand held water bottle. After that I took a gell around 30 – 45 minutes and a salt stick every hour. This seemed to work well. I never felt like I was going to bonk at all. I will say I should have taken more gels though at around 20 – 30 minutes instead. I will do this for the 24 hour in a month. I also use a running water bottle and I have to say in order to really maintain through a water stop it is crucial. Plus I don’t really always want water at each stop so it allows me to drink when I want.
Final thoughts: Does CFE work? I have to say yes. I was fairly apprehensive going into the race because I literally did one long TT (two months ago). I managed to not get extremely fatigued, minimal muscle pain today and it just felt good the whole time. For me I actually enjoy running which makes it difficult to follow. However, that also make me enjoy being out there even more. I need to get into the longer time trials for sure. I think this will help me a ton with building up a few miles into my knees as well as build the strength endurance. I say it works, in fact I am willing to say that I am the proof!

2011-03-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

So I have begun to get a light knee pain in my right knee. It isn’t due to too much running but I am willing to blame it on form. I picked up a pair of nike free’s to test out. They are extremely comfortable for sure but all of a sudden I began getting some pain in my left arch, and right knee. It could very well have been from running too much on toes, out in front or the beach run I did yesterday. I will give them a few more weeks and re-integrate my Inov-8s back. I should have stuck with them from the get since they seem to be better suited and have yet to cause pain. Go figure!!!!
That’s it for now.

As I get ready to run the Shamrock Marathon, well pace actually I decided to take this week as a taper. Even though I am pacing I want to treat as a race to ensure I am fully recovered for the race. I will only be pacing 4:15 (9:43/mile) I want to make sure that I am physically recovered as I wouldn’t be normally, not 100% anyway. With that I have been running more than normal but at a lot slower pace (930-10/mile) in order to get that “feel” of what that pace will feel like. Since attempting to switch over to pose everything is new to me. Using muscles that honestly haven’t been worked in a long time, due to being so quad dominant. With that I am working on pulling not kicking and maintaining a higher turn over rate of more than 90 steps/minute.
The other reason was because this will give me evidence that this programming is working, and allow me to work on nutrition as well. Since my first real event is three weeks after this it will give me a good idea if I can meet that (100 miles in 24 hours). The hardest part of crossfit endurance is simply believing it will work. At the same time even with LSD training how do you really know that you can do 100 miles? In marathon LSD training one would typically run 80% of total distance (20 miles) but when it comes to 100 who would run 80 miles in a training run? Food for thought I guess.
So here is my taper:
Monday:
20 minute easy run at 9:40 pace
Tuesday:
Am: 5 miles at 8 min/mile, followed by 5% incline 10 min/mile for 1 mile
I did this just to give the legs some work early in the week. I still want to work them so there is no adaptation in a negative way.
PM: 5 x 3 Squats at 95 lbs. with 3 minute rest
Finish with foam roll
Wednesday 5 miles at 9 min/mile
I realize this seems like too much running but I want to shock my body with some load. The pace is easy so I don’t feel over trained at all.
Thursday:
Off
Friday:
CFE recovery workout, and 20 minutes of running at an easy pace

Saturday:
Foam roll, SMR work, and some stretching (PNF)

Sunday Race
Report to follow with GPS graph showing HR, and other empirical data.

Catching up

2011-03-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

So once again I seem to have failed to update on what I would consider an effective amount of time. This will be the last time this happens. Since my surgery I think I just got used to the gap in reporting what I have been doing.
As you can see I also have added a new tab that gives a little more empirical data on myself. This information should hold my "stats" for all to see. This will allow greater transparency with regards to my strengths weaknesses and PR's. So to recap the past week or so here is where I am"

