great run

Yesterday morning, Jeff and I went for what we thought was an 11 mile run. When we completed it, Jeff looked it up to discover that the course was 8.5. i'm ok with that because the run felt really good. I felt pain free and light on my feet. It was probably the most comfortable run i've had in a long long time. i'm feeling way more optimistic about the marathon now. The arctic monkeys released a new CD. i'm trying not to overplay it now so that it has an adrenaline effect on me when i put it on my ipod for the marathon. Music can really carry me through tough workouts and runs. Shirley said she's going to sign up too. She had an injured back and foot but had one acupuncture treatment that healed her. So i guess she's in. sweet.

training paid off

so i've been working on my cupcake consumption for the last few years and today it paid off. About 2 weeks ago, our resident champ Kara asked me if i would be her partner in the cupcake eating contest. i was so honored but then i became nervous. i know she is competitive and ALWAYS wins these sorts of things. As the day approached, i became a little nervous about letting her down. Especially since i was hearing stories of Chris B eating 2 entire pies by himself. I've done 3 triathlons this year. last year did the marathon. I've competed in numerous tennis tournaments, swim meets, water polo meets, fencing tournaments, and even a few dance competitions. Not once was i more nervous than today. I heard people saying "look at sean, his hands are shaking". I think maybe i was afraid kara would kick my ass if I let her down. Turns out, she was worried about letting me down. Fortunately, she coached me on the technique of eating half a cupcake and a sip of water at a time. turned out pretty well for us. We placed second just behind the youth heat. I felt great afterwards and even had one of Joe's bratwursts. i haven't eaten since and am a little disgusted with myself now. tomorrow, i have plans to run 12 miles on an empty stomach. Maybe that will make up for at least one cupcake. Kara was impressive today and i'm so glad i got to be on her team. I'm just now ready for more food 8 hours later. Oh, and i did FGB too. My butt, shoulders, and forearms were hurtin like mad from Friday's lunge/push press beat down so i had to reach in the cabinet for some vitamin i this morning.

400meter march

today's workout sounded pretty simple but it was a great challenge in many subtle ways.

400M lunge walk with 25db in each hand stopping to do 5 push presses after every 10 lunges. Shoulders hurt from push presses, forearms hurt from holding 25lbs for half an hour in each hand. Legs hurt from lunging. Mind hurt from wondering if i'd get through it. I'm really curious to see how i feel tomorrow. It wasn't heavy weight so it may be one of those where i'm surprised about how sore i am. We'll see. i think i'll do FGB tomorrow with adjusted expectations that i might be worthless. i'm mainly looking at FGB as a chance to burn some cupcake and burger calories. A good buddy of mine told me that his wife asked if he had a thyroid problem and said she was worried about him. He said it almost made him cry since he thinks she was trying to imply that he got fat. If she framed it as genuine concern for a possible medical condition, it doesnt sound as bad as telling him he eats too much. I told Melissa that if I start getting fat from my new burger addiction or my competitive cupcake eating just to stop me and say "Sean, you're fat" and not to ask if i have a thyroid problem. Ever since i've been doing these intense workouts, i can't seem to satisfy my hunger and protein craving. I'd love to do a few day cleanse some time before the marathon. i may have to take a burger and burrito sabatical soon to lose some weight before the marathon. we'll see. i could do the lettuce burgers that crossfit portland was talking about. that doesnt sound so bad.

clean ladder

today was clean day. I'm very comfortable doing regular cleans but squat cleans are a whole different story. I can get the weight up pretty high but I can't squat under it with any sense of comfort or confidence. The idea of catching 200+ pounds centimeters from my throat and directly above my knees scares the hell out of me. I may try to get in some time soon to practice more. The key is to use a weight heavy enough that requires the squat but not so heavy that I can't do it. Got to watch the boys move some serious weight today in the gym. Daniel got a PR by 20lbs. It was pretty impressive.

 

Warmup: 5 minute row easy pace

Then: 3 rounds
6-way BB Complex:
- DL
- Bent Row
- Hang Clean,
- FS
- PP
- Back Squat
6 reps of each

65#/75#/85#

Then: 
Clean Ladder:
10 reps @ 45#
9 reps @ 45#
8 reps @ 65#
7 reps @ 65#
6 reps @ 85#
5 reps @ 105#
4 reps @ 125#
3 reps @ 145#
2 reps @ 165#
1 rep @ 185#
1 rep @ 205# (missed) Got it up to my chest so if I could have squated under it, I may have had a shot.

