Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Short week so Legs.....

Hit the gym for some legs. No running or spinning. Sort of in tape mode.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Barbell Box Lunges - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count
Box Jumps(hands over head) - 4x12
Superset - Hip Adductors - 4x15, Seated leg press angled - 4x24

Abs

Plank 4x75seconds

5:30am run in my future.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Bleh.... ready for Hangover

This morning I met the group for a run. We started with a mile warmup. The I ran hard for the next 3-4 miles by myself since the usual group members I run with were absent. Not a great run but was able to average under a 7 min pace.

Hit the gym for some back.

Back

Superset - Under-handed Low Row - 4x12, Over-handed low row - 4x12
Superset - Close Grip Low Row - 4x12, Wide Grip Low row - 4x12
Weighted Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
T-Grips - 4x12
Close grip pullups - 4x15

Abs

Scissored toe touches - 4x15

Monday, December 21, 2009

Feeling weaker

Recently, I've been trying to shave a few more lbs off and as a result I've been losing a little strength it seems. Bleh.....

Chest

Barbell Flat bench press - 5x12
Barbell Inclined bench press - 4x12
Barbell Declined bench press - 5x12
Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell Flys - 4x12, High Cable Flys - 4x15
Weighted Box Pushups

Abs

Scissors - 4x24 with a 10 second hold

Friday, December 18, 2009

Arms & Rain

Nasty rainy weather and another long week.

Arms

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Declined Dumbbell Tricep extensions - 4x12
Reclined Dumbbell Curls - 4x12
Superset - Tricep overhead press - 4x12, Tricep pushups - 4x15

Shoulders

Arnold Shoulder Presses - 4x12
Superset - Plate around the head - 4x24, Shoulder press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell Side raises - 4x12, Platel front raises

Abs

Plymoetric Side Plank - 6x60 seconds

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Intervals - Too slow to keep up...

Joined the 5:30am group for the normal run this morning. Here is what we did. 1 mile warmup, 5x4-minute intervals(1000m essentially at a 5:45per min pace) 2 minutes of easy jogging in between & a little cool down. The average pace doesn't do this run justice. I was the slowest person in the 4 man pack this morning. 2 of the pack was clocking in 5:30minute paced intervals. Not the best idea to do intervals the morning after doing legs. Also, my leg turnover needs to improve a decent amount to run 5:30minute pace. I ended up averaging a 6:30 pace for the entire run and my recovery jogging was very slow.

Then, this evening I hit the gym for a 1 hour spinning class to loosen my legs up and for cross training purposes. The instructor today was intense for once.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Wednesday Legs

Hit the gym for some legs. No running or spinning. If my legs feel good tomorrow I'll do both a 5:30am run & 6pm spinning class.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Barbell Lunges - 4x24
Weighted Stepups on a box - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count
Hip Adductors - 4x15

Abs

Plank 4x75seconds

Chilly 5:30am run in my future.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tuesday intervals

This morning I met the group for a run. We started with a mile warmup. Then ran some long intervals, 2 x20 minute intervals at a 6-minute pace with a 2 minute rest period in between. I was hurting pretty badly. but managed to hang on. We averaged a 6:30ish pace for the entire run of 7 miles with a 1.5 mile cooldown to end.

Hit the gym for some back.

Back

T-Grips - 4x15
Weighted Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
Barbell Wall rows - 4x15
Inverted Rows - 4x15
High rows - 4x15
Close grip pullups - 4x15

Abs

Side plank on a stability ball - 4x75secs

Monday, December 14, 2009

Hard chest day....

Time to push it a bit since its the holidays. Going to try and hit the gym workouts harder and rest my legs a bit.

Chest

Barbell Decline bench press - 5x12
One-armed dumbbell press - 4x24
Dumbbell flat bench press - 4x12
Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12
Superset - One armed - medicine ball pushups - 4x15, Tricep medicine ball pushups - 4x12
Superset - Flat dumbbell flys - 4x12, Inclined dumbbell flys - 4x12

Abs

Scissors - 4x24 with a 10 second hold
Side plank on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Nasty Sunday...

At least, its warmer today although a non-stop mist during my run didn't make it much better than the previous conditions for the week. I ran my normal 8 mile recovery run today with lots of stretching. My legs feel pretty beatup from yesterday's faster long run. Thinking about a lower mileage week for the 2nd week in a row to make sure I'm healed when it comes race day.

Friday, December 11, 2009

TGIF!!

The work week has been rough.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15
Superset - Dumbbell Hammer Curls - 4x24, Cross chest curls - 4x24
Tricep overhead press - 4x12
Superset - Tricep extensions - 4x12, Close Handed Tricep press - 4x12


Shoulders

Superset - Plate around the head - 4x24, Shoulder press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell Side raises - 4x12, Dumbbell front raises


Abs

Passing a stability ball from hands to feet - 4x15

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Burrr..... Windy & Chilly

This morning I I went to join the group for a 5:30am run, but only one person showed. It was 21 degrees with a wind chill of 7 and 30 mph gusts to boot. It sounds worse than it was. having the right gear is key for cold temperatures. We ended up running a slower pace due to the cold weather. We averaged around 6:55 min pace for the duration of the 6.3 miles. Nothing crazy, but not too slow either. Its only going to get worse as winter goes on.

Hit the gym for some legs.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Superset - Medicine Ball Lunges - 4x30, Standing Leg Extensions - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count - 3x12
Hip Adductors - 4x15
Angled Seated leg press - 4x24

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wednesday - spin session

Today, since I'm trying to let my sore right foot & calf heal I decided not to run, but to still get some cardio in. So I hit the gym for an hour spinning class. Luckily, today was an interval day so I did a good job of getting my heart rate up. The foot & calf are feeling better, but no sense pushing it until its feeling near 100%. I showed up 15 minutes early to warmup & stretch some. I really need to do more cross training. Very chilly 5:30am run in the morning.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tuesday recovery

This morning I met the group for a run. Unfortunately, due to my sore calf & stiff right foot I had to backoff a bit. I ended up running the 7 mile course in about 49 mins for a 7 min flat pace. My foot and calf held up fairly well considering that wasn't super slow. Hopefully, this means a quick recovery.

Hit the gym for some back. My chest is very very sore today from yesterday's weight session.

Back

Barbell bent over rows - 4x15
Superset - Hammer strength underhand grip - 4x12, Hammer strength overhand grip - 4x12
Weighted Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
Superset - Low rows close grip - 3x12, Reverse flys - 3x12
Close grip pullups - 4x15


Abs

Pike on a stability ball - 4x15
Side plank on a stability ball - 4x75secs

Monday, December 7, 2009

Monday.... stiffness

My calf is very tight today today & my right foot is very sore. I think I've been running to hard for too many weeks in a row. 4 days a week of "hard" running of either being a tempo run, long run, or a interval workout has finally taken its toll. I'm going to have to backoff for the week.

Chest

Barbell Flat bench press - 5x12
Barbell Incline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Cable flys - 4x12, Dumbbell pullovers - 4x15
Weighted box pushups - 4x12
Barbell Decline bench press - 5x12
Incline Pushups - 4x20

Abs

Scissors - 4x24 with a 10 second hold

5:30am chilly run in the morning. Hoping my right foot is a little less sore and my claf is a little looser.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Friday.. at last

It has been a long week. Going to end up running in the snow tomorrow it looks like. Just hope it isn't too slick.

Arms

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Dumbbell Tricep extensions - 4x12
Reclined curls - 4x12
Close Handed Barbell Tricep press - 4x12
Weighted Chinups - 4x12


Shoulders

Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Arnold Shoulder Presses - 4x12
Barbell Seated Shoulder press - 4x12


Abs

Scissored Toe touches- 4x24
Crab Crunches - 4x15
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Intervals & leg lifting

I joined the group for a 5:30am run this morning. I joined one of the group who was doing a 5-5-4-2-1 workout where you get progressively faster with each interval. The last one was in the 6:10 range so my legs were burning quite a bit. Overall the average pace wasn't that great, but the intervals were fast enough though after hills last night.

Hit the gym for some legs.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Superset - Barbell Lunges - 4x30, Plank - 4x75secs
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count
Supermans - 3x12
Hip Adductors - 4x15
Seated leg press - 4x24

Lots of stretching for the very tight hamstrings.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Rainy hills

Today, no lifting as my chest & upper back are very sore from the 2 previous days of work. I headed out for a hill workout. I chose a hill that was .20 miles long with a slightly steeper incline at the beginning. After a 1.5 mile warmup, it was time to get to work. I ran the repeats 10 times up with recovery jogging back down the hill. It was brutal, but my pace was even throughout which was my goal. The last 2-3 really did hurt and made my quads burn alot. I then ran the reverse of my warmup for a 1.5 mile cooldown. I feel running hills makes me a much stronger runner more so that speed work. However, logic says my leg turnover will suffer without enough speed work.
In the coming weeks I need to get a few speed sessions in the remind myself of my 5k & 10k race pace. No time for rest with a 5:30am run in the morning.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Wow, its December already

Hard to believe its December already. Where has the year went? I feel I've improved my health immensely this year. I feel like a serious runner finally where as I began the year never having ran more than 7 miles. Ideally, I would have a marathon under my belt at this point, but patience is key as continue to build my base.

