Up to Speed Part 1

Oh, so, here's a bit of catch up.

Just when I started feeling back to normal after the marathon and ready to hit the gym again, work started picking up. As you may know I was working for four tutoring companies, but that has since narrowed to two. One of these is a hospital tutoring company that only cares about money and the other is a test prep company that is really spectacular to work for. To the former I am only a body that meets with kids whose schools pay the bill. To the later, I have been deemed one of their top tutors and have become a hot commodity when it comes to subject tests. I stayed with the hospital company because it gave me a chance to work with patients in various hospitals. Nevertheless, both of these jobs started producing and the result was a 90 hour work week. That's right, 90 hours crammed into one week. That includes the 20 or so hours of commuting I do weekly around the great Boston region. After this 'marathon' work week (get it?!) needless to say I was pretty spent and ready for a night off, which leads to my first story.

Bruins Tickets

On May 10th, the Bruins were about to play Game 5 against the Phillies in a series that turned out to be one of the biggest chokes in professional playoff hockey history, and I was walking home from the local hospital where I work. It had been another day of busy tutoring and I was ready to call it a night and catch up on some much needed sleep. As I entered my building I noticed another man going for the door. He was several steps behind me, but I decided to hold to door nonetheless. After doing so I started my trek up the stairs toward to elevator. The man, who I later found out was also named John, turned an went toward the concierge, but all of the sudden stopped short and turned toward me.

"You wouldn't happen to be interested in going to the Bruins game tonight would you?" he asked.

"Umm...possibly," I replied turning toward him. "Are you selling a ticket or something?"

"Well I bought 4 tickets, one for me and three for my sons. However, one of my sons is sick and can;t make it to the game."

"How much?"

He handed me the ticket, which clearly said $152.00.

"I'm sorry, I can't afford that."

"Well it wouldn't be for face value, of course," he quickly spat back. "What do you think a fair price would be?"

"I can't pay what I think is a fair price."

"$40" he said before my words had time to echo.

"Done" I said just as quickly.

As I fished around in my wallet for what ended up being $38 dollars, he handed me the ticket and said, "Tell you what, if you come to the game tonight, just buy us some beers or something and we'll call it even."

" Are you sure? I can go to an ATM real quick."

"As long as your the one coming to the game and not selling the ticket, it's ok."

"Oh I'll be there."

After quickly changing into the only Bruins shirt I had, the one I got from donating blood at the arena, I went to the ATM and headed for the game.

Upon meeting John and his two sons, I immediately offered to buy a round of beers. However, his sons were both underage (one a senior in high school and the other a freshman in college). I offered pop, but both were fine and John was content. I settled into my seat to watch the first period. But this wasn't just any seat. The ticket was $152.00 for a reason. I was seated at center ice in the 14th row, just above the glass. I felt like I was watching a high school hockey game, except it wasn't high school. At the first intermission, John and I headed up to the concessions for a round of hot dogs and a few beers. Upon ordering the beers, the clerk asked for my ID, and I proudly produced my Minnesota ID. After a brief inspection, he said, "You have to be 25." After a brief moment of shock and disbelief I curtly asked him is this was indeed the United States of America to which responded with an unintelligible confirmation. To this I looked at John, who, by the way, had left his wallet and thus his ID at his house on Cape Cod, and simply shook my head. Upon paying for these thirst provoking hot dogs, John told me that we were even. I offered to pay for whatever else they wanted that night which turned out to be nothing. During the course of the evening I offered to pay John the $40 I promised, but he simple refused and thanked me for the hot dogs. The Bruins proceeded to play terribly and the Phillies walked away with an easy victory. Despite the loss, it was a great evening and I enjoyed every minute. All said, that is how I was able to sit at center ice for a playoff game for the price of three hot dogs.

Not Marathon Monday

Well, as Angela said, it is no longer Marathon Monday. Alas, it is more than a month past marathon Monday, and what do I have to say for myself? Where have I been? Well, sit back relax and enjoy an overview of the last few weeks...

The week after the race I was suffering. It was a painful recovery. Not muscularly, that was gone in a day or two, but my left foot hurt like hell. It slowed me down and even forced me to walk on the balls of my feet for a few days. After about a week though, that went away and I was able to walk around normally again. However, with this hindrance now absent, I had a whole new set of challenges on the horizon. As I find time over this next week, I will do my best to relate to you the course of the last few weeks and highlight some of the more interesting events. Keep your eyes posted and hopefully you'll be in for a treat.