Then:
5x (1-6) Partner Pull-up Ladder (Total of 105 pullups. Did first round and a half dead hang)
 

I just registered for the Portland Marathon

so i'm committed now. i just registered for the portland marathon. i should be freaking out. i haven't run more than 12 miles this year. I think Shirley has a hurt foot so she might be walking it this year. not sure. i will be sure to bring my ipod to this race since that will get me through.

Liz is a Triathlon Super Star!!!

this weekend was the portland triathlon. It was harder than i anticipated and i was still sore from Thursday's workout but i had a good time and looked at it as a really great workout. Jeff and Liz also represented for Team Recreate. In fact, Liz got first place in her age group and got to represent on the actual podium. She's an amazing athlete and has great pacing strategy on the run that cracked me up when i heard her sharing it with Lisa over the phone. i'm going to try it for the next triathlon. I must admit, that this race wasn't a confidence booster for the marathon but i'm still up for doing the marathon.

that workout SUCKED!

I had to check my watch to see if it was April 1st when I saw the workout on the board this morning. I thought it had to be a joke.

 

Here it was.

 

Warmup: 10 minute row: no straps/nose breathing only

Workout: for form and time

100 pullups (tore hands at 88 and had to finish with 12 straight leg ring rows)
30 TGU @ 12 kg
100 pushups on pushup board
30 TGU @ 12 kg
100 V ups
30 TGU @ 12 kg
100 air squats
30 TGU @ 12 kg

 

It took me well over an hour to finish this. I had to go upstairs to complete it. On an unrelated note, I gave into Todd's peer pressure to try a Korean Taco truck called Koifusion last night. I have to say it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! And the cart owner Jae was quite possibly the nicest guy on the whole planet. His food was clean, natural, and delicious!!! I was blown away by how friendly he was. And it wasn’t that sticky sweet bs friendly. It was so genuine, you almost wanted to invite him over for family dinner.   

hard month began today

Workout:
5 minute Row @ Easy
Pace
Then:
3x20m Lunge
3x20m OH Lunge @ 45#
BB
Then:
3x20 pass thrus
3x10 Goblet Squat @
53#
Then:
5x4 SLDL @ 135#
Then:
Work up to Heavy OHS
heaviest completed rep was 135. Had the strength to do more but not the form

Then:
5x3 OHS @ 80% 1RM
(Went with 115 since i knew 135 wasn't a true 1RM. 115 felt light.)
Rest 3-4 minutes
between sets
Then:
4x (20sec Work/10sec
Rest) Row @ >110m pace per interval(that was the goal. struggled big time and didnt make the cut. was in the 90s for set 2 and 3)
Complete 3 sets, Rest 3
minutes between each set

Triathlon training day

This weekend is the portland triathlon so today Jeff and I biked and ran. We did the 1 lap of the bike course and the entire running course. pushed it on all the hills. for the runs, we ran 1 minute fast, 1 minute walk for 3 miles. Felt really good to get out there without it being too hot outside. Tomorrow's a hard day in the gym. i'll probably row a light 5k on wednesday, workout hard thursday and completely rest friday and saturday before Sunday's event. looking forward to it.

1 minute abs, arms, legs,butt,back,mind

WOD: 1 Minute Airdyne. 33calories

Recovery: lay on sandbags for 15 minutes while trying not to puke or cry in front of arriving 6:30 class friends.

burpees suck

todays workout was great. back squats followed by a nice chipper.

warmup row 5min

2 warm up sets of back squats
45lbs/135lbs
5 sets of 5 with goal of inching past 80% of 1RM weight
135/185/205/245/265
Did Rippetoe style. Felt really comfortable. I'm used to squating in a squat cage with safety bars just below my squat depth. Its a lot easier to fail in a squat cage without getting hurt. working on getting comfortable under that weight out of a cage. So far, it feels pretty good.

Chipper
10 dead hang pullups(straight through)
20 24k kb swings
30 box jumps on 24 inch box
40 pushups on board. chest to board.
50 situps with hip flexors disengaged. shoulder blades to floor and touch feet on the up.
60 Maxwell 6 count chest to floor strict burpees
10 dead hang pullups(straight through)
time: 16:47

airdyne to hell and back

today's workout was called something like "to hell and back". John bought an Airdyne over the weekend and we got to use it in today's workout. its brutal. seems easy at first but there's no recovery motion in it so its all work the whole time. its amazing.
warmup
5minute on rower easy
2 minute on airdyne easy

Workout(for time. not easy)
50meter row
40meter airdyne
30 meter row
20 meter row
10 meter airdyne
20 meter row
30 meter row
40 meter airdyne
50 meter row.

