Freakin Christmas. Sugar Cookies, Alcohol, 8AM sunrise and 4PM sunset. All conspiring to make me about severely unexcited about anything besides sleeping, getting my drunk on, and being a glutton.
These days it's more about showing up than executing a specific plan, which is fine, because what goes down in December doesn't carry through to June, so there is no point in putting in long hours in the dark. I've actually been a lot more focused on (a) intensity, via 30x30s and hill sprints and the like, and (b) resistance exercises, specifically dumbell squats and single leg split lunges via the TRX. Basically, I'm going shorter, but when I go, I go hard. And then I try to top it off with resistance work to fry the legs. The macro goal here is to come out of winter with some mo-fo tree stumps for legs, so I can ride like the wind, run like a gazelle, and crack walnuts with my butt cheeks. Another goal (an experiment, really) is to see if exercising at a pace that makes me feel like hurling for short durations can keep the usual winter adipose layer at bay.
Here is the highlight reel for the last couple of weeks: p.s. there was swimming mixed in, but I forgot the pertinent details.
12/14/10:
14x30x30, 5.41 mi, between 6:00-7:30 on the interval parts, aggressive shuffling on the rest parts. Hilly out and back along W Mercer way. In the dark. Yay, Headlamps!
Did 2 sets squats, 2 sets single leg TRX split squats plyometric stylee, yo.
12/16/10:
3.24 mi, easy-peasy, because I was tired, and it was dark. Then into the dungeon for 3 sets of all leg exercises known to man. Legs hurt. Eyes Crossed.
12/18/10:
5.66 mi, 14x30x30, again between 6-7:30/7:45 mi, a little slower than last time. Must be the extra gut I'm carrying around.
12/22/10:
4.04 mi, did hill sprints up 'puke-worthy hill', the one that rolls by the Hajari's old house on the steep incline of W Mercer. Did 4 hill sprints after a cursory warmup. Goddamn, that hurt. Made me cry like a little girl. After that, did 3 sets of resistance exercises to fry the legs to completion.
12/24/10:
3.25 mi, chillaxed because I had more fun planned in the dungeon. Legs were hammered by the time all was said and done. Then went snowboarding with Kiran, which is mostly me working on riding backwards as he works on his turns. We left in the middle of a blizzard ?!? I've got to teach that boy some values, snow values, that is.
12/25/10:
21.5 mi, Southend MI Loop out and back, 17.5 mph average. My legs and back were cooked from yesterday, so after an initial hard effort to drop some wanker, I put it in 'easy lovin' mode and rolled out the rest of the ride. Right Knee, Left SI joint both feeling really...old today. Still, it's Xmas, and it was 53 degrees and dry outside. Fuckin-A-Bubba, that's what I call a good day to ride.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Training Summary 12/6 - 12/12
OK. Week 2 on the job. Unlike the last job, this is not a high stress, high stakes, deathmarch. Yet. The perks are great. I have my own office, and a fridge ?!? Seriously, a fridge. How cool is that? So far I've successfully resisted the urge to stock it with Beer. It is only the second week on the job, after all.
I've found a gym for $10/month with shower privileges, so I can start commuting in on days when it's not super cold. I'm thinking about starting that up next week, but may end up punting until January. I have the TRX setup at home, the reason I would be doing it would be to get the bike commuting in, and I'm not sure I want to do that right now, when it's cold and dark and (yet another perk!) they're paying for my bus pass.
I'm trying to keep the running and swimming going strong, but it's hard to drag ass out of bed @ 5AM every day. But it's a good habit to have, so I'm going to keep on trying to get out of bed until I can do it w/o thinking :)
I'm beginning to think that it's all about leg strength. Seriously. Rob, who kills me every time we go on a bike ride/skate ski, doesn't do a lot of running, but he's heavy into the weights, and his power is pretty amazing. He said that he's been really focused on leg strength, and even though he hasn't been running regularly, he has been setting PRs when he does go running. I've been doing a lot more leg resistance work because the weather sucks, and I've found that it feels different when I run -- I definitely feel stonger, like there is more space being covered between footfalls. Its actually more subtle than that, but I'm going to keep up with the leg exercises and see where it takes me.
Monday:
Rest
Tuesday
Swimming.