Marathon Monday!

Yesterday I ran the Boston Marathon and what New Englanders in the Boston area call Marathon Monday. Since Patriots Day is celebrated here, most people have work off and have time to drink/line the marathon route. This makes for great motivation since there are few spots along the route without spectators cheering you on. The crowd helped substantially, but they did not lessen the pain in the final few miles. Here's how it went down.

Short Version:

Finished in 3:43.

Marathon Version:

We got up early (5:30) to be picked up by the rest of our group; we were running as 4. We then drove out to the start some 26.2 miles from Boston. We got there at around 6:30 and took about 15 minutes to find the start. The four of us were running bandit and had not registered to run, so we had to fend for ourselves to find the start and pass the time. Before leaving Boston, we found a registered runner who was lost, so we gave him a ride too. When we got out at the start, it was a little chili - mid forties or so. We didn't want to leave anything at the start, so we were in our running gear and went numb for the next few hours. To put the size of the event in perspective, there were 26,000 registered runners and about 5,000 bandits. The little town of Hopkinton was packed. After the elite men and women had gone, we hopped into a corral (sneakily so as not to be caught) and waited for the starter's pistol. From there it took 16 minutes to get to the starting line and the beginning of what would be a once in s lifetime experience.

We had talked ahead of time and decided to shoot for a 3:45 pace. That meant we would have to hold back in the beginning since there would be a ton of adrenaline. Since I'm used to explosive sports--crossfit, ski racing, etc.--it was a very anticlimactic start. The first mile slowed us more than we expected since we had to weave though literally thousands of people. After 1 mile we were already 1 minute 30 seconds back from our pace. We picked it up for the second mile and shaved that down to 30 seconds. We then held that pace for a while shaving off a few seconds here and there. Even from the beginning there were people cheering us on. Also, we found it funny that many people had what I like to call 'cocker spaniel' syndrome and were in the woods relieving themselves not even half a mile into the race. The first many miles were fun and kind of drifted by. One notable moment was when a spectator on a ledge was throwing orange slices into the crowd saw us running by. I motioned for him to throw one to me. When he did everyone I was running with thought it would go over our heads, but, in stride, i leapt up and caught it with left handed behind my head. I received many cheers and a delicious orange. Somewhere around mile 8 we lost one of our group. She was the only experienced marathoner with us, but she was having problems with her hips. She told us to go on and finished the race on her own suffering great pain and showing extreme determination.

For two of us, reaching mile 10 was the end of known territory. Over the next 16.2 miles, each step would be the furthest we've ever run. At about mile 12, one of our friends jumped into the course and ran with us a ways. She then jumped out and found the girl who had split off. At about this point we entered the halfway mark and Wellesley College. This is an all girls school where the students have been known to scream, flash, and occasionally latch on to runners. Most of the girls were holding signs saying 'Kiss Me' and were yelling. We saw no flashers. We had thought about slowing down for this section and really taking in the atmosphere and taking advantage of our surroundings, but when my two friends saw the line of girls, the both kicked it into high gear and got about 1000 high fives. One of my buddies had written his name and phone number on a few wrist bands that he planned on throwing into the crowd at Wellesley, but as soon as the moment struck him he completely forgot.

We continued to make time and eventually got ahead of pace. We were all feeling good, so we kept up our pace and cruised through several miles. Somewhere along this, probably mile 14 or 15. I stopped to use the bathroom (enough said). We had planned that I would run ahead, they would slow down and I would catch them after. Surprisingly this worked. I sprinted, so to speak, ahead, did my business, and kept a fast pace for the next mile or so. Luckily, I saw the tattered American flag boxers and Vibram 5's (that's right he ran in 5 fingers) my friends was wearing. He said the other guy had also made a pit stop. He caught up with us shortly thereafter.