I joined the 5:30am group this morning for the 7 mile hilly course. The run wasn't slow, but it wasn't too fast either. We ended up with a total time of 48 mins flat for the most part. It was a sub-7 average with a slow initial mile and a 4 minute walk with someone doing intervals. So my time while running was speedy for the most part.

Hit the gym for some back today.

Back

T-Grips - 4x15
Weighted Close Grip pullups - 4x12
Superset - Low rows close grip - 3x12, Wide grip low rows - 3x12
Reverse Flys - 4x12
High Cable Rows - 4x15
Run the rack Dumbbell rows - 5x6 -no rest increasing in weight

Abs

Weighted leg raises - 4x15
Side plank on a medicine ball with 10 half-pike twists per hold - 4x75secs
Legs raises - 4x12

Monday, November 30, 2009

Back to reality...

Back to work and all of its glory.

No running today after 23 miles this weekend. Hit the gym for some chest work. I still have some very tired legs, but they are getting better.

Chest

Barbell Decline bench press - 6x12
Barbell Flat bench press - 4x12
One-armedDumbbell bench press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell flys - 4x12, Dumbbell pullovers - 4x15
Superset - One armed Medicine ball pushups - 4x15, Tricep medicine ball pushups - 4x12
Low cable flys - 4x15
Incline Pushups - 4x20

Abs

Leg lift - toe touches - 4x15
Planks - 4x75secs

5:30am chilly run in the morning. Hoping my legs have some more "pop" in them than right now.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sunny Sunday

Today, my legs felt dead from the speedy 15 miler on Saturday. I headed out for my normal 8 mile recovery loop. I was unusually slow today running 8 min paced miles with a few stretching & walking breaks. It was just one of those runs to get the blood flowing through some tired and beatup muscles. Trying to eat and drink a little extra today as I have felt under-fueled over the past few days as I cut my caloric in-take as much as I could over the Thanksgiving holiday to compensate for the unhealthy food I was eating. Of course, I could splurge, but I just feel better not playing the entitlement card. Its just the wrong attitude to have.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Tempo 15 miler?

This morning it was a bit chilly with starting temps at around 25 degrees F. Its starting to feel like winter out there. We were running an out & back today through a very very hilly course so I knew it was going to be tough. We proceeded to warmup slowly running in the mid-7 minute range for the first 3 miles. Then, it kicked in. We pushed the pace to 7 mins per mile flat for the next 9 miles which had me struggling to hang on to the group. I felt under-fueled due to conservative eating over Thanksgiving. I managed to makeup ground in from miles 9-11 even passing a few people. During the last 3 miles though the pace was increased to around a 6:45 min per mile pace. I took a GU gel at mile 12 so my energy was a little better. I was very very tired as we finished up. I was only about 15 feet behind the front 2 at the end so it could have been worse. We ended up averaging around a 7:10 minute per mile pace for the 15 "hilly" miles which I was very pleased with. It was a very good yet challenging training run. not too bad considering my effort on Thursday morning.

Lots of chores today as I need to do laundry, dishes, etc. No rest for the weary.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Black Friday Arms....

No running today as I rest up for a hilly 15 miler tomorrow morning out at Todd's Road. I hit the gym early today since I was off work.

Arms

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Overhead tricep press - 4x12
Cable preacher curls - 4x12
Superset - Tricep extension - 4x12, Tricep close handed press - 4x12, Hammer Curls - 4x12


Shoulders

Barbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Arnold Shoulder Presses - 4x12
Superset - Plate Around the heade - 4x24, Shoulder press - 4x12


Abs

Scissors - 4x24
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

This morning I joined the group for a 5:30am run. With there being a local "Turkey Trot" at 9am some of the group opted to wait for the race, but those of us who are training for Hangover came out this morning. I knew from the beginning this was going to be a fast paced run. We dropped runners right out of the gate with our last runner being dropped at the 2.5 mile mark. I managed to hangon about 10 ft back of the front 2 in the group today. Our 3rd mile was in the 6:15 min per mile area. The overall time for the 6.3 mile run was 40:37 which is a sub-6:30 paced run for the record. Pretty crazy given I just did squats & lunges last night. I did struggle more than the front 2 did, but hey, I didn't get dropped so I was happy. We then did a 1.5 mile cooldown to shake the kinks out of our legs.

No better way to start the day with a great run. Big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and on to eating some turkey & veggies.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy birthday to me...

Today, I'm a year older. Truly, I feel younger each year as I get in better shape. I feel better than when I graduated high school. I'm stronger & faster than ever before.

No running in the spirit of resting up.

Hit the gym for some early legs so I could go out to dinner for the evening.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Superset - Medicine Ball Lunges - 4x30, Hamstring pushoffs - 4x24
Goblet Squats - 4x15
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count
Hip Adductors - 4x15
Seated hamstring curls - 4x15

Lots of stretching with a big night out, sort of. Also, meeting the group for a turkey day run in the morning.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Very nice 5:30am run?

Met the group for a 5:30am run this morning. The weather was amazing only needing a light long sleeve shirt this morning. I was feeling good initially running hard through the initial 4 miles of hills. I put in around a 6:45 min pace for this period backing off to pickup 3 other runners for the rest of the run. We finished running around a 7:05 min per mile pace for the remainder. When I'm leading the group I've noticed I have a hard time pushing myself as fast as I should be running. I do much better in chase mode.

Hit the gym for some back today. The gymnasium floors were being redone today so we couldn't use our normal pullup bar that we normally use. As a result, we did pulldowns instead.

Back

Barbell bent over rows - 4x12
Wide Grip pulldowns - 4x12
Low rows close grip - 4x12
Inverted Rows - 4x15
Close Grip Pulldowns - 4x12
Reverse Flys - 4x12
High Cable Rows - 4x15

Abs

Passing a stability ball from hands to feet - 4x12

Monday, November 23, 2009

2 day work week... woohooo

No running today after 23 miles this weekend. Hit the gym for some chest work. This week will be a lower mileage week before I spend 3 weeks running hard in preparation fro the Hangover Classic.

Chest

Barbell Flat bench press - 4x12
Barbell Decline bench press - 6x12
Barbell Incline bench press - 4x12
Dumbbell pullovers - 4x15
Superset - Flat cable flys - 4x12, Incline cable flys - 4x12
One armed Medicine ball pushups - 4x15
High cable flys - 4x15


Abs

Weighted leg raises - 4x15
Planks - 4x75secs

Sunday, November 22, 2009

More beautiful November weather?

Absolutely, gorgeous today so I headed out for a slow recovery run. I did my normal 8 mile loop around my neighborhood in around 60 mins or so. Lots of football today as I will be glued to the television as I track my fantasy teams. Yes, I'm a big dork who loves fanatasy football. Great start to the Thanksgiving week.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Hilly 15.5...

This morning I headed out to meet the Todd's Stumblers for a Saturday morning run. I love running out in this area due to the amazing scenery. This morning had beautiful weather with a clear sky, no wind, and cool temperatures of around 40 degree F. A little chilly, but after a few miles everyone was warmed up. This morning I was running with a few friends one of which is training for a marathon, one coming off of a marathon, and one who is training with me for the Hangover Classic. We had no real pace goal for this run except to enjoy the run. We started off with a very leisurely pace of around 7:40ish, which was perfect with sores legs from squats & lunges a few days earlier. At the 9 mile point we stopped for a quick drink of water and some GU. Then, the pace quickened to around 7:30min per mile for the rest of the run. During the last 3 miles I ran near a 7 min per mile pace because I felt really good. All in all it was a perfect long run for endurance building. The hills on this course are always murder with the "pitbull" hill being the main attraction. Its a hill that rises from a creek for nearly a 1.2 mile climb. I always try and run this hil consistently as I can. I figure if I can run this hill, then almost every other hill will be easier. Everyone in the group has ran Boston and claims "pitbull" is much worse than Heart Break hill in the Boston marathon. It gives me hope.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ughh... late meetings..

I really hate late meetings on Friday evening especially with the west coast.

So I had to hit the gym at lunch today.

No running today as I'm savings my energy for a very hilly 16 miler tomorrow morning out at Todd's Road.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Wall Curls - 4x12
Tricep extensions - 4x12
Close Handed Barbell Tricep press - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15

Shoulders

Barbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Superset - Plate Around the heade - 4x24, Shoulder press - 4x12


Abs

Superset - Hanging Leg Raises - 4x15, Hanging Kneeups - 4x15
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Stiff lower legs....

I met the group for a 5:30am run for the 6.3 this morning. My legs weren't trashed as bad as I had thought they would be. However, my calves were very tight from the hill running so I made sure I stretched them alot before taking off this morning. I started off with a 7:30 pace then decided to push it a bit into the sub-7s. I finished the 6.3 course in around 43:20 this morning. Not my best, but not bad considering the hill repeats from the night before.

Gearing up for a tough night at the gym for legs.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Superset - Barbell Lunges - 4x24, Planks - 4x75secs
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 second count
Hip Adductors - 4x15
Seated hamstring curls - 4x15

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Hills, hills, hills

Today, I headed out to run hill repeats after work today. No lifting today as my upper body is very sore from the previous 2 days. It has been awhile since I have done these. I began with a 1.5 mile warmup to loosen the legs up. Unfortunately, it started pouring rain right at the end of the warmup. The hill I chose has a steep profile at the beginning with a leveling at the end. Its right at 0.2 miles long. I ran 10 repeats with recovery jogging back down the hill for a total distance of 4 miles of hill work. I was struggling in the last 3 repeats which just proves I need to do these more often. My running partner kicked my rear doing these. He's alot stronger than I although over longer distances I fair better it seems. We proceeded with a cool down of around 1.5 miles for total of 7 miles today.