~ 1400 yards
300 warmup
2x300
5x100, first 50 fast, 25 breast, 25 free easy.
It's hard to get excited about swimming. I think this is because I haven't been showing up with a plan. I'm going to try and plan out the next couple of swims, and see if my excitement level returns. The other thing that is sort of exciting in the water is the whole 'swimming fast' thing. Note that I can only do a 50 before my form goes to shite. But I've got to start somewhere :)
Wednesday
4 miles 'brisk' pace and leg resistance exercises on TRX.
Today was supposed to be a track day, but I pulled up to the track and it was closed. WTF?!? Just because it's dark outside doesn't mean I can't run around in 400 meter circles! Anyways, I turned around, got a short 4 miler in, averaging ~ 8 minute miles on a fairly hilly course. Then I did the usual TRX routine. I've changed the single leg split squats to have more of a plyometric feel, as in I push off of my standing leg as my floating leg swings through. It kicks my ass! I've also upped the dumbell squats to 2 reps of 30. That also kicks my ass. This is good!
Thursday
nothing. nothing but sleep. Man, did that feel good!
Friday
4 mile hilly loop followed by TRX: I didn't have a lot of time, so I did 2 sets of:
1x15 plyometric single leg split squats each leg
1x30 squats
This reduced me to a quivering pile of goo. I barely made it up the stairs, where Lopa, who was observing the drama, said "what _are_ you doing to yourself down there?" I didn't have a really good answer :)
Saturday:
swimming:
300 warmup
4x200 constant pace free
w/50 breast in between
5x100 fast 50, 25 breast, 25 slow
200 warmdown
I read an article about maintaining the connection between the pulling hand and the core. This made sense, I feel like I'm moving the fastest when I have that connection. But it's hard to maintain -- during the fast 50's today I could definitely feel myself lose that connection and slip over into thrash.
But it's cool, it's so elusive right now that I can focus on trying to find it, and the laps go by.
Sunday:
planned: a hard run. Reality: nursing a hangover. Good god, I will never try to keep up with Scandinavians in a drinking race again. 10 shots of aquavit went down like water, and BAM I was on my ass. More specifically, I was on my ass with my head between my legs, puking in the rain. Then shivering on the couch, then puking in the bathroom. Then passed out on the couch. Jensen threw down an epic party, and in True Arun fashion, all Aruns in attendance (me and Mr Pink) got completely fucked up and passed out. Jensen says he can always tell the first timers at his XMas bash because they're the ones passed out around the house. The first part was fun, the puking was not, and the final part after I woke up was also fun. But there was no fucking way I was going to go running after a night like that. I'm 42, and can't quite suck it up like I used to in my teenage years.
I don't think I've got another one of those in me, ever :) Or, I hope I don't. Thank God Lopa was pretty buzzed and therefore extremely non judgemental about my wanton wastedness. First of all, I am not a regular drinker, I'm more like a 2 glasses of wine at a dinner party kind of guy, or 2 pints after a game. Not hardcore double digit shots. Not any more!
Hopefully I'll get things back on track tomorrow, with a brisk run followed by leg weights. Unless this is a 48 hour hangover, which might be the case.
I've found a gym for $10/month with shower privileges, so I can start commuting in on days when it's not super cold. I'm thinking about starting that up next week, but may end up punting until January. I have the TRX setup at home, the reason I would be doing it would be to get the bike commuting in, and I'm not sure I want to do that right now, when it's cold and dark and (yet another perk!) they're paying for my bus pass.
I'm trying to keep the running and swimming going strong, but it's hard to drag ass out of bed @ 5AM every day. But it's a good habit to have, so I'm going to keep on trying to get out of bed until I can do it w/o thinking :)
I'm beginning to think that it's all about leg strength. Seriously. Rob, who kills me every time we go on a bike ride/skate ski, doesn't do a lot of running, but he's heavy into the weights, and his power is pretty amazing. He said that he's been really focused on leg strength, and even though he hasn't been running regularly, he has been setting PRs when he does go running. I've been doing a lot more leg resistance work because the weather sucks, and I've found that it feels different when I run -- I definitely feel stonger, like there is more space being covered between footfalls. Its actually more subtle than that, but I'm going to keep up with the leg exercises and see where it takes me.