3/5
Today was technically and off day but I wanted to really begin gathering information that needs to be understood in order to become a more effecient athlete. I decided to do a sweat rate test in order to better understand how much water and salt is actually needed in order to one maintain weight during and event (important for ultras), and two understand how much salt is lost during excercise (at race pace) in order to properly plan nutritional intake while racing.
I did an hour run at 12/mile pace (simulating and ultra) on flat hard pack trail (First Landing State Park, Cape Henry Trail)
Here is the data collected
Before the run I weighed myself and was 156.6. I drove to the park (5 miles/15 minutes) got out and began to run. I did not warm up as I feel for this type of funning it really isn't that important based on pace running. I could be wrong but from here on out that will be the way I do testing. I ran for 30 minutes out and back with my metronome going at 184 bpm. I finished at my car, hopped in and drove directly home which took ~15 minutes. I did not consume any water on this run and the weather was sunny, shaded trail at 10am in the morning and the temp was around 60. I got home stripped down, got on the scale and it read 146.6. So my sweat rate is 2lb/hour of exercise. This basically tells me I need to drink a lot of water and ensure I get proper salt as well as I sweat a ton of it out every hour. This will also give me a good indicator as to what I need to do to maintain weight during an ultra which you can get dropped for because of medical reasons.
It is also good to note I did the whole run on the balls of my feet training POSE. Did I do it perfectly... highly unlikely. I must have done something right though because my hamstrings were taxed for sure at the end. I have a ways to go in order to get this down. My goal is for the Old Dominion 100 I will be able to maintain POSE for the whole thing. We will see how it goes.

3/6
5 X 5 Presses
I did a good warm up that looked like this 10 x 45, 7 x 65, 5 x 95, 3 x 115
Working Sets were at 125 lbs. Not a PR but my body was still trying to recover from the previous days workouts where we did a fair amount of hand stand push ups (HSPU) and presses.
Took about 5 minutes off and we did a Cash out workout
6 minutes of AMRAP
6 HSPU
25 sit ups with an ab mat

Total: 5 rnd plus 4 HSPU

This pretty much demolished my shoulders as I had to do negatives at the end of this. It did stretch them out a little which I am sure was more due to hypertrophy and actually stretching them out. Either way who kows

3/7
Monday I was pretty taxed and cindy was on the menu. I ended up missing the workout and couldn't make it back to the gym due to work reasons. That is really how this week will go due to working hours.
I did get a run in aroun 9:30am. I hit the treadmill and did a 20 min hill workout. I set the elevation to 6% and ran a 9:13 pace attempting to stay on the ball of my feet the whole way. It wasn't an easy pace but I didn't fall off at the end so it wasn't as fast as it could have been. I began to speed up towards the 17minute mark but it was too little to later. Don't get me wrong I was taxed for sure but it could have been a lot worse. It's logged and I will increase the speed for sure next time. I then went down to 0% on the elevation and set the speed to about 11-12/mile and did around 35 minutes working pace and POSE. This is something that I would consider sport specific training as I need to practice this pace since it is not trained at all. It might be against what people in the community say but the fact is going from running all out to super easy is very difficult and needs to be trained as well.

3/8
Today's workouts ended up being back to back as it was another 12 hour day at work.
First workout was at 530pm
5 x 5 Deadlift @235 with 2min rest
Warm Up was as follows 20 at 75, 15 @ 135, 10 @185 and finally 7 @ 215
The working set at 235 was painful to say the least. It was a good weight for sure. The first set was smooth not too difficult, the second got tougher and i got a little light headed after that. The third through fifth was painful. I finished by taking a knee each time as I felt like I was going to fall over. To me this is mission success. I worked at max effort and can't complain at all. Maybe I could have gone up 5lbs but no matter what adaptation was achieved as I am sore now but not a debilitating soreness.
I put the weights away and jumped on a rower. I put the draft to 6 as this is where I feel the most effecient for time trials and did a 2k row time trial. I finished in 7:23 which is a good time and an even better time after deadlifts. My legs were done at this point, in fact my whole body was done. Breathing was nearly painful and it tasted like lactate. I call this a good job all around.
Brendan asked how I did and I said I was super happy with the time, however I was done on the last 500 and just couldn't keep the sprinting up at that point. I had hit muscle failure for sure and was barely able to push a 1:56 500m pace. He told me next time to take it as I would a real race and go out slower at around 1:50 500m pace. He said this is maintainable over a good amount of distance and time. Then the last 500 is everything you have and leave nothing on the table. As my first 300 was around 1:36, he feels my last can be sub 40 still. It makes complete sense and next time I will give it a shot. The end state there is a sub 7 minute 2k row which would be awesome. All and all I was smoked so I got what I needed for sure. I went home stretched and rolled them out a little.