The night before the race I was given the advice from an experienced runner, that BC should be thought of as the halfway mark both physically (body breakdown-wise not distance), and mentally. Unfortunately, I started getting sporadic cramps in my calves at about mile 18, 3-4 miles before BC. Once this started happening, I drank as much Gatorade and water I could get my hands on. This worked for a while and I was able to keep pace with my friends until Heartbreak Hill. My calves were cramping too much to keep up so I let them go ahead and I would face the next 8 miles alone. I didn't stop at any point on the hill, but the pain was getting pretty bad. Somewhere along the way my hamstrings joined in the fun and I would cramp up every third step or so. Nevertheless I pushed on. The rest of the race was mental. BC was huge. The student body has so much energy that they pretty much carried you through their section of course. A little while after that, at about mile 22.5, some of my friends were watching. They had beers ready and it was good. Then I hit the BU campus body, who had a similar effect to BC. I did stop to walk at some random water station to get my fill, but at this point, liquids did little for my legs. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and thought to myself, only a few more miles. At this point in the race, I drew inspiration from some of the runners around me. I saw many bands of soldiers carrying 50lb ruck sacks who had left hours beforehand, but were still en route. I also saw a man pushing a wheelchair, who had also left ahead of me, but was determined to reach the finish. Both of these sights spurred me on. For a few miles I found myself singing military running cadences, that I listen to running, half out loud half in my head. This was an emotional portion of the race and my adrenaline brought me through the final miles. When I rounded the last corner and saw the finish line, nothing could stop me. I ran as fast as my now hardly functioning legs would take me and crossed the line with a time of 3:43. The big clock said 3:59, but I later found out that we had crossed the start when it said 16.

They kept us moving through the finish area. Everyone got a heat blanket, a bag of food, water, water and more water. The registered runners got a medal and could receive medical attention if they needed. Us bandits just took whatever we were given. There were so many people at the end of the race that I was sure I wouldn't find my friends. I did a slow, very slow, walk around the meeting block and finally found one of my friends back at the beginning. He had finished in 3:35 and our other friend finished 30 second thereafter. However, this second friend, Dave, was given medical attention by his girlfriend who was working in the medical tent. We then sat and waited for the spectating crew to come pick us up. There were many congratulations and victory beers. However, someone had the bright idea to pick a bar over a mile from the finish. We set off at a slow hobble and finally reached the bar for a delicious after run celebration.

Tapering I guess

As mentioned before, I did end up doing those treadmill sprints last Tuesday. They went a little something like this:

8 Rounds

30 seconds on 20 seconds off

12% grade

7.8 mph (7:41/mile)

It was a tad slower than the last treadmill hill tabata I did, and although it felt a little easier and I made it through all eight rounds, I did have to dig deep for the last three. Good news is that me feet and calves have learned to deal with POSE running. I wonder how long that will last on Monday.

Ang, as far as tapering, I feel the same way. I think I'll run today and tomorrow, but hold off all weekend. If it's not a hard work out it just doesn't feel right.

Taper? Oh and my Saturday Workout

Saturday was a real world scenario workout, here's the link:

♫ http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/highlight/x1661781181/Brookline-Police-Would-be-burglar-pinned-down-by-residents

So, yeah, it was an interesting Saturday afternoon.

I've been trying to figure out a way to taper before this marathon. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do, so I'm just going to rest a few days before.

On Friday I did:
500m row
150 DU's
50 Burpees

11:37 (nothing to write home about with that time)

In my defense, the rope was pretty heavy and I haven't done burpees in months. I can wait until the marathon/my shoulder heals so I can start some more intense sessions.

Yesterday I did:
5 rounds for time
10 Steps walking lunges with 65lb db's (I'm feeling that today)
250m row

10:30

Today I'm planning o doing sprint repeats on a treadmill. Like I said I'm not really sure how a taper is supposed to work, so I'll just wing it and hope it works out. I may do one more long run on Thursday.

Uphill + Pack = Hard

Today's workout was a mile run at incline with a pack. The limitations were 6%-12% incline with a 10-20lb pack. I went with a 9% incline and an 11lb pack (it's all I had with me in my back pack). As I premeditated my attack I thought, "It's only 1 mile, I should be able to do that at a 7 minute pace." Then I thought, "Well, it's at 9%, so maybe I'll hold back to 7:30 pace and pick it up if I'm feeling good." Then I remembered the pack and though, "Hmm...this could be harder then I anticipated..." Well, it was. I started at an 8 minute pace, then quickly switched to 8:30. I held that for a while and had to pull it all back to a 10:00 minute pace. Even that was tough and twice I slowed down to a walk to regain my jello legs. I think I finished in just over 10 minutes and was drenched in sweat. Don't underestimate inclined pack runs.

WOD
1 mile at 9% incline with an 11 lb pack

10 minutes +

PT and 800m repeats

I had PT today and it went well. My shoulder is feeling better each day. I just can't wait to get back to full ROM without pain. Hopefully that will be soon. I had electro-stim and ice for the shoulder today and tape afterward. I'll go back next week to learn a few exercises. All in all it was great. The physical therapist was awesome, so good deal.