Monday:
Rest
Tuesday
Swimming.
~ 1400 yards
300 warmup
2x300
5x100, first 50 fast, 25 breast, 25 free easy.
It's hard to get excited about swimming. I think this is because I haven't been showing up with a plan. I'm going to try and plan out the next couple of swims, and see if my excitement level returns. The other thing that is sort of exciting in the water is the whole 'swimming fast' thing. Note that I can only do a 50 before my form goes to shite. But I've got to start somewhere :)
Wednesday
4 miles 'brisk' pace and leg resistance exercises on TRX.
Today was supposed to be a track day, but I pulled up to the track and it was closed. WTF?!? Just because it's dark outside doesn't mean I can't run around in 400 meter circles! Anyways, I turned around, got a short 4 miler in, averaging ~ 8 minute miles on a fairly hilly course. Then I did the usual TRX routine. I've changed the single leg split squats to have more of a plyometric feel, as in I push off of my standing leg as my floating leg swings through. It kicks my ass! I've also upped the dumbell squats to 2 reps of 30. That also kicks my ass. This is good!
Thursday
nothing. nothing but sleep. Man, did that feel good!
Friday
4 mile hilly loop followed by TRX: I didn't have a lot of time, so I did 2 sets of:
1x15 plyometric single leg split squats each leg
1x30 squats
This reduced me to a quivering pile of goo. I barely made it up the stairs, where Lopa, who was observing the drama, said "what _are_ you doing to yourself down there?" I didn't have a really good answer :)
Saturday:
swimming:
300 warmup
4x200 constant pace free
w/50 breast in between
5x100 fast 50, 25 breast, 25 slow
200 warmdown
I read an article about maintaining the connection between the pulling hand and the core. This made sense, I feel like I'm moving the fastest when I have that connection. But it's hard to maintain -- during the fast 50's today I could definitely feel myself lose that connection and slip over into thrash.
But it's cool, it's so elusive right now that I can focus on trying to find it, and the laps go by.
Sunday:
planned: a hard run. Reality: nursing a hangover. Good god, I will never try to keep up with Scandinavians in a drinking race again. 10 shots of aquavit went down like water, and BAM I was on my ass. More specifically, I was on my ass with my head between my legs, puking in the rain. Then shivering on the couch, then puking in the bathroom. Then passed out on the couch. Jensen threw down an epic party, and in True Arun fashion, all Aruns in attendance (me and Mr Pink) got completely fucked up and passed out. Jensen says he can always tell the first timers at his XMas bash because they're the ones passed out around the house. The first part was fun, the puking was not, and the final part after I woke up was also fun. But there was no fucking way I was going to go running after a night like that. I'm 42, and can't quite suck it up like I used to in my teenage years.
I don't think I've got another one of those in me, ever :) Or, I hope I don't. Thank God Lopa was pretty buzzed and therefore extremely non judgemental about my wanton wastedness. First of all, I am not a regular drinker, I'm more like a 2 glasses of wine at a dinner party kind of guy, or 2 pints after a game. Not hardcore double digit shots. Not any more!
Hopefully I'll get things back on track tomorrow, with a brisk run followed by leg weights. Unless this is a 48 hour hangover, which might be the case.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Training Summary 11/29 - 12/5
First week of work meant a big re-adjustment on all fronts...so I did what I could, hoping to get a little more regular next week.
Wednesday
Swimming
2x150
2x300
2x150
Friday
Running 3 miles and weights
TRX, the usual leg weight stuff
atomic pushups,
2x12 pullups
Saturday
Running 8.75 miles, 8:51 average.
went out easy, picked it up, pulse was higher than usual, definitely felt the lack of fitness. however, I am starting to feel like my legs are getting stronger and pushing off harder.
Sunday
Running 4 miles + weights
TRX Legs only.
Wednesday
Swimming
2x150
2x300
2x150
Friday
Running 3 miles and weights
TRX, the usual leg weight stuff
atomic pushups,
2x12 pullups
Saturday
Running 8.75 miles, 8:51 average.
went out easy, picked it up, pulse was higher than usual, definitely felt the lack of fitness. however, I am starting to feel like my legs are getting stronger and pushing off harder.
Sunday
Running 4 miles + weights
TRX Legs only.
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