3/10
Today wasn't too bad nor too good.
Started on the treadmill, 30 minutes, 12/mile pace, 9% incline. I did this really just to work on pacing at such a slower pace. I label it sport specific activity.
As soon as I finished I went right to the C2 rower and did 10 x 1 minute on, 30 seconds off. It pretty much sucked we can leave it at that. My legs are trashed. I finished with 5 minutes or so in the sauna. Good day.

Week Recap

2011-03-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

These are a little late but here is this past's week workouts
3/2 5 x 5 Low bar back squat @ 145
Was a good weight and had never done this type before. I was able to get my butt to the ground nearly which is good and shows my mobility improving.

3/3
AM - Run: 6 miles with some small intervals but mainly working on POSE running.

PM- WOD:
3 Rounds:
1 Minute Stations, Max Reps
Box Jumps
Wall Ball Shots
Row
Burpees
Push Press
Rest
Total number = 275
This put me pretty much into the wall each round. I found most of my box jumps were around 30 for the minute, rowing was around 17-19 and burpees were there too. The wall balls and push press just destroyed what ever I had left.

3/4
WOD:
For 20 Minutes: 1 Minute of Clean & Jerks 1 Minute of Rest 1 Minute of Strict Pull-Ups 1 Minute of Rest
C&J - 25
Pull ups 83
Total 108

PM - Bike
I hoped on the stationary and did 3 sets of 5 minutes all out on level 13 maintaining around 95 + RPMs
A this point my body is tired, and beginning to just be sore. My hamstrings are nearly shot due to the POSE running and squats followed by thursdays workout

Another Day

2011-02-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

So I forgot to post yesterday but here goes.
10am - tabata run on treadmill set at 9.8 mph with an elevation of 11%
Let's just say it sucked. I was able to stay on the machine but it was difficult towards the end for sure.

4pm WOD Deadlift 5 x 3
245, 255, 260 270, 275, 275 (fail)
Felt better than I thought. I get worried about form when it comes to this lift because of years of improper form. I managed to keep my back arched until the last set. On the second lift it began to curve so I dropped the weight as quickly as I could. Not a PR but I am still happy with it. Due to years of crappy form it's tough to say what my PR is. However my goal is 405.

Friday Feb 25
5:30 am WOD
15 AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible, in 15 minutes)
3 Presses @ 115
6 box jumps with 2 x 45 bumper plates
9 burpee's with a jump as high as possible (touching a ring)
I got 6 rounds and finished the presses and box jumps
Thoughts: I think I am going to do all my box jumps with a single plate on it from now on. I see it being beneficial over time and making me a better athlete.

2011-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

5:30am WOD
600m Run
50 Double Unders
40 Lunges
30 GHD sit ups
20 Toes To Bar (rings)
10 Burpees
600m Run
50 Burpees
40 Toes To Bar (rings)
30 GHD sit ups
20 Lunges
10 Double Unders
600m Run
Time: 22:52
Cool down: Foam roller, followed by a 600 with the last person
Was a good painful workout. My legs and lungs burned pretty equally which is a good feeling in terms of fitness. Weather was pretty cold at around 30 degrees which made the initial run really crappy but I feel it made the other good, at least felt good (as possible under circumstances). I tried to stay in the POSE position but am pretty sure that the last 600 my posture started to falter due to fatigue.