After that I went to the gym and this beautiful day to run. No it doesn't make a lot of sense, but i wanted to make sure distance and speed were accurate.

WOD
5 Rounds
Run 800m (keep within 5 seconds of fastest pace)
Rest 90 sec

I just set the treadmill at 9.7 mph and let it rip. All 5 rounds at the same speed. The last 2 were tough, but it felt good. Each round was 3:05:57.

Ang- I know how that goes. My chain gets me just about every time. The big question is where in Omaha did you find a Sauna?

Saunas and Sore Feet

Yesterday I went to another branch of my new globo gym to check out their Sauna. I did a little workout and took a little sauna. Overall, I was pleased. It was nice to have a decently warm sauna (around 150 I think) to go to after a workout. Next time I'll bring some water to throw on the rocks.

However, I will also have to bring some water for myself. I didn't drink enough and felt the effects on my recovering joints later. My knees bothered me a little yesterday, but my feet (escpecially left) hurt the most and continues to hurt today. I'm taking a rest day today to let my body come back a bit from the past two days. My plan is to do several workouts this week and taper a bit next week so that I'm fully recovered for the run.

Monday
WOD 1
5 rounds
Max Rep 135lb Bench Press (7-6-5-5-5)
Either planks/bridges or dragon flags (?) something to get a core burn going

WOD 2
12x20sec sprints rest 2 minutes between sets

I'm not impressed with the bench press numbers and, as usual, need to work on that. However, the sprints felt pretty good muscle and lung-wise.

Even though my shoulder is not seriously injured, it has been extremely limiting in what I can to for exercises. I have a Pt appointment tomorrow so I hope to find out more.

Whoops

Today I was planning on going for a nice long run to see how it feels. My original plan was to do just over a half marathon, say about 13.5 miles. I mapped out a nice run along both sides of the Charles River, filled my camel back and took off. I started with a pretty easy pace and, since I've never run more than 6 miles in one go before, didn't push it too much. What I didn't anticipate for was exactly where I was supposed to cross the river. I'd never been that far along the run path, so I wasn't sure which bridge it was. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and took a bridge that was too early. This cut my run down to a 9.77 mile run. Still, it was longer than I've done and for the most part felt pretty good. I know my technique started to wain a bit toward the end, but I tried to keep pose as best I could. I think this will help mentally on marathon day.

WOD
Run 9.77 miles
1:19 (average 8:12min miles, three traffic stops)

Double Duty

It was a double session today. The gym nearby makes it easy to get a regular wod in while having legs makes running something to be done every where.

Morning WOD
4 Rounds
7 - 225lb DL
7 - 135lb Power Cleans

Done for time, but not timed

My shoulder, or rather AC joint, is really limiting what I can do in the gym. Even doing cleans started to aggravate it toward the end. I'm going to take it easy with that type of lift until I the pain goes down, or I get a green light from PT.

Evening WOD
4 rounds
300m All out Sprint
rest 5 minutes

My splits were 45s, 47s, 51s, ??s. I was able to give a strong sprint until about 150-200m. That;s when it started catching up to me in both my legs and lungs. However, I did feel strong for the first bit. During the last round I passed someone on a bike. It felt pretty cool.

Shoulder Woes

Yesterday I went in t get my shoulder checked out. Luckily, the doc said it was only a sprained AC joint. He prescribed some PT which will begin next Wednesday. It is still painful but I'm happy to hear it's not torn or anything serious.

Consequently, I joined a gym today. The new gym is lacking ina a lot of areas, but to be fair, is better equipped for crossfit than the gym I worked out in last summer in Hibbing. It also has a combat conditioning class that I may try out as part of the membership. And the cherry on the top is that I can go to any of their several locations and one of them nearby has a SAUNA! Yeah, I'm definitely doing that soon.

I made up a little WOD today, modified for my shoulder.

WOD
5 rounds
3 185lb Front Squats
20 Push-ups
25 Sit-ups

Not timed

It felt great working out in a crossfit style again and I look forward to many of those to come.

A New iPod to keep the Beat of my Feet

I went out and bought a refurbished second generation 8gb iPod Nano today. It was $75 and conveniently replaces the one I ruined while running with a backpack of water. It works wells so far, save for the fact that it doesn't play any music when plugged into an iPod stereo system (i.e. an iHome). I'll bring it back tomorrow and hope they can fix it. They said it has a 1 year warranty.