Quick turn around with a 5:30am run in the morning with the group.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Slow & Steady - Wind & Rain

Met the group for a 5:30am run this morning. I was feeling good initially running hard through the initial 4 miles of hills. I then slowed down and ran with a friend who has recently became pregnant for the final 3 miles. During the last mile wind & rain started making the last mile pretty cold.

Legs are feeling better today despite the 22 miles over the weekend.

Hit the gym for some back today.

Back

Weighted Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
T-Grips - 4x12
Superset - Low rows close grip - 4x12, Nautral grip pulldowns - 4x12
Reverse Pushups - 4x15
Close Grip Pullups - 4x12
Reverse Flys - 4x12
High Cable Rows - 4x15

Abs

Passing a stability ball from hands to feet - 4x12

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mundays.......

No running today after 22 miles this weekend. Hit the gym for some chest work.

Chest

Barbell Decline bench press - 6x12
One Armed Incline Dumbbell presses - 4x24
Dumbbell Flat bench press - 4x12
Incline Pushups - 4x12
Flys - 4x12
Weighted Box Pushups - 4x12


Abs

Scissored toe touches with legs raised - 4x15
Crab crunches - 4x15
Planks - 4x75secs

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Travel & recovery

Today, we traveled back home today. As soon as we got home I headed out to take advantage of the 70 degree temps in November for a great 8 mile recovery run. I actually ran much faster than I had planned fora pace of around 715 min miles. Just enjoying football and the weather.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Mountain 14 miler....

This morning I plotted a 7 mile out & back course from our cabin. The weather was perfect with sunshine all morning long. My goal this morning was to simply enjoy the scenery & weather and get the distance in. My route took me along a babbling river which was a refreshing sound, past a campground where I could smell a campfire, and through some beautiful wooded areas. My pace was in the 7:30 area for the 14 although it varied quiet a bit due to hilly nature of the terrain. The only issue was on my way back to the cabin I didn't think through having to climb the last mile or so after having ran 14 previous miles. Looking forward to walking some trails today as well as enjoying the company of my parents.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Nothing ... nada

Nothing on the schedule today except traveling. No running or lifting which is an odd thing for me. Headed to Gatlinburg, TN for a little weekend getway. I'll be running over the weekend though and taking advantage of the beautiful scenery the Mountains of Tennessee offer.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Early end of workout week....

I joined the group for a 5:30am run this morning. I completed the 6.3 mile course in about 44mins so I was a bit off my game today unfortunately. Doing legs the night before probably didn't help.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Reclined Dumbbell Curls - 4x12
Tricep overhead presses - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15
Superset - Tricep extensions - 4x12, Close handed tricep presses - 4x12, Hammer Curls - 4x12


Shoulders

Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Plate around the head - 4x24


Abs

Superset - Hanging Legs Raises - 4x12, Hanging Kneeups - 4x12
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mid-day run.... how I have missed you....

Today, I got out for a mid-day run which I used to do quite a bit, but with work being crazy and trying to run with the group in the mornings, mid-day runs have gone by the way side. This was a 730 paced slow run as I just want to start next week at this point feeling rested and ready to make some training gains. I went out for 7 miles today.

I hit the gym for some legs this evening.
Publish Post


Legs

Barbell Squats - 7x12
Superset - Barbell Lunges - 4x24, Planks - 4x75secs
Superset - Medicine Ball Squats - 4x15, Hamstring curls - 4x15
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 seconds count
Hip Adductors - 4x15



Lots of stretching as my hamstrings were really tight after the weight session.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tired, tired legs......

Met the group for a 5:30am run this morning. I was feeling good out of the gate pushing it into the 630s for the first 4 miles then my legs started to give up. I slowed to somewhere in the low 7s for the remaining 3 miles. Pretty discouraging since I ran the same run last week nearly 3 minutes faster than this morning. I guess the hard 13 on Saturday is still hanging over me.

Something seems off lately, just not sure what it is. I feel like I'm struggling to not fall off in my fitness for some reason. Its almost like I'st lost some drive or something.

Hit the gym for some back today.

Back

T-Grips - 4x12
Superset - Low rows close grip - 4x12, Low rows close grip - 4x12
Weighted Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
High Cable Rows - 4x15
Reverse Flys - 4x12
Superset Dumbbell rows - 7x8 - Ladder set


Abs

Superset - Hanging Leg raises Kneeups - 4x15, Hanging Kneeups - 4x15
Side Plank on a medicine ball - 4x75 secs

Monday, November 9, 2009

New week.... its going to be a rough one

Work is going to suck this week. No way around it.

No running today after 21 miles this weekend. Hit the gym for some chest work.

Chest

Barbell Incline bench press - 4x12
Barbell Decline bench press - 6x12
Dumbbell Flat bench press - 4x12
Dumbbell flys - 4x12
High cable flys - 4x12
Superset - One armed medicine ball pushups - 4x15, Tricep medicine ball pushups - 4x12


Abs

Scissored toe touches with legs raised - 4x15
Crab crunches - 4x15
Planks - 4x75secs

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Sore, tired..... ughhhh

Ok, so I'm completely shot today after the hilly 13 miler yesterday. I got in a 8 mile recovery run this morning which did a good job of loosening up my legs, but I'm still fairly sore from the insanity from yesterday and pretty much doing a tempo paced 13 miler.

Tons of football, stretching, and relaxing. Hopefully, the new week brings fresh legs.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Absolutely perfect 13

This morning I ventured out to the Todd's Road Stumblers meeting place to tackle the 13 mile hilly course. The weather was perfect being in the low 50s and clear. Nothing like watching the sunrise while in the middle of a run. I ended up running the 13 miles in around 1:30 for an average pace just under 7 mins per mile. My right leg really tightened up during the second-half of the run. I was also really fatigued, but still able to finish strong despite the hills and almost tempo pace for the 13 mile. The first 3-4 miles were really fast in the 6:40 min per mile range as I wanted to catch some people and make sure that I beat almost everyone back to the meeting place. It felt good to have a change scenery and to tackle the hills while getting tons of fresh air from horse country.

Its going to be an active day with distillery & winery tours in the afternoon.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Beautiful weather aheads

No running today although the weather made me want to run. I'm saving my legs for tomorrow at the Todd's Road Stumblers and the hilly 13 mile course.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Reclined Dumbbell Curls - 4x12
Tricep overhead presses - 4x12
Close Handed Barbell Tricep press - 4x12
Hammer Curls - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15

Shoulders

Barbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Kettlebell catch & snatch - 4x24


Abs

Pass the ball - 4x15
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Legs... legs... legs

This morning I joined the 5:30am group for a run. Today was the 6.3 mile course. We averaged around a 6;55 min per mile pace. Alot slower than the previous 2 days. The previous day's repeat were showing this morning. We finished in about 43:40 or so. Not my best day, but it could have been worse.

Legs was the order of the day at the gym.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 6x12
Superset - Medicine Ball Lunges - 4x30, Box stepups - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - 4x24 - 3 seconds count
Hip Adductors - 4x15
Half-ball - dumbbell squats - 4x15


Lots of stretching as my hamstrings were really tight after the weight session.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Evening 2 mile repeats...?

Ok, so I think I do my best running in the morning by far, but when a friend asked me to go for an evening run and to attend a nutrition lecture, afterwards, I said sure cautiously. We parked where the lecture was to be and took off into the twilight. The initial pace wasn't too bad we put in about 1 mile around UK's campus before heading to the UK arboretum. The loop around the arboretum is right at 2 miles so my friend wanted to do a couple of loops which we proceeded to do. There are usually alot of people running, walking, etc. around the loop because it is a nice place to get out. The pace definitely got faster and faster. We were clipping along at around a 6:40ish pace which isn't the most fun considering the insanity from yesterday (6:20 min paced for 6 miles). Plus, the loop has rolling hills throughout. Anyway, at the end of the second loop I was dead. Pretty much the 2 mile repeats were done in an average of about 13:20 so I was hurting at the end of these. We then made our way back to the parking spot for a quick change before heading to the nurtition lecture.

The lecture was ok. It was very informal being pretty much a question and answer session. I did learn about "recovery carbs" and how they are critical to replinish glycogen stores after hard workouts. Good to know this stuff.

No lifting today, but I did bump myself back up to 5 days of running this week.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Finally.... almost normal legs

So I woke up for the usual 5:30am group run, this morning. We started out at a typical warmup pace of around 7:30 mins per for the first mile. Then, the fun began. I'm guessing we averaged around a 6:20 min pace for the next 6 miles because we finished the 7 miles in 46:30 this morning, and I was able to keep pace through the entire run. In the past 2 weeks, I had to slow down at around the 4-5 mile mark due to leg fatigue and the throbbing pain from the crater on my left foot. However, this morning everything seemed to be clicking. I maintained my pace through the entire run, didn't feel too bad considering my previous 10k PR is only at 40 mins although I was fighting IT band syndrome when I PRed. Anyway, it makes me curious how much faster I am these days, but I'm going to worry about fitness more than race times until next spring. I ran a 1 mile cooldown for a total of 8 miles this morning.

All I can say is its amazing how long it takes to recover from races. Pretty much 1 day per 1 mile ran at race pace.