11:00 Endurance WOD
5 minute warm up on treadmill working from 10/mile to 8/mile and up to 2% incline.
20 minute time time trial at 1% incline.
Distance 2.75 miles ending at 6/mile, started at 7:30/mile.
Directly to bike for a 20 minute time trial at level 12 on stationary bike
Distance 6.01 miles averaging 95-100 RPMs
All and all I felt good. I find it takes me a while to warm up for a run. I didn't really feel comfortable until a mile or so which tells me I need a longer warm up prior to running a shorter race. I attempted to maintain Pose as well which i can't say if I was actually doing it well or not. I counted 4-5 times during the time trial and as my paced increased i went from 93-105 rpm's. I was counting though so I would have to guess it was close to what I estimated. I really need to order a metronome in order to master the rpm's. When I felt like I was going slow I just picked up the turnover. I also tried to keep my upper body as relaxed with as little movement as possible. All and all i do feel like I am learning which is awesome.

Finally Back.... Kind of

2011-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

So today I felt good enough to get a bike workout in. Today at around 10:30am I decided to get back on the bike for a "1 minute ladder" WOD
(1min on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on, 40 sec off, 1 min on, 30 sec off, 1 min on 20 sec off, 1 min on, 10 sec off, then go back up the ladder until you finish with 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on.)

So I set the stationary bike to level 14 and during work session I pushed 95-100 RPM (22-24 mph). Felt amazing to feel the burn in my thighs and get a good sweat going. It was a hard workout all the same but still feel awesome to get back in it.
No bleeding from my nose so I say it is pretty well healed at this point. However, because it is still so full of garbage and I can't blow it out I wasn't really able to breath through it enough to feel any difference between before and after. I am sure that will change in another week or so. In the mean time I am going to slowly work back into it with the hopes of not getting sick or anything else.

1.25.11

2011-01-25T12:12:00.000-08:00

So still not able to work out and it's driving me crazy. I just want to go hit the gym and run. However I did get some good news, as of today I can start to bike, use and elliptical and walk. By Friday I will be able to do light lifting. So not back to crossfit as of just yet but shouldn't be but next week and I will be back to 100%.

Here is where the fun part comes in, so I went to get the splints removed from my nose this afternoon and first off it wasn't the worst pain I have endured by any means but not pleasant either. The Doc started off with a small conversation and continued on to the procedure.
The conversation was actually pretty funny though. Apparently, there was a person who had the same surgery on the same day was being somewhat crazy. I believe it to be the same lady that was panicking next to us that day. So as the story went, her husband has called everyday since Thursday saying things like she has never been in so much pain, what has he done to her..... you get the idea. They called today to say she wasn't coming in because she was in so much pain.
He turns to me and asks when I plan on going back to work and I said I went back on Monday, shock takes over his face, just a little too much too hide. He begins to laugh, not a haha funny laugh though. This of course makes me somewhat paranoid. I mean wasn't I ok too? As it turns out I was ok to go back to work if I wanted to.... thank goodness (B- would have never let me live it down). The funniest part... the pain is really caused by the splint in the nose!!!!

So the procedure itself was easy I guess, I put my head back, braced for something unknown and told myself I wasn't going to cry. Something like that anyway. He inserted the scissor things (I am guessing med background just shined) in the right nostril and started snipping. The words that came out by no means made me feel secure about what was going on, "man these sutures are tough to get."
Pain immediately ensued! He got it a second later and removed the suture. Left nostril up, but not nearly as lucky as the right. We will just say double your pleasure, double your fun! There was a little blood but I assumed it was to be expected. Next he grabbed a nice pair of plier and grabbed the right splint and yanked. No warning, not slow and easy but quick. Almost like yanking out a kids tooth. Then the left which due to the cut in my nose at this point made the pain be good.
I quickly flung my head over to see the splints. I had to know how big they were. Let me just say, have you ever seen Total Recall? You know the scene where they yank the tracking device out of Arnold's nose. It wasn't nearly that big, just saying. I would have to guess it was 3-5 inches long, and those are man inches they are real inches. It like a fishing lure, that is what came to mind when I saw them. They were opaque, elongated, and maybe an inch at the wides part.
So picture a lobster claw, now separate the small claw from the small. That little hard piece that is attached is what it kind of looked like.
Anyway, that was my day, I know it was exciting.