Anyway, I used it today for my run, which was a bit longer than the past few I've done. It was nice having something to occupy my mind.

WOD
Run:
2 x 800m holding best possible pace. Not slowing more then 3 sec. 2 min recoveries
2 x 1k holding best possible pace. Not slowing more then 5 sec. 2 min recoveries

I ran on a treadmill and kept it at 10mph for the two 800's (6:03/mile) and then lowered it to 9.5 mph for the two kilos (6:18/mile). I think it was a good pace, at least for the 1k's, because I was really hurting after the second one.

On a related not, my calves felt great today and during the run. I hope they have built up enough endurance to take the beating of a marathon, which is just under 3 weeks away.

Doctor's appointment in the morning for my shoulder...

Treadmill Tabata

No time trial in last weekend. I am planning on running a long one this weekend...hopefully.

Today I did a tabata treadmill, or rather I attempted to complete said tabata.

WOD
Tabata Treadmill
Grade: 12%
Speed: 8mph

I made it to round 6 before my legs/lungs couldn't keep up. On rounds 6 and 8 I only ran 10 seconds, but did an extra round to make up for it. Room for improvement. I tried my best to maintain POSE form, but it was tough with such rapid fire. My calves are definitely building up endurance which is good.

I go in Wednesday to find out about my shoulder and hopefully join a gym the next day so I can get back at the regular WODs. I have spent too much time without those.

Sprinting

I had some time yesterday and decided to fill it with a sprint workout from CFE. It went a little something like this.

3 Rounds of:

5 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 15 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 25 seconds on, 10 seconds off

This one was a real gasser since you could only rest for 10 seconds. I got a lot of funny looks from the slower runners on the trail when I would sprint past them then stop and they would jog past me, sprint past them, then get passed. It was sort of the tortoise and the hare type thing going on.

Hopefully, I can get a time trial in this weekend. We shall see.

Time Warp

Some of you may think that I've been neglecting my blogging responsibilities. This is simply not true. What really happened was, I fell into a time warp and BAM here we are one month after my last post. Weird.

What really happened was well quite a lot actually. My three jobs realized that I'm an awesome worker and started using me a lot. As in 8-12 hours of work done over 10-14 hours each day. Not only was it quite stressful, but I didn't have any time to work out. Not good. In fact, I worked 18 days straight somewhere in there (mind you I was only working 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, but it still counts). After this work spree, I went to Colorado for 10 days to enjoy a bit of the outdoors, family, and friends. To be specific we spent 7 days at a condo in Copper and the other time at my Uncle's new house in Parker (for you Omaha folks, it's the one they were building when we were there last year, and it is huge). After taking that much needed vacation, I'm back in Boston and about to step it up a notch with work again.

I'm still planning on running the Boston Marathon this April, but am not sure how prepared I'll be. I've been doing Crossfit Endurance WODs about 2 times a week, but I'm not sure how much that will pay off. I haven't done a proper WOD in quite a while and am missing it like a fish misses water or a cow misses grass or a space monkey misses space. I might be joining a globo gym around the corner, but I'm waiting to see what my schedule shapes up to be in the next few weeks. Hopefully, I won't have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to drive to a psych ward and tutor kids who, for the most part, would rather be doing anything other than tutoring. If this ceases, then I will begin my day properly with a solid WOD.

Another reason I'm waiting to join is because I hurt my shoulder in Copper skiing. As many of you know, I have a bad habit of dislocating my shoulder. Well this time it didn't dislocate. It just was slammed on the ground. I'm not sure if it's broken, but it has been hurting quite a bit since Friday. No need to worry though, I've got an appointment set up with a sports medicine doc. Next Wednesday that is. At least I'll know if it's serious by then. More to come on that.

On to workouts. As said I've been doing CFE WODs in preparation for the marathon. I've done a few sprint/interval workouts and once ran 5.25(?) miles in 40 minutes or so (nothing special). I did a lot of hiking in Copper since we built a kicker (jump) in one of the back bowls and pretty much hiked the hill and hit that most days. But, I didn't do any running there. Wait, I take that back, we did a drunk job back form the bars one night.

Here was today's
2 rounds for Distance
3x1min run, 30 seconds rest between
2x2min run, 45 seconds rest between
3 minute run, rest 2 minutes

2.93 miles (1.54 mi. in round 1, 1.39 mi in round 2, no walking during rests)

6:50 average mile pace

My form felt decent, so that's a bonus. My calves aren't as sore either, double bonus.

