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