2011-01-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

So I am 48 hours or so out of surgery. I had a deviated septum that needed to be fixed for a long time. I have had breathing issues for a while some days it was pretty bad (couldn't make it up the stairs without being winded if I didn't breathe through my nose).
Surgery went well as far as I know. I hate anesthesia for sure. As soon as I got injected I got uncomfortable. Of course the next thing I remember is waking up sometime later. Waking up went better than both my wife and I thought. We both thought I might get a little violent which wasn't the case. Instead I stopped breathing a bunch. Not stopped but just wasn't taking full breathes. I would almost black out hear a loud beeping sound and find my wife hitting me to wake me back up. Thanks goodness for her. I don't know what I would have done without her through all of this.
She has been waiting on me hand and foot for nearly two days now. Forcing meds, food, water everything that I need. She has been a godsend through this. I am not trying to over dramatize this experience by any means. She has just gone above and beyond to take care of me.
So i will be out for a week or so. Puts a small hindrance on my life and training but the long term benefits of breathing will be worth it.

2011-01-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

530am

WOD:
4 Rounds for Time:
10 Strict Pull-Ups
10 Kipping Pull-Ups
10 Handstand Push-Ups
10 Pistols (Each Leg)

Time 20:50

Need to work on pistols but that should be obvious to me since my leg strength is pretty weak. I have pretty strong strict pull ups but they definitely felt tired.

Lunch

Due to time constraints I had to cut the workout shorter so I increased the intensity

4 miles total

First 2 miles I went at 85% my 5k pace, the last two went at 95%. I was struggling the last 1/2 mile or so to push through but a great workout.

My body is pretty exhausted from the last three days. I am still pretty sore on the back side of my inner thighs but all and all it isn't overwhelming.

Tomorrow Surgery!

1.18.11

2011-01-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

1030am
WOD
TABATA on steroids (30:20 x 8)
Used stationary bike level 15 maintained RPM's at 95-110
each round was around .2 miles or about 24 miles per hour.
I was really satisfied with the work, my legs felt a burn from start to finish. I began to feel as if I could feel each muscle working and burning. Good workout for sure.

500pm
WOD
10-1 deadlift (started off @215 but form wasn't good so went down to 185 at around set 6)
1-10 Ring dips
Rest 2:30
1 mile all out (was really around .9-1 when I googled it)
Rest 3
10-1 Thrusters (started off at 95 but slowly ended up at 75)
Pull ups (did strict until i couldn't do any more)

Times:
8:58 felt ok, tired, but my form is what truly held me back on this. I really need to work on my form.
Mile: 5:01 at .9 it would have been a 5:30 pace. I just concentrated on lift my feet as quick as possible but for some reason my hip flexors felt truly open which made me feel better. Definitely had my lungs burning after this.
11:29 Painful, thrusters slowed me down over pullup, I think it was more form that was hurting me. However, after the run my body was just done.

Today I had pains in the back of my leg that feels like whatever muscle is going in to groin muscles. I honestly can't remember when they felt like this. It's muscle fatigue so I am super excited about it. To me the pain just means it is working. I am guessing it is from forcing myself to go low. All and all I am tired but i feel as good as I can.

1.17.11

2011-01-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

Coming off of a rest day.

6:30am
Warmed up for ~45 minutes doing wall squats, GHD work, KB swing, pull ups, OHS, and hip flexor mobility work.