I plan on doing something Thursday and then again on Saturday or Sunday. I'd like to get a long run in this weekend to work on the mental aspect of the ordeal. We shall see.

Oh and for those of you who managed to read this whole mess, a little info on that awesome new picture at the top. Yes, that is me pulling a huge daffy. No it is not photo shopped. Yes, it is off of the aforementioned jump we built. and Yes, I stuck the landing. If there are no further questions, I will retire for the evening. Cheerio!

Intermittent Training

Training has been rather sporadic for me lately. My jobs have picked up a bit and most day I've only got time to eat sleep and work. It's great to be this busy, but I'm definitely not working out enough. I have, however, been eating fairly well. I've been sticking to the 3 days of eating 1 day of fasting, and I have found my cravings for sugar have decreased. Not only that, but toward then end of the fast I feel myself go into survival mode a bit and become hyper alert. It's kind of cool. On the days I eat, I try to eat chicken and turkey in addition to 2 pounds of veggies, 2 apples, and some pineapple. Plus fats, almonds, olive oil, and fish oil. It's been treating me well thus far.

I haven't had time to further gather my thoughts on Avatar, but I hope to do that in the near future.

Workouts:

Friday 2/19
5 Rounds
Max Rep 275lb DL
Max Rep Chest to Bar Pull-ups

I liked this one. I think DL's were 11-10-9-8-5 and the pull-ups were 11-6-6-5-5 (not impressed). I was called out on bad DL form by another guy working out there and was happy for it. I haven't had anyone watching my form for almost a year (since Omaha) and I haven't been consciously keeping it honest. He called me out on the fourth set and I really focused on that for the final round. Pull-ups: needs work.

Sunday 2/21
10 Rounds
30 Seconds Treadmill Sprint @ 7% grade
2 minutes rest between rounds

Started at 11.5 mph and finished at 10mph. I'm going to start mixing in a few Endurance wods since I will be running a marathon is 2 months.

Catch Up

Well, hello again old friend. It's been a while since we've last met and quite a bit has happened since our last encounter.

To start with I would like to commend all those who participated and subsequently rocked the Midwest Crossfit Sectional! Awesome work there!

Proceeding from there, I do have a bit of news that has lightened my days. Last Wednesday I was accepted to the University of Minnesota Medical School! I was starting to get a little worried there for a bit. Now I'm extremely excited and relieved to know that I do have a future plan. As it stands now, I will likely be in Minneapolis for the next 4 years. Minnesota was one of my tops choices, and is in fact the only school to accept me as of now. Even if I'm not accepted elsewhere, I would not consider this to be a school I settled for. It is well ranked, and they are implementing an exciting new curriculum this next year that looks awesome. Not to mention, there is a Crossfit gym not far from the school. It would be great to workout in a proper gym again. More information will come in this in the future as decisions are made and plans set. Exciting times.

On a less significant, but exciting nevertheless, note, I am planning on running the Boston Marathon this year. No I am not registered which means I'll be running rogue. My friend, Paul as some may remember from previous posts, has decided to run the marathon and needed a running buddy for its duration. He asked and I accepted the challenge. He recently adopted POSE running (at my suggestion), bought a pair of five fingers, and plans on running the whole thing in those. Crazy, but in a good way. As for my long distance history, I have never run more than 6 miles in one go. This is going to be interesting.

The race is April 29th, and until today, I had not been to the gym for some time. This week I have a little more free time than usual, so I plan on at least doing something most of the days. In an attempt to prepare myself for the physical and mental rigors or the event, I added a little challenge to my workout today. A 2.25 mile run before and after the WOD. This might not have been the best idea, but I did it. I know it would have been better for me to spread these activities out of the day in the sense of physical training. But as far as mental toughness goes, I'm not sure it would have been tougher to separate the two. This is one of the reasons I chose to do it as a delicious sandwich. The first two miles were really hard (due to the long break I'm sure). The workout also was brutal and I slugged through it (see below for times and whatnot). The second two miler, really didn't feel as bad as the first (my pace was greatly reduced). I also attempted to refuel with Gatorade instead of water during the WOD. I'll plan on drinking watered down Gatorade on the marathon and eating a few clif bars. I'm not a fan of the soybeans used in Clif bars. Does anyone have any suggestions for energy type bar that would be good for a marathon? If you do let me know. That along with any tips you can think of for simply surviving.