I hit the gym for some back work to balance out the chest work from yesterday.

Back

Inverted rows - 4x15
Barbell bent over rows - 4x12
Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
High Rows - 4x12
Dumbbell rows - 4x24
Close Grip pullups - 4x12

Abs

Weighed Kneeups - 4x15
Side Plank on a medicine ball - 4x75 secs

Monday, November 2, 2009

New week..... feeling better

No running today after 21 miles this weekend. Hit the gym for some chest work.

Chest

Barbell Flat bench press - 4x12
Barbell Incline bench press - 4x12
Barbell Decline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Flat cable flys - 4x12, Inclined cable flys - 4x12
Superset - One armed medicine ball pushups - 4x15, Tricep medicine ball pushups - 4x12
Dumbell Incline One armed presses - 3x24

Abs

Hanging Leg raises - 4x12

Sunday, November 1, 2009

NYC Marathon

So for the record, I really needed the extra hour of sleep from the DST change last night. I went to bed at 10pmand awoke at around 7am this morning. I guess my body is really in healing mode trying to fix all the damage I have done. Of course, training all along is probably prolonging the healing process more than anything. Some people take a whole week off after a big race, but I have too much OCD to allow myself more than a few days off in a row.

This morning I got in a recovery 8 mile run with the usual stretching at the 4 mile & 6 mile points. I ended up running a bit too fast due to being inspired by the NYC Marathon(more on this in a minute). I averaged a 720 pace or so during this run.

After coming back, from the run I watched the online race coverage throughout the morning. It was great that someone from the USA won, but he was still a African born runner. Its always inspiring to see a big race like this. Makes me want to signup for a marathon, but I have to keep telling myself all in due time. I also tracked a friend of mine who ran the race. His time was amazing(from a normal runner's standpoint), but he still hit the wall badly after mile 18. I think he'll be disappointed with his results (a 2:49 marathon), but I still think he did very well.

Lots of football and resting. Let's hope this week brings fresher legs.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Rainy & windy 13 miler...

This morning I awoke to a rainy & windy morning. I debated postponing my run until later, but I decided to get it over with. The pace wasn't anything to brag about at around a 7:15 pace for the 13 miles. We did do a few pickups in the middle to simulate race pace. Surprisingly, my feet didn't end up that wet. This was just one of those runs that didn't have hardly any conversation and everyone just wanted it to be over.

I tried to stretch for 20 mins post run to see if some extra stretching would help with the healing process.

Planning on a very relaxing day to hopefully finishing healing up to some degree.

Looking forward to trick or treating time and all the dressed up kiddos.

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Friday, October 30, 2009

TGIF...

Its just been one of those weeks. Work.... training issues, etc. Glad its over.

I hit the gym for some arms & shoulders.

Arms

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Reclined Dumbbell Curls - 4x12
Tricep overhead presses - 4x12
Hammer Curls - 4x12
Tricep extensions - 4x12
Weighted Chinups - 4x12

Shoulders

Arnold Presses - 4x12
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 hold for a 3 count
Front Raises - 4x15


Abs

Hanging leg raises - 4x15
Side Planks on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Still dead legs.....

This morning I headed out for the typical 5:30am group run. Just like Tuesday I started out with a pace somewhere in the 630s, but I was unable to maintain this for the entire 6.3 mile route. About mile 4 I just had to slow down. Pretty pathetic I know. My quads were burning and my breathing was erratic. I ended up averaging around a 655 pace in the end. Hey, at least it was sub-7.

It hit the gym in the evening for some leg lifting. Some might say working my legs out with my current "heavy" legs is counter productive. However, I believe lifting is a great injury prevention tool along with proper rest & stretching.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 6x12
Barbell lunges - 4x12
Crossover stepups - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - 4x24
Hip Adductors - 4x12

Abs

Planks - 4x75secs

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Spinning.... on my recent issues

No running today in an effort to give my legs some more much needed rest. However, in an effort to keeping my cardio at the highest possible level, I hit the spinning room at my gym for a 60 minutes spinning session. The workout was pretty much 3 long climbs with 1 minute temp intervals sprinkled throughout the workout. Spinning always makes my quads burn which I need due to the imbalances from running all the time.

No weights eother as much upper body is very sore today.

Blisters.... how I hate them...

This morning I joined the group for the 7 mile 5:30am run. I ran the first 4 miles at around a 6:35 pace, but had to back off due to pain my foot due to the golfball sized blood blister. I ended up averaging around a 650 per minute pace for the run, but I wasn't very pleased with the end pace versus the initial pace. I keep trying to tell myself anything under a 7min pace is good, but I know I have more in me. I need to learn some patience to say the least.

I hit the gym for back today.

T Grips - 4x20
Weighed Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
Superset - Close Grip Low Rows - 3x12, Wide Grip Low Rows - 3x12
Reverse Flys - 4x12
High Cable Rows - 4x15
Hammer Strength Low Rows 4x24

Abs

Passing a stability ball from feet to hands - 4x15

Monday, October 26, 2009

Time to push the envelope....

No running today, but I hoping to start pushing myself a little harder starting this week by getting my foot to heal up and recommitting myself to total body fitness. I feel I've been slacking a bit on the weight lifting to some degree.

To that end I killed my chest today.

Chest

Barbell Decline bench press - 5x12
Dumbbell Flat bench press - 4x12
One Armed Dumbbell Incline bench press - 4x24
Supserset - High Cable Flys - 4x15, Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12
Hammer Strength Incline Press - 4x12
Superset - One Armed side to side medicine ball pushups - 4x15, medicine ball pushups - 4x12

Abs

Scissors - 4x24
Side Plank on a medincine ball - 4x75secs

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Beautiful weather for Oct

Today, was an absolutely gorgeous day for October. Low 60s & Sunny! I got in a recovery run of 8 miles this morning. My legs are still no completely healed from the Bourbon Chase. The pace was slow in the high 7s with stretching and walking after the stretching. I spent the day resting and relaxing afterwards.

I'm hoping I have my "land legs" back this week so I can run another half-marathon on 11/07, but if I'm not healed completely I won't force myself into a race. I'm planning on running this race solo so it all about the time not for fun in this case.

Let's hope I see improvement in leg fatigue and this nasty blood blister on my left foot this week so I can go run the race.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

13 miler.....

This morning I planned on running with whoever showed up at Magee's this morning. However, much to my dismay no one showed this morning. So I thought I would just run by myself for the 13. The normal course is 12 so I had to add on. I started out fast. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. So at about mile 4 I had to backoff my pace. I'm guessing I was in the 6:30 min per mile range. Miles 4-8 were slower as I recovered from my too fast of a start. My legs were still sore form lifting as well which didn't help the cause. Miles 8-12 were a faster pace at around a 6:45 pace for a strong finish before the final mile cooldown. I finished the 13 in around 1 hr 31 mins. Hopefully, this means my half-marathon pace is now below 1:30 given this was on a non-rested & non-tapered set of legs. Needless to say I'm tired and planning on relaxing for the majority of the day.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Running Party

Today, no running, but we are having a party for our Bourbon Chase team so plenty of talking about running. We divided up some swag from our 2nd place finish. I scored a nice signed Woodford Reserve Bottle.

Hit the gym before the party for some shoulders.

Shoulders

Standing Barbell Press - 4x12
Dumbbell Side Raises - 4x12
Kettlebell one armed catch & snatch - 4x24
Plate around the head - 4x24
Arnold presses - 4x12
Front raises - 4x15

gearing up for a long run tomorrow. 13 miles.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Sore, tired, legs......

Ok, I have no idea why I'm feeling so tired. Granted I did leg day last night, but normally, its 2 days later that I'm very sore. Anyway, I joined the group for the normal 6.3 course this morning. I went out ok for the first 4 miles I was maintaining a 6:45 min pace. I was working harder than normal, but able to maintain the effort. Then, I had to slow down to around a 7:10 pace as I was hurting a little bit. Pretty much I'm a no pain, no gain kind of guy, but I've been trying to listen to my body a bit more to avoid dumb overuse injuries. I must say though of my training runs this is the first one in awhile that I have had to go above a 7min pace. I averaged just under 7 mins though. Then, I did a 1.8 mile cooldown which felt great on my legs.

I hit the gym tonight for arm day.

Arms

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Tricep overhead press - 4x12
Wall curls - 4x12
Superset - Tricep extensions - 4x12, Close handed press - 4x12, Bicep Hammer Curls - 4x12
Tricep Pushups - 4x15
Cable preacher's curls - 4x12

Abs

Superset - Hanging Leg Raises - 4x15, Hanging kneeups - 4x12
Side Plank on stability ball - 4x60secs

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Legs..... on a Wednesday...

The thought is that since I did them on Monday last week that waiting to Thursday would be make getting used to them again more difficult. No running in the effort to get my legs feeling normal again.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 4x12
Superset - Medicine ball lunges - 4x30, Crossover step-ups - 4x24
Fire Hydrants - Hip Abductors - 4x24 for a 3 count
Superset - Half-ball dumbbell squats, Hip Adductors - 4x15

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tempo and steady.....

This morning I joined the group for a 5:30am run. Pretty much it was to be a steady 7 miler with a target of about a 6:45 minute pace, but it felt almost like a tempo run for me on my dead tired legs and badly blistered foot. Luckily, I was able to keep up despite the hills. We ended running at around a 6:40 pace for the 7 miles. Not bad for me and on dead legs as well.