WOD:
For Time:
30 sq @125
400M
30 Burpees

Time 5:12
400m 1:09
Great WOD, felt the lactate in my lungs at the end so I know I was working. The squats were a good weight for me. I was hitting failure on them at the end causing bad form. 400 sucked as always. One the burpees I hit failure on 23-24. It because extremely hard to get up.

Running WOD
5:00pm
8 x 200 with 4 times recovery
Times - :27, :26, :27, :25, 26: :27, :28, :27

Pushed hard, but felt recovered at the end. Weather was crappy 39 degrees and raining. I ran the 200's jogged 200 back and waiting inside the gym for the last 45-60 seconds. I think I could have done a round or to. Next time I will go until I run slower than 30 second splits.

Diet today is lacking for sure. I had a shake before the gym and a great breakfast of 3 eggs, 1/3 bell pepper, 1/4 onion, 1tsp coconut oil.
Due to tiling my kitchen all day I didn't eat anything else so I am two workouts in with a single meal. But the tiles look good!

11.15.11

2011-01-15T12:37:00.001-08:00

WOD
Timed 5k
Time 19:04
It was probably mid 30's this morning when I went running. Not as cold as I originally though it was going to be, but cold enough all the same.
I started with about .75 mile warm up which really isn't enough for me. I feel like it takes me a solid 2 miles in order to get going.
It was definitely a painful run but good at the same time. Legs felt tired after about a mile or so, but didn't feel the lactate until around the 2nd mile maybe a little farther. I really think that I could have gone under 19 if it had been a race.

11.14.11

2011-01-14T06:39:00.000-08:00

WOD (165 sq x 4, 10 box jumps)
5:30 am
Did an easy 500m warm up
Did 4 warm up sets of squats building up to the WOD
Rested 4-5 minutes between each set.
Last set of box jumps I changed it up a little. I placed a dynamax ball on the bottom and worked the 10 from a full resting position. -Thanks Matt

5 minute rest

Every two minutes for 6 minutes total
10 GHD situps with vest
5 strict pull ups with vest

Overall it didn't feel bad. My body has been tired, especially my hip flexors. I think part of this is just due to all the mobility work I have been doing as well as working full range of motion squats. The fact that I do 50-100 wall squats a day isn't helping either.
In between each set of squats I would do some mobility and wall squats. I really found this helped a lot. One of my issues is getting my knees out during squats. But I found that after doing some wall squats right before it made things so much easier. All squats had the bar sitting lower on the back. I like these type and for me because of my flexibility issues I think it makes it easier. i do want to start slowly doing some high back squats when my hip flexors get better.

10:30
I did a 5 mile run. Not all out or easy but I wanted to go out and get a heart rate base. At 75% I am right around 8 min mile. The reason for this is so i can figure out what I will do for an ultra. My goal is to have the Bull Run Run in around 8.5 hours which means a 10 min/mile.
So the run didn't just feel good it actually felt easy. It take me a good mile to warm up but once I got there I really just wanted to run faster and harder. All and all it was a good run. Get's me ready for a timed 5k tomorrow.

Nutrition was pretty solid for the day. I did cheat a little at diner. I had some boneless wings that afternoon. I didn't feel guilty but they really weren't as good as I remember.
Other than that it was the usual:
tons of protein, fat and minimal carbs.
I am finding that getting the protein is pretty easy for me, the fat is difficult and the carbs are somewhere in the middle. I am still working on finding the right ones for me. Eating a 3 block salad with 4 of protein is just so much food.

11.13.11

2011-01-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

WOD
2 x 15 minutes on bike (stationary life fitness) with 2 minute rest
level 12 maintained between 90-95 RPM's

Started off at level 9 not really knowing where to start as I don't typically ride treadmills.
First set I ended up with a distance of 4.57.
Felt good but but took 5 minutes or so to get a good level. Went to lvl 11 till the last 5 minutes and then decided to push a little extra and knocked it up to 12. Finished with legs burning so good.
2 minute rest
Second set I went right to 11 for about 5 minutes and then to 12. I used rate of perceived exertion at the desired RPM's in order to figure out the right resistance. I ended with 4.8 on the last set. I was burned out for sure. This will give me a good start point for the next workout. I was just shy of 20 mph for a pace which is where I would have been on a road bike.

