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.