I returned home to find my blister bleeding again which will make for a sore foot. Bummer....

Hit the gym for back day...

Back

Low rows - 4x12
High rows - 4x12
Wide Grips Pullups - 4x12
T Grips - 4x12
Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 - hold for a 3 count
Close Grip pullups - 4x12

Abs

Crab crunches - 4x15
Leg Raises - 4x12

Monday, October 19, 2009

Back to the daily grind......

No running today.... probably looking to only run 4 days this week due to just being beatup and very tired.

Chest

Flat Barbell bench press - 6x12
Incline Barbell bench press - 4x12
Decline Barbell bench press - 5x12
Superset - Dumbbell flys - 4x12, High-cable flys - 4x15
Weighted Box pushups - 4x12
One armed Dumbbell Inclined bench press - 4x24
Medicine ball pushups - 4x15
Hammer Strength Fly machine - 4x12

Abs

Supserset - Passing a stability ball - 4x12, side plank on the stability ball - 4x60secs

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Recovery, recovery....

Today, only an easy 8 mile recovery run. I tried to maintain a recovery pace of about 7:30 to 8 minute pace. Feeling very beatup after yesterday's 12 miler and all the activity associated with running, the race, and walking 20+ miles around Manahattan. Also, I have maybe the second worst blister of my life from the walking.

Planning on laying around resting and watching football the rest of the day.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sore, stiff, blistered long run.....

So this morning it was a bit chilly at around 38 degrees. I broke out the gloves & hat which ended up being overkill, but made starting the run easier. As expected, almost no one came out this morning due to the cooler than normal temps. We decided to run our normal 12 miler loop backwards today for a change as your body gets used to courses over time. Pretty much I was aiming at running this slower than normal due to be sore from all of the walking and relay as well as the nasty blister on my foot. Surprisingly, the course may be harder in reverse due to more hills although the largest hill is omitted this way as we had to run down it. However, there seemed to be much more long slow climbs overall. I was struggling at the end feeling very very tired. We completed the 12 mile loop in 1:23:30 which is just under a 7 min pace which was a little faster than I had hoped to run this given my condition this morning.

Lots of college football today and catching up on chores.

Back to normal starting tomorrow with a recovery run.

Friday, October 16, 2009

No workout today... just walking

Just walking around Manhattan some more with a late flight back home later today. Hopefully, no delays so I can get a few ZZ's before a 12 miler tomorrow.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Run through Central Park

This morning I wokeup early to to run through Central Park. It was a great experience running through one of the most famous parks in the world. Pretty much no goal except to not be passed by anyone and pass as many people as I could. My legs were very very sore and tired from all of the walking so running sub-7 min pace was a little hard. Luckily, I didn't get passed by anyone, but I did have some trouble running down a few people being so tired. Central Park was a beautiful setting for this morning's run.

Once again today we went sight seeing. I'm guessing at the end of today I've walked about 20+ miles ontop of running 22 miles this week. Needless to say my legs are just dead.

Hit the hotel gym for some arms before dinner.

Arms today at the gym.

Chinups - 4x15
Dips - 4x20
Inclined dumbell curls - 4x12
Overhead tricep presses - 4x12
Dumbbell hammer curls - 4x12
Dumbbell Tricep extensions 4x12


Abs

Crab crunches - 4x15
Leg Raises - 4x15

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sight Seeing Wednesday...

Today, the wife and I literally covered almost all of South Manhattan on foot with the use of some subways. We hit Wall Street, Battery Park, Liberty Island, the Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, Soho, China Town, and Rockafeller Center. Needless to say I was very tired and my legs we completely dead not having recovered from the relay and all of this walking. What's even worse I got a huge blister from walking around so much. Now, I don't normally blister from running unless my feet get wet so this is saying something.

For the record, I always workout on vacation as missing one week equals losing two weeks of progress in the gym.

I hit the hotel gym for back day.

Back

Wide grip pullups - 4x12
T-grips - 4x12
Close grip low rows - 4x12
Close Grip pullups - 4x12
Pyramid Dumbbell bent over rows - 4x12


Abs

Weighted Kneeups - 4x12

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Flying away...

This morning I joined the group for a 5:30am run for the hilly 7 mile course. My legs felt very very tired still from the relay and the beating I gave them. Pretty much this morning I attempted a 7 mile tempo run, but due to being tired I was only able to hold a 6:50 tempo pace. My legs felt like lead at the end of this run. Also, the legs in the gym Monday night didn't help any as well.

Later this morning I flew to NYC for some much needed fun & relaxation. Lots of walking today around mid-town Manhattan for several additional miles.

I hit the hotel gym for some chest work. Not too bad of a gym with everything you need for a good workout.

Chest

Dumbbell flat bench press - 4x12
Dumbbell one armed incline bench press - 4x12
Dumbbelll decline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell flys - 4x12, High cable flys - 4x15
- 4x12
Superset - Medicine ball one handed pushups - 4x15, Medicine ball tricep pushups - 4x12


Abs

Passing an stability ball - 4x12
Side plank on a stability ball - 3x75secs

Monday, October 12, 2009

Legs on a Monday?

8 mile recovery run today after a day of complete rest following the relay. I was very tired and stiff. Luckily, I'm on vacation this week and heading to NYC tomorrow for some sight seeing.

Hit the gym for some legs today since I skipped this last week in tapering for the relay.

Legs

Barbell Squats - 6x12
Barbell ball lunges - 4x24
Leg extensions over a barbell - 4x15

Fire hydrants - 4x12 with a 3 count
Hip Adductors - 4x15

Abs

Planks - 4x75secs

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Rest & Recovery

Today, pretty much is a day of pure rest & recovery. I'm planning on watching 6+ hours of football, eating moderately unhealthy(ok just one meal from Chipotle), and stretching alot.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Bourbon Chase Race Report

First off, Thursday night I had to take a friend to the ER because he has 2 new born pre-mature infants and his wife had to stay home with them. I thought for sure he was in for an appendectomy the way he was bent over and writhing in pain. It turned out to be very bad intestinal colic. So I was in the ER with him until 2:30am. Got home & slept from 3-9am. I thought great I'm already down a few hours on sleep.

We left Lexington at around 2pm Friday with our projected start time to be around 3:30pm as we were the second group of runners. Our 6th runner actually had to wait on us for 5 mins as we were late. My first leg(leg 12) started at around 9:30pm. My first leg was a 5.7 miler into downtown Danville which was a slight climb the entire way. Somehow I ended up lucky enough to run in nothing but a few sprinkles which was pure luck. I pickedoff around 18 runners on my first leg. I ended up with an average pace of 6:21 for the first leg which was a touch too fast considering that I still had 14-15 miles to run. However, I felt pretty good nevertheless. We then went to a couple of hotel rooms which we had reserved in Danville, ate a meal, took a shower. and got 2.5 hours of sleep before our first runner was up again. We headed out at about 2:30am, Saturday to make our next exchange point. At this point I was very tired so I tried to catch a few zz's at each exchange point and to prop my legs up to alleviate any swelling. My next leg(leg 24) was at 7:30am or so and it was a hilly 7.6 miler to Woodford Reserve which was probably the most beautiful run that I have ever had. Reminded me of the Pitbull Run only prettier. I passed another 15 teams on this leg. Somehow I averaged around a 6:45 min pace despite the hills and being tired. To be honest, I felt better during this leg than any other leg. Taking off that 25seconds a mile made the run feel alot easier. So then we headed back to Lexington, for some food and rest before our next legs which started at around 12pm. I actually, came back to my house ate and showered. At this point, I didn't rejoin the team though as my last leg and the final leg of the relay was over in Mastersonstation Park which is less than 1 mile from my house. We decided I'd rest alot better at home, and I got my neighbor to run me over to the exchange zone. I arrived about 30 mins before my exchange was to come through so I was able to see every team I had a chance to chase down. When I came in at Woodford we were just the 4th team to come in... granted the times were staggered on projected pace so its not like we were first. Still that made it more exciting to possibly be the first team to cross the finish line. Something was odd about this exchange zone though it was way farther back in the park than the maps indicated. My final leg was to be 6.6 miles, but I found out at the finish it had been 7.8 miles due to misplacement of the exchange. So I ran a total of 21.1 miles which was 2 miles more than any other runner. Anyway, about 9 teams came through while I was waiting. To my dismay 2 of them were elite teams so there was no catching them of course. Anyway, I got my handoff and hoped I had saved something. The final leg went right by my house so I new the course very well. I pickedoff 5 teams on my way to downtown Lexington. I ran a 6:31 paced final leg. I was pretty stoked that all 3 of my legs were under 7 min miles. I figure I averaged something in the high 630s so that's really fast for me.

Another surprise was that we finished second in the Corporate division and only missed first by 3mins and 10 seconds. Too bad we were late on the first exchange or we might have won.

Friday, October 9, 2009

The day is Finally here.... 200 miles of running fun

Today, is the day of the Bourbon Chase Relay. Its going to be a crazy 200 miles, but it should be fun. I'll included today's leg and other notes in the combined race report tomorrow after the event.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Easy running.... final day

I joined the group for the usual 5:30am Thursday morning run. My goal for this run was to simply not make myself sore or stiff before the relay tomorrow. We did the normal 6.3 mile course at about a 7:20 pace. A couple of others were doing the same race so we all just chatted while getting the mileage in. I kind of wondered if I should run today, but was glad I went out and loosened up my legs.