11.12.11

2011-01-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Today was merely a run day.
I hoped on the life fitness treadmill, warmed up and set it up to hold an 85% HR for 30 minutes, with a speed of 6.5 (9:13) pace. Once my body evened out it maintained at around 3% incline the whole time. I felt ok getting off but beginning to feel the fatigue in the legs. Tomorrow is a rest day so I will just do some form and mobility work and call it good.

Diet was pretty good today no cheats or anything but probably not the best either. Really good for breakfast, lunch wasn't too bad, I had 5 blocks of lean pastrami and some sauerkraut for lunch. Diner is a nice fish and some steamed broccoli. I think I have lost nearly 5 pounds already going on the paleo zone diet.

2011-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

11 Jan 11
Workout wasn't too bad, then again it wasn't too easy either.
Did an easy 500m Row followed by shoulder warm up
5 x 5 shoulder press with 4 minute rest in between sets
125, 130, 130, 130, 135. Final 2 reps at 135 were what I would consider failure. My form deteriorated and I began to do more of a push press than a press. At 130 my posture began to falter a little. I began leaning back more than I would like to admit. I managed to keep fluid motion and not push it up but I am assuming I was beginning to activate my chest as well as shoulder. I will push back down to 125 for nex time.

I will have to admit my diet has been going pretty well. Brendan (Crossfit Obsession) has me on a Paleo-Zone type diet. However, it is very different than just your typical 16 block meal plan. Instead I am following a 20 blocks protein, 10 blocks carbs, and 30 blocks of fat. It's been about two weeks of being on it and I have noticed a change in my body already. However, previously I wasn't following anything and ate all kinds of things I shouldn't have. I ate tons of candy, chips etc.... It might have taken me thrity years to figure out but glad I am finally on something that.
Anyway, I got home fromt he gym and work fairly late and went right to getting diner made. Not sure what I was going to do I figured I would just throw something together. My wife had pulled out some ground moose meat so I just put something together pretty quickly.
2 med tomato chopped
garlic
chili power
2lb moose meat
green onions
1/2 cup mago salsa
1T. Coconut Oil

melted oil, added meat. Once meat was cooked I threw chopped tomoato and green onions in. Cooked for 3-5 minutes. Added Chilli powder, garlic powder, italian seasoning and salsa. Cooked for another minute and served. Ended up tasting like Chilli and hamburger helper.

Jan 10

2011-01-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

AM
Started out with rowing warm up doing slow methodical powerful pulls. I maxed out at a 431 Watts. Next did a 500 meter all out trying to maintain the 431. Somehow I managed rock up to 550 or so. The 500 meters ended with a mean of 433 and a time of 1:49 with a damper setting of 6.
5-4-3-2-1 for all movements. Complete 5 for all then 4 reps for all.....
Back Squat 155
Hand Stand Push Ups
Clean and Jerks 135
Burpees
L-pull ups
Roman Deadlift 135
My time was around 15:20 bu this was by no means for time. My goal was form and effort.

Around 11am I hit the treadmill for a running workout
I did a 5 minute warm up building speed up
Next was the workout itself.
Treadmill settings... 12% incline speed varied
Tabata set 1:
first 5 rounds were completed at 9.0 last three I wasn't able to keep pace. i began falling off the back. The last three rounds tool me down to a speed of 8.8.
I then took a 5 minute rest
2nd tabata set
started out at 8.9 mph. I completed the first 6 sets at this pace and the last two dropped to 8.7

All and all it was a good workout but super intense. I need a lot of work on my form with squats... a lot. This something that will be worked on over time.