WOD
2.25 Mile Run 17:43 (with ~5 traffic stops)

Rest/Warm up 10-15 minutes

3 rounds
500 meter row
12 135lb power cleans
15 95lb thrusters
~27 minutes (all rows under 2 minutes, minor cramping in legs)

Rest ~10 minutes

2.25 Mile run 20:34 (with ~5 traffic stops)

Rest day tomorrow and likely Thursday because of schedule. However I may try to do the CF Endurance WOD on those days.

And for the cherry on top. I just bought a new pair of skis for $400 less than MSRP. They are beautiful 189cm 2009 K2 Kung Fujas. I can't wait to get the bindings mounted and a nice coat of wax on those bad boys.

That is all!

Wind out of my Sails

Well, the wind has left me sails, so to speak. Work has picked up quite a bit and I have only been to the gym once this week. It doesn't help that it takes quite a while to get to the gym. Such is life. Since I won't be competing this year, it will not be as big of an issue, but I would still like to belong to a gym where I can do something every once in a while.

While I am physical at the horse latitudes or doldrums (vocab for you sailors out there), I have recently experienced gale force winds mentally. This Sunday I watched Avatar. This movie sparked such a philosophical string of thoughts in me that I was in a near trance until Tuesday contemplating the themes and concepts presented in the moving. I eve began writing down a few of my more prominent thoughts with the hopes of constructing an essay. Now bear in mind, Avatar was only the spark the landed on an already well fueled fire. Many of the ideas I've jotted down have been recurring thoughts in my mental ventures, but Avatar presented them in such a way as to bring them into a new light. If you have not seen it, go. It is well worth it in my opinion. Expect to see something in the future summing my musing on the movie and what it brought forth.

As for the one workout I did this week.

WOD
5 Min Rowing @ 50%
Tabata Rowing Increasing work
5 min rest
1 minute @90% rest 2 minutes 3 rounds (try and get exact distances)
5 minute cooldown

This was a fun one. I like rowing (quite fitting for Boston, eh).

Still Truckin

Well, despite a crazy work schedule, I've been able to follow the 2on-1off schedule laid out by OPT. I was even able to get a double in today. I'm a bit sore (and know I will feel it tomorrow). I'm going to try and find a cheap was to get a solid post wod nutrient source (such as a shake or bar) in order to help boost my daily intake. Also, I don;t think I'm getting enough carbs, which could be leading to a high level of cortisol in my brain, and as we know, elevated levels of cortisol cause unwanted stress, which in turn could be the reason I've been having trouble falling asleep. I'll see what I can do about that.

Wednesday WOD
A Power Clean/Push Press/Push Jerk/ Power Jerk 1.1.1.1x5 rest 180 (160, 170, 180, 185(F PP), 190F (did 3 SJ))
B1 KB Swings heavy 15x3 rest 90 (2pood)
B2 HSPU close grip 21X1 amrapx3 rest 90
C1 GHD Raises 2020, 12x3 rest 60
C2 Toes 2 Bar 21x3 rest 60

Not happy with the strength cluster. It is worse than before. Not sure what was going on, perhaps mental.

Thursday WOD
15-12-9-6-3
Power Snatch 95lbs
Burpees

8:53

Rest 4+ hours (I did about 6 hours)

3 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
2 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
1 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
2 min. Sprint at 90%
1 min. walk
3 min. Sprint at 90%

I think I traveled about 2.5 miles in that time. My legs were really feeling the snatches on this one. Calves are now sore as I tried as best I could to stay POSE.

Friday happens to be a rest day and a fasting day. Should be fun.

Some Consistency

Friday WOD

Sprint Row 30 sec @ 100% effort

Rest 2:30

repeat 7 times

150-156-154-156-157-158-157 (meters in each round)

Sunday WOD
A1. Bench Press @50X1 6-8x4 rest 90s (Worked up from 120-150)
A2. Snatch Grip DL @41x1 5-7x4 rest 90s (140-200)
B1: dips @ 4010 6-8x3 rest 75s
B2: GHD raises @2020 10-15x3 rest 75
C1: DB ext rot @3010 8-10/armx3 rest 60 (15lbs)
C2: Toes 2 Bar 18 repsx3 rest 60