I hit the gym in the evening for arms day and my lifting of the week before the Bourbon Chase.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Decline dumbbell tricep extensions - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15
Superset - Dumbbell Hammer curls - 4x12, Cross chest curls 4x12
Close handed tricep press - 4x12
Dropset - EZ bar standing curls - 4x12


Abs
Side Planks on a Stability ball - 4x75secs

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday -- Shoulder day

No running today in the spirit of tapering.

Hit the gym for a shoulder day which I hadn't had by itself in awhile.

Shoulders

Arnold Shoulder presses - 4x12
Barbell Shoulder Shrugs - 4x15 for a 3 count
Barbell Front raises - 4x15
Standing shoulder press - 4x12
Plate around the head - 4x24

Abs
Planks - 4x75 secs
Medicine ball side planks - 4x75 secs

Truly, I hate tapering, but its a necessary evil.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

7 miles of tempo

This morning I ran the 7 mile route with the group. Today, was a tempo day to prepare for the Bourbon Chase. I was figuring that I would be running tempo pace during the relay legs since race pace would be too fast to sustain over 3 legs and 20 miles. I felt pretty good, but the first 3-4 miles were way too fast in the 6:20 range. Then, I slowed down and ended up with an average pace of around 6:40 min per mile which overall felt good for the entire run. In my mind this was to be a good target pace for my relay legs.

I hit the gym in the evening for back day.

Back
Inverted high rows - 4x15
Wide Grip pullups - 4x12
Low close grip rows - 4x12
Superset - Close Grip pulldowns - 4x12, Wide Grip pulldowns - 4x12
T-Grips - 4x12
Close Grip pullups - 4x12

Abs
Side plank on stability ball - 4x75

Monday, October 5, 2009

Taper week....

No running today as I'm still recovering from the scorcher of a 12 miler on Saturday. Also, I'm tapering this week, but now, I'm wondering how much damage I did with a 12 mile tempo paced long run on Saturday. Only time will tell.

I also have a bit of a head-cold so that's a downer as well.

Chest

Barbell decline bench press - 6x12
Barbell incline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12, Medicine ball one handed pushups - 4x15, Medicine ball tricep pushups - 4x12
Dumbbell flat bench press - 5x12
Superset - Flat bench fly cables - 4x12, Inclined bench fly cables - 4x12

Abs

Scissors - 4x24
Side plank on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Group run tomorrow. No idea what type of workout I'm running.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Meet the relay team...

Today, I reserved my run for meeting my Bourbon Chase relay team. As we were scheduled to meet at 4pm for a quick meeting and run. The group run was around 4 miles so I did 3 more on my own at a very slow recovery pace from the beating I gave my legs yesterday.

I did however watch about 6 hours of football and bought a new pair of shoes which I plan to break in before the relay this week.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Tempo long run?

I met the Magee's crew for a 6:30am run this morning. I could tell after the first mile this would be a 2 group run with one group going slower and doing 10 while the faster group would do the 12 mile route. Normally, I try and run my long runs in the 730ish pace to build endurance while not beating my body up too badly. Also, my long run is at the end of the week with 30-35 miles on my legs typically, and since leg day is Thursday, I'm usually pretty sore from lifting.
I knew after the first mile at around a 7 min per mile pace I was in for it today. Miles 2-5 were in the 6:15-6:20 range and I was feeling it. After mile 5 I decided I would be backing off a bit since I have the Bourbon Chase relay less than a week away. I backed off to around a 640ish pace not losing site of the 2 others in my group. Somewhere around mile 8 I caught them as they were feeling the pace as well. One of them had some very fresh legs while the other one is faster than both of us having just completed a half-ironman the previous weekend. Miles 9-12 were spent shoulder to shoulder as we ran through the UK arboreteum and campus. We ended up finishing the 12 miles in 1:20:30 which works out to a 6:40 min per mile pace.
Let me just say this was a very fast pace for the distance for myself. In fact, my half-marathon PR is only a 1:36, but then again I've only ran one and was dehydrated and vomiting at the end.
This has me wondering what my new half-marathon PR would be considering this run was on no rest, no tapering, and not even at race pace. I might need to find a half to run before the end of the year to see.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Yay Friday...

No running today as I rest up for a long run tomorrow. Probably, doing the 12 mile loop with the Magee's Bakery route.

Arms & Shoulders today at the gym.

Weighted Dips - 4x15
Inclined dumbell curls - 4x12
Overhead tricep presses - 4x12
Standling barbell shoulder presses - 4x12
Superset - Tricep extensions 3x12, Close handed press - 3x12, Bicep hammer curls - 3x12
Chinups - 3x15

Abs

Crab crunches - 4x15
Leg Raises - 4x15
Planks - 4x75 secs

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Leg day... oh how I hate thee...

Today, was a group run for 6.3 miles. The pace was slower than normal as some of the group is recovering from races while others are tapering so the 6.3 was only at 6:50 per mile pace. This was great after the 7 miler last night at a 635 pace because my legs were dead. It was a good run just not overly exciting.

Hit the gym for some legs.....

Legs

Barbell Squats - 6x12
Medicine ball lunges - 4x30
Hamstring Curls - 4x15
Front barbell squats - 4x15
Fire hydrants - 4x12 with a 3 count
Hip Adductors - 4x15

Abs

Planks - 4x75secs

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wednesday evening tempo

Today, was a non-lifting day with a planned tempo run in the evening through Mastersonstation Park. I ran with a friend of mine who to my dismay was on 2 days of rest so he had some very fresh legs. This route has a portion in the middle of about 2.5 miles worth of steady climbing with a few plateaus. Anyway, this was a solid tempo run as we finished the 7 mile loop in 46 minutes. That's roughly a 635ish pace which is a very quick tempo. I was struggling at the end with some tired legs from my hilly 7 miler the day before. Not that I'm making excuses, but my legs were heavy.

The weather was beautiful with temps in the mid to low 60s which is perfect running weather. I'm dreading the cold weather just around the corner.

5:30am group run in the morning. Doubt I'll be running too fast with this effort tonight.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tuesday.... oh I hate these type of days

Now, I must say most of the time my job isn't so bad. I get to work from home, have a somewhat flexible schedule, and find my work interesting most of the time. However, spending time on endless conference calls does bother me. Some weeks I get lucky. However, this week is not one of those. I'm stuck reviewing statements of work with customers for about 17 hours this week via conference calls. This means pretty much I'm tied to my office phone all day everyday for the week because the 17 hours will turn into 25+ hours after prep meetings, followup calls, etc.

Today, I made it the group run for a 7 miler. I felt a bit off today. Luckily, the faster group was either tapering or recovering from a race. We put in about a 650ish pace for the 7 mile. My legs were stiff the entire run. The 7 mile route is very hilly so it wasn't that bad.

Hit the gym for back day....

Back

Superset - Hammer strength low isolated rows - overhand grip & underhand grip - 4x12 each
Superset - High rows - 4x15, Reverse flys - 4x12
Wide grip pullups - 4x12
Side to sidebar pivots - 4x15
Barbell bent over rows - 4x12
Close Grip pullups - 4x12

Abs

Pass an exercise ball from feet to hands - 4x12
Leg raises - 4x12

Monday, September 28, 2009

New week....

No running today after 20 miles over the weekend. Full week of running ahead with a taper week next week before the relay.

Chest

Barbell flat bench press - 5x12
Dumbbell one armed incline bench press - 4x12
Barbell decline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell flys - 4x12, Low cable flys - 4x15
Hammer Strength incline press - 4x12
Superset - Medicine ball one handed pushups - 4x15, Medicine ball tricep pushups - 4x12
Weighted Box Pushups - 4x12

Abs

Superset - Hanging leg raises - 4x15, Hanging Kneeups - 4x15
Side plank on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Dry run......

Today, was a recovery run from the long run yesterday. The weather was beautiful and very welcome after the rainy weather over the past few days. I set out on my normal 8 mile loop around my neighborhood. I tried to set my pace at around a 730ish pace, but I think I was a bit slower than this.

My lower right leg injury seems to be flaring up a bit so I'm planning on taking it easier over the next couple of weeks.

Full day of football ahead and rest before I busy week.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Monsoon run....

Got up this morning to a pouring rain. Not a good start to my weekend or a long run for that matter. Met the group at Magee's Bakery. Surprisingly, 2 more people did show-up. Truly, I thought that no one would show.

I must say I showed how hardcore I was today running an average pace of 720 or so for the 12 miles in the rain. My feet remained mostly dry until mile 5 when I hit a very large puddle. Oh well, this is why they make these run dry socks right? This is one of those runs where you run with pride because you know everyone is looking at you like you're insane, and they might be correct to a degree.

It was a good run with some company which is always good. At about mile 3 my legs loosened up and I warmed up nicely so the rain wasn't an issue. During the last 2 miles I must say I did feel the extra weight the rain added to my body. It felt like I had some small weight in my shoes. All good training and no blisters to boot.

44 miles for the week. A little short of the 45-50 goal, but still dealing with a sore foot from an injury 4 weeks ago.

Gearing up for the UK vs FLA game. just hope we don't get killed.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Long week

It has been a long week. Lots of activity with work, so I'm just happy the weekend is here. Gearing up for a wet long run tomorrow.

I hit the gym for some arms and shoulder work.