I think the workout is named wrong. Should be called to heaven and back. the 50meter sections are the real hell. the low numbers are not so bad. i think this kind of stuff is going to make the marathon a lot more fun.

bridge pedal

Did the 8 bridge 24 mile bridge pedal yesterday.  Also rode 9 additional miles yesterday for a total of 33 miles on the bike. Might either rest or do a light jog tonight. Aaron and I are going to run the Portland Marathon this year.  Last year, i read a little about Chi running. sounds like some folks say Pose running is better. On Saturday's run, i tried pose running and do think it felt a little better. They are so similar though. This year i'm not going to run any long runs before the marathon.  I might run more frequently than i did last year but i'll run shorter faster runs. i bought a wristwatch so i can run intervals.

 

 

Great workout

Today was a great workout. Met up with Jeff for an 8 mile bike ride followed by 32 minutes of 2minutes at 85-90% effort followed by 2minutes of recovery walking. It was FANTASTIC. Would have done more but I'm still really sore from thursday.Trying to condition my body to run faster. Good stuff. Going on another ride tonight and 26 miles tomorrow. Glad the heat wave ended so I can hit the pavement again.

interval rowing

Today's game:
15 intervals
30 seconds work/90 seconds active recovery still rowing on the rower
Must row at least 150meters first interval. Each interval must be the same or greater than the previous interval. If you do the same meters for two consecutive intervals, then you must go further by at least 1 meter in the following interval. If you dont, pack up and go home(Well that would be the GymJones rule). I felt that i paced it pretty well but on the 12th round, i went one meter shy than my requirement. i definitely had that meter in me but i was getting cocky with my pacing and wanted to do just the required amount and no more. I was actually pretty upset that i did that. The rules were simple and i had the energy so didn't like that miscalculation through me under. The last 3 rounds were guilt rounds. i was rowing hard to redeem myself for round 12. Doesn't really work that way, but thats how i dealt with it.

Round Meters Rowed
1 150
2 151
3 152
4 154
5 154
6 156
7 156
8 157
9 158
10 158
11 159
12 158 (this should have been 159)
13 162
14 165
15 183

tabata thursday and 1RM deadlift

i've been working on thrusters on my own at 24 hour fitness but it didn't help me much today. we did 15 rounds of 20/10 65lb thrusters. The lactic acid burn was unbearable. i wasn't out of breath and my legs felt just fine but the burn in my shoulders was almost too much to take. On the positive note, i got a PR on my deadlift. My dead lift is now 2.62 x body weight. i'd love to get to 3x bodyweight. i have a lot of dead(fat) weight i could stand to loose. when i used to be lean i was around 165. i'd be thrilled to get to a lean 170. In the past, i always wanted big muscles. Now that i'm becoming interested in triathlons, i'm on a mission to be stronger at a lighter body weight. i think everything will be lot more fun if i'm not lugging around dead weight that isn't part of the engine.


Deadlift 1RM: 475lbs
Tabata reps(20on/10rest no setting bar down. 65lbs)
9/7/5/6/6/5/5/5/5/4/0/5/4/4/10

Max deadlift attempt tomorrow

Tomorrow is max deadlift day. Looking forward to it. I usually have one good pull in me so I'm trying to decide what weight to go for. I'm trying to figure in the John effect. When he's in the room, I always seem to lift a little more than usual. May have to have some coffee too. Would like to hit 500lbs before the year is up. Had to use tape to hold the 2 1/2s on the ends last time I tried. Been trying to watch videos of light guys lifting 500lbs. Not for form tips but just to see that its possible. Sometimes(most of the time) the mind is the biggest obstacle in reaching goals.

Tuesday fun

2X
10 push jerks with 2 24k kb
Row 4min
(1100/1060)
Rest 1min

Rest 2 min
2X
24k kb goblet squat times 10
4 min stepover
Rest 1 min

Sunday

Sunday’s workout was the good old row/pushup workout. in a pinch, that seems like such a great bang for the buck.

 

4000meter row for time getting off on every 4 minute mark to do 20 strict chest to floor pushups.

Struggled to keep the 500m pace under 2:00. Usually, that’s not too hard to do.

Then I did 50 thrusters with an oly bar.

Then I practiced snatch form with just a barbell.

 

Chest is sore but everything else feels good.