Monday WOD
A1 Mixed grip chin ups 31X0 4-6x4 rest 90
A2 1 1/4 Back Squat 4010, 6-8x4 rest 90 (140-170 tougher than it sounds)
B1 Lean away supinated chin ups 4111 amrapx3 rest 75
B2 DB forward Lunges 1010 8/legx3 rest 75 (55lbs pood in each hand)
C1 Powell Raises 3010, 8-10/armx3 rest 60
C2Anchored Sit-ups 35x3 rest 60

With any luck I'll be able to make it to the gym tomorrow to begin a three cycle streak. The rowing I did Friday was kind of fun. With such a large rest I was able to keep the pace up for all the rounds. As for Sunday and Monday, these are the same workouts that I did two weeks except with a little more weight. Tomorrow will be the same as last Thursday's workout and Thursday will be a double WOD day (if I'm lucky). It looks like after this initial 'strength interval' portion the wods start mixing up a bit into the typical crossfit workouts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep on a steady cycle at the gym to keep up with the training.

Diet:
Here's a basic diet update.
Food eaten in a day:
Carbs
2lbs of Broccoli
2 Apples
Protein
~1lb of meat (chicken and turkey mostly)
2 Eggs (used to be egg white, but since eggs are cheaper I've switched back)
Fats
Lots of Almonds, some walnuts
Olive Oil liberally added to Broccoli
Fish Oil (~1700mg EPA, ~1100mg DHA) when I have it

I've also been fasting every fourth day. (dinner on 3rd day to dinner on 4th day)

I'm not sure I'm getting enough carbs and don;t know what to do about that. Also, I'm not really doing anything special pre and post wod. We'll see if that changes at all in the future. At this point, I'm not financially capable of much experiment or diversity. I plan to hone my diet in the future when it becomes easier to provide for myself. For now, I'm happy with my diet.

Haircut

I got a haircut today. Now my hair is shorter.

On to business.

I returned to Boston the evening of January 4th and wrote an entry the 5th. Honestly I can't really remember what I said then since I hit the ground at a sprint and haven't really slowed since. After squaring away my gym membership I did the first two days of OPT's phase 1 as I've mentioned in previous posts. I believe that was last Thursday and Friday. And although the program is written as 2-on-1-off, I took 5 days off and returned to the gym today. It has been a busy week to say the least. Some of it was work, which is a great thing; and some of it was family, which is even better; but too much of it was trying to fix my computer.

In no particular order.

My computer got a virus and decided to stop functioning. I guess it's flu season for everyone. After trying to fix it myself, I finally gave in and brought it to some pro's. Two days and $175 later I had a working computer. When I picked it up the tech said my computer was ridiculously slow, and in a good humored way, made fun of me for it the rest of my time there. For those who wish to know more my machine is roughly 5 1/2 years old and will likely be replaced within the next 8 months. After getting it back from the chastising techie, I decided to try and clean up a few programs to increase speed. Bad idea. After doing this the blue screen of death became my screen saver. I think it popped up 7 times yesterday. Luckily I set a system restore point and now it is up and running. Success.

Work is good because I'd like some money. I think I made enough to live until the next pay check, but I'd like to be putting some away (not to mention enjoying Boston a little more).

Saturday even my Mother and Sister flew in to town or their way to Spain and stayed until Monday evening. It was awesome having them in town and sharing with them parts of my life as a Bostonian. We spent most of our time walking around, seeing different neighborhoods, and eating the local fare. It is always fun having visitors (wink, wink) and family visitors top the charts.

As I was saying, I went to the gym today. The first three WOD's I've done have been very precise with work to rest times. I'm not sure of the science behind it, but I can tell you that these workouts have been less metabolically taxing then what I'm used to. I'm assuming this is the most efficient way to build strength in the workouts and the metabolic conditioning will come later. Fun to be doing something nevertheless.

Here they are:

Last Thursday
A1. Bench Press @50X1 6-8x4 rest 90s (Worked up from 115-145)
A2. Snatch Grip DL @41x1 5-7x4 rest 90s (135-195)
B1: dips @ 4010 6-8x3 rest 75s
B2: GHD raises @2020 10-15x3 rest 75
C1: DB ext rot @3010 8-10/armx3 rest 60 (15lbs)
C2: Toes 2 Bar 12repsx3 rest 60

Last Friday
A1 Mixed grip chin ups 31X0 4-6x4 rest 90
A2 1 1/4 Back Squat 4010, 6-8x4 rest 90 (135-165 tougher than it sounds)
B1 Lean away supinated chin ups 4111 amrapx3 rest 75
B2 DB forward Lunges 