Arms

Weighted Chinups - 4x12
Weighted Dips - 4x15
Triangle pushups - 4x20
Isolated decline curls - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell tricep extensions - 4x12, Dumbell hammer curls - 4x12

Shoulders

Barbell Shrugs - 4x15 for a 3 count
Superset - Dumbbell side raises - 4x12, Dumbbell shoulder press - 4x12
Plate around the head - 4x24

Abs

Weighted kneeups - 4x15
Side plank on a medicine ball - 4x75secs

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Short Intervals

This morning I met up with the group at John's at 5:30am for the Thursday 6.3 mile course. Today, the order of the day was 6 x 2 minute intervals since one of the group was gearing up for a half-ironman(Triathlons are something I'll never be able to do because I can't swim very well.) this weekend. Pretty much the consensus with some of the more serious runners that I run is that doing some short race paced intervals a few days before the race is good for reminding one's body of what race pace is like. This also will not beatup someone to the point where it affect their race day performance. I ended up with an overall time of 41:40 for the 6.3 mile course. No cool down today with 31 miles already on my legs this week.

Leg day at the gym..... I just can't explain how much as a runner leg day challenges me.

Legs

Barbell squats - 6x12
Barbell lunges - 4x24
Goblet squats - 4x12
Hip Abductors - 4x15
Fire Hydrants for a 3 count - 4x24

Abs

Planks - 4x75secs

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Junk Mileage Day

Today, I headed out at 6am from my house for pretty much a junk mileage day. I need some more base miles, but I was too beatup from Tuesday's run to push the pace any. This is one of those runs where you're just happy to be out there. Well, I was cruising along at around a 730ish pace I would guess when it started raining. I really don't mind running in the rain. Actually, once I've warmed up its refreshing to a degree. I would guess at around mile 4 is when it started coming down so my only worry was blistering up from soggy socks. I kept my pace consistent and even ran into one other lone runner out in the rain as well. Normally, I don't run into anyone in my neighborhood out running early so it was a pleasant surprise to know someone else was going through the samething.

I logged 9 miles today so I'm doing well on hitting the mid 40s for mileage this week. My total time was at around 67 mins for the 9 miles. I really need to invest in a garmin, but I keep telling myself that time isn't that important. I should just be able to run on feel.

No weight lifting today although I probably should do something else.

Looking forward to a group run in the morning with some intervals so it should be a decent pace for me. Hoping for no rain as running fast in the rain can be tricky with wet feet and the extra weight from the water.

I need to cement my next race after the Bourbon Chase relay, but I have no idea how beatup I'll be after the relay. There are some great races the following weekend, but I fear I'll be too tired to run hard enough to warrant going to a half-marathon. Thus, I'll probably look for something in early November.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tuesday tempo

Today, was a planned 8 miler with a 6 miles of tempo in the middle at around a 6:15 per mile pace. I ran by myself today so I have no idea of the splits, but it took me 53 mins to complete the 8 mile loop. I was moving at a decent clip since that averages out to be about a 635ish pace for the 8 with a warmup and cool down mile included.

Lots of stretching since this is a bump in mileage week. Need to get in a couple of 45-50 mile weeks before the Bourbon Chase Relay.

Hit the gym for back today to balance out from doing chest work yesterday

Back

T-Grips - 3x20
Superset - Close grip pullups - 3x12, Wide grip pullups - 3x12
Superset - High rows - 4x15, Reverse fly extensions - 4x12
Superset - Close grip low rows - 4x12, Wide grip low rows - 4x12
Superset - Kettlebell - snatch & catch - 3x24, Hanging reverse pushup - 3x12

Abs

Crab crunches - 3x15
Lying toe touches - 3x24
Modified v-sit - 3x45 secs
Walkouts - 3x8

Monday, September 21, 2009

Chest day is the best day

No running today. Although I did some research on what type of running shoes I truly should be running in. Turns out I'm a supinator or under-pronator. This is primarily due to having high arches in my feet as well as being a forefoot runner. This makes shoe selection very difficult since I have a more rare foot type and a "jacked-up" running style to boot. Anyway, it turns out that I need a neutral cushioned shoe, but I still need arch support since my feet tend to get tired during longer runs. More to come as I'm in a cushioned shoe already, but I'm currently in a stability shoe.

Chest

Barbell incline bench press - 4x12
Barbell decline bench press - 4x12
Superset - Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12, High cable flys - 4x15
Dumbbell flat bench press - 4x12
Superset - Medicine ball one handed pushups - 4x15, Medicine ball tricep pushups - 4x12
Dumbbell Flys - 4x12

Abs

Knees on the half-ball wheel extensions - 4x15
Exercise ball side planks - 4x60secs

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday - Fun day

Today, I got in an 8 mile recovery run somewhere in the 7:30ish pace range with a stop & stretch at the 4 mile mark. I had to dodge some rainy weather, but was able to sneak this in mid-morning between rain showers.

I find during recovery runs stopping and stretching seems to help with my recovery. Besides no one should care about their overall pace during a recovery run.

My next race is the Bourbon Chase relay (see www.bourbonchase.com) for details. I've never done anything like this so it should be interesting. Pretty much I'm training like I'm running a half-marathon with a bit more mileage. I have considered doing a few 2-a-days to get ready though.

No weight lifting today. Spent 80% of the day watching football as I'm an avid NFL fan. Go 49ers!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Game day

This morning was a 12 mile long run with some of the group from the Tuesday & Thursday morning group. Part of the course took us through the UK campus where today UK is playing U of L or the school us UK alums despise more than any other school.

Anyway, it was a good run with a pace of around 7:15 for the 12. We got heckled by tailgaters which is always fun.

Later in the day I went to the game where UK held on for a 31-27 victory. It wasn't pretty, but they won.

Dinner at our house tonight for some friends.

Rainy run tomorrow morning more than likely.... ughhh

Friday, September 18, 2009

Happy Friday

No running today. Resting up for a long run tomorrow.

Hit the gym for arms today.

Arms
Chinups - 4x15
Tricep overhead press - 4x12
Wall Curls - 4x12
Weighted dips - 3x20
Superset - Tricep extensions 3x12, Close handed tricep press 3x12, Bicep hammer curls 3x12
Cable preacher curls - 4x12

Abs
Superset - Hanging leg extensions - 4x15, Hanging Kneeups - 4x15
Medicine ball side plank - 4

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Intervals love & hate

Today, was the usual group run at 5:30am. Nothing like driving to a group run while still half-asleep. So for the record to make it to the group runs at 5:30am I wakeup at 4:50! Just writing that hurt a little.

Anyway, today only 5 of us showed up. The workout was 6x3 minutes intervals with a 90 second rest period between each. We spent the first mile warming up then headed right into the first interval. Nothing to speak of really except my legs felt tired from the insanity on Tuesday with a few sub-6 min miles and the 1 hour spinning sessions the night before. Simply, I knew I wasn't as fast as the other guy running the intervals so I concentrated on being consistent in my pacing aiming for a 5:30-5:45min per mile pace during the intervals. Pretty much they went like clock work with me having to catch up during the rest periods. The only notable one was interval 3 starting going up a hill which is always fun.

It took right at 42 mins to complete the course with the intervals mixed in. Needless the say the recovery portions are way slow by comparison. After the group gathered backup at the start point a few of us ran a 2 mile cool down after stretching for a few mins. 8 miles or so today.

Hit the gym in the evening for leg day...... yay.....

Barbell squats - 1x100 - yeah, I said 100 reps for 1 set
Front barbell squats with overhead press combo - 4x15
Superset - Medicine ball lunges - 4x30, Knee extensions while in a bridge position - 4x24
Leg extensions/raises while standing over a barbell on a squat rack - 4x24
Dumbbell stepups - 4x24
Firehydrants with a 3 count - 4x24

Lots of stretching

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Cross-training

No weight lifting today as my back and chest are both fairly sore. The legs are a bit fried as well so this will be a lower mileage week of only around 37-38 miles after a Saturday long run.

So I hit the spinning room today for an hour spinning session. There were 4 hill climbs and 10 1-minute intervals/sprints during the spinning session.

My quads were burning 15 minutes into the workout which makes me realize just how week my quads are in comparison to my hamstrings due to all of the running.

I'm trying at least once a week to cross-train to help balance, but it seems I cut the cross-training sessions before cutting a recovery run out which in fact I should be doing the opposite.

Group run in the morning with some 3 minutes intervals and 90 second recoveries. Fun stuff......

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Fast tempo run....

On Tuesdays & Thursdays, I run with a group. I find, like many others do, that running with a group keeps me more accountable. Plus, I tend to get better target training in when I know someone else is going through the same "pain" that I am.

This morning was to be a tempo run which normally is in the 630ish pace since I'm not super fast like some of the people in the group (530ish for some). The Tuesday route is a very hilly 7 miles through a few neighborhoods near downtown Lexington, KY(yeah, my hometown). Even though I'm running with a group we're all spread out with our paces differing up to 2 mins or more per mile depending upon who shows up on that given day. Normally, there are a few very fast people, then myself and a few others, and then the remainder of the group which contains the majority of the group. I run in what I like to call "no man's land" which is slower than the fast people, but faster than the main group. I find this to hold true during group runs and races as well. Its kind of a frustrating place to be knowing you can't stay with the lead pack, but you can outrun the pack easily.

Anyway, one of the faster group was off his game a bit so I decided to try and hangon during the tempo portion of the run. Here are the mile splits according to his Garmin(I've refused so far to buy one). 7:15(gotta warm up), 6:20, 5:45, 5:50, 6:20, 7:30(legs fried), 6:45 This was followed up with a quick stretching and a 2 mile cooldown at a comfortable 745ish pace.

Actually, felt good despite running way fast for me anyway. Sub-6min miles are pretty difficult for me.

Hit the gym for back day this evening.

Back
Superset - One armed hammer strength low rows underhanded & overhaneded grip - 3x24
Wide grip pullups - 4x12
Barbell Shoulder shrugs - holding for a 3 count - 4x15 - yes, its shoulders I know
Bent over rows - 4x12
Superset - Close grip & wide grip pulldowns - 4x12
T Grips - 4x12

Abs
Passing an exercise ball from feet to hands - 4x12
Medicine ball v-sit - 4x45secs

Monday, September 14, 2009

Ughh Mondays....

No running today. Just rest to recover from the 18 miles I put on the legs and joints over the weekend. Trying to recover completely from my 15 mile CDR race on 9/5. Still have a few sore areas which will heal this week with some moderating of the running regiment.

Just work work work today unfortunately. It seems like it takes everyone 3-4 hours to remember what they were working on before the weekend then Monday afternoon everything goes absolutely insane.

Hit the weight room today for chest day. Here is the workout regimen for today.

Chest
Flat Dumbbell bench press - 4 x12
Single arm hammer strength incline press - 4x12
Superset - Upward cable crossovers & Triangle pushups - 4x12
Decline barbell bench press - 4x10
Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12
Superset - Flat cable crossover & Incline cable crossovers - 3x12
One armed medicine ball pushups side to side - 4x15

Abs
Leg extensions with 5lb dumbbell between feet - 4x15
Medicine ball sidebar/side plank - 4x75secs

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Easy recovery....

This morning I ran a recovery run of 8 miles at around a 8 min pace per mile. This included a stop and stretch at mile 4 for recovery purposes since I got in a 10 miler yesterday.

Some people give me a hard time saying 8 miles is way too long for a recovery run which can be true if you're extra tired or run the recovery too fast (which I'm guilty of many time). 7 or 8 mile recoveries work for me because it takes me 2-3 miles just to loosen up after a long run.

No weight lifting today as the weekend is for rest and recovery from the shredding they receive during the week. Of course, running in a must though as there are no complete days off from doing anything.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Doughnut run....

6:30am long run(sort of) today starting at Magee's bakery(I know its ironic to start a long run at a bakery). Nothing like the smell of cooking doughnuts to start off a run. 10 miles at a slow pace of around 745ish. I ran the last mile or so at a 7 flat pace for a quick finish.

One week since the CDR race, and the legs are starting to feel normal again. Next, week I'll rampup the mileage a bit more, only 34 miles this week.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Remembering 9/11

I was getting ready to leave for class when I turned on the television in my bedroom to see smoke pouring out of the twin towers. I just stopped what I was doing and sat down on my bed in dis-belief. Then, I saw the first tower fall live in the background of the news coverage I was watching. I was literally frozen for days after this happened unable to snap out of this daze the event had induced.

No running today, just weight lifting.

Arms

Weighted Chin-ups - 4x15
Weighted Dips - 4x15
21s - 3x21
Overhead tricep press - 4x12
Decline Dumbbell tricep extensions - 4x12
Triangle pushups - 4x15
Wall curls - 4x12

Shoulders

Sitting barbell shoulder press - 4x12
Superset Side shoulder raises - 4x15, Front shoulder raises - 4x15
Plate rotations around the head - 4x24

Abs

Exercise ball side planks - 4x60secs

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ughhh Leg day

6 miles this morning at a 6:35ish pace for a steady tempo run with a 2 mile cooldown. Nothing too crazy. My legs felt better today but still fatigued from the CDR race.

The Thursday course is much flatter than the Tuesday course which my legs welcomed on this day.

Leg day at the gym....ughhh

Barbell squats - 6x12
Barbell lunges - 4x12 each leg
Hamstring curls - 4x12
Hip Adductor - 4x12
Hip Abducotr - 4x12

Lots of stretching

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Killer Back

No running today as the recovery continues. I'm still battling a lower leg injury(inflamed anterior tendon on the outside of my calf which runs down into the foot and makes pushing off with one's toes very painful) which I ran CDR with, but it was 90% healed in my mind before the race. The race didn't make the injury any worse. It just made the surrounding muscles and tissue tired as a result of compensating for the weakness in the tendon.

Back day today at the gym.

Back
T Grips - 4x12
Inverted hanging rows - 4x15 - Looks like a reverse pushup
Wide Grip Pullups - 4x12
Superset - Low wide grip row - 4x12 - Low close grip row - 4x12
Close Grip Pullups - 4x12 - Close grip attachment over wide grip bar
One armed dumbbell rows - run of the rack 4 different weights 10 reps each weight going up in weight then back down in weight

Abs
Crab crunches - 4x15
Leg raised toe touches - 4x15

My lats were very very sore from the various pullups as a result.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Back to the grind

Too bad holiday weekends aren't longer and more frequent. Ran 7 miles this morning with the group at John's. The Tuesday course is hilly and my legs were burning by mile 2 like I was doing intervals. Still feeling the CDR race I suppose. I decided to backoff a bit and try and run consistent for the remainder of the run. I ended up somewhere around a 7ish per mile pace. Not too bad for 2 days off a 15 mile race. My legs felt like lead at the end of the 7 miles.

Hit the gym in the evening

Chest day is the best day....

Chest
Decline barbell bench press - 4x12
Incline barbell bench press - 4x12
Incline bumbell alternating one-handed bench press - 4x24
Dumbbell pullovers - 4x12
Higher cable crossovers - 4x12
Superset Weighted box pushups - 4x12 , One handed medicine ball pushups 4x12


Abs
Hanging leg raises - 4x12
Hanging knee-ups - 4x12
Plank - 4x75secs

Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! 7 mile "recovery run" Very slow pace - 8mins? Maybe, slower. This is more an exercise of getting outside and getting the blood flowing to the leg muscles to speed recovery.

No weight lifting today due to the holiday.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Day off... sort of

Working out the kinks from the race yesterday. 1 mile walk in the morning and 1 hour spinning session to get blood flowing. Lots of stretching. So not a true day off with the spinning, but at least my joints are getting a rest.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Charleston 15 mile Distance Race Report

Arrived Friday night before the race on Saturday which started at 7:30am. I prepped for the race with the traditional pasta in some light marinara sauce. Luckily, we arrived early enough to pickup our race packets to avoid worrying about getting them the next morning. Returned to the hotel room to stretch out and relax to some mindless television. I turned in at about 10:30 which is pretty much my normal bed time these days( I know pretty lame).

I slept better than usual before a race and only woke up once during the night. 5:30am wakeup with a bagel & PB for breakfast. We met up with a few more people who arrived later than us from Lexington and all rode together to the starting line at the WV capital.

It was about a mile walk from the car to the start line which was a good warmup. No sense running 2-3 miles to warmup for a 15 mile race at least in my mind anyway. I lined up in the 2nd-3rd row area behind the Kenyans. This race imports around 5-10 elite racers since they give cash prizes.

The race was started by a civil war era cannon which was unpredictable when it would fire so the start time was a little off. The first 3 miles I spent trying to get into a rhythm shooting for 6:45 min miles skipping the initial water stops. The only challenging part was crossing over a bridge during this span which was a dramatic change in elevation. At mile 4 the climb began, with the infamous 1.2 mile Capitol Hill. I kept my pace steady focusing on being consistent through the climb. At the top of this monster, there wa a switch back for yet more climbing for another .25 miles. People were dropping like flies going through the climb. After the switch back, there were several more steep rolling hills all resulting in more climbing through mile 7 at which point I walked through a water station and took my first GU. From miles 7-8, we had about a 1 mile descent back to the river and bridge we had prueviously crossed. Actually, this was the most challenging part of the race to not shred my quads during the descent which I witnessed many people doing. I crossed the 8 mile marker at 56:57 which I wasn't very pleased with as I was hoping for a sub-7 min pace despite the difficult course. For hydration, I implored a walking thru the water stations to make sure I got plenty of water since I made the mistake in my first half-marathon of getting de-hydrated and dying in the last 2 miles(literally should have went to the hospital for fluids during that one). Miles 8-11 were uneventful as I picked-off several people who passed me in the hills. At mile 12, I took another GU which I probably should have took at mile 11 as I was feeling tired at this point. The course was flat with a few rollers until the end. I continued to pick people off as I went along, but I must say I got passed by one person during this span to my dismay. The finish of the race was at Laidley Field with the last 300 meters being around the track. Of course, I picked it up for the last 300m.

I ended finishing with a time of 1:46:27 which was about 2 mins slower than I had hoped for. The course was the most challenging I have ever run with about a 800-1000ft elevation change. I do feel like I could've ran a bit harder in the last 7 miles, but with my previous experience I was more worried about finishing. My walk-thru the water station tatic was something new which of course added to my time, but I was never worried about being de-hydrated at least. I ended finishing 50th overall. I must say I normally can barely walk after a race so either I'm in better shape or I held-back some during the race. Either way I'm happy about not being beatup like I normally am.

Friday, September 4, 2009

You can't coach desire

Desire is a unquenchable craving or want that can't be instilled in someone, but must come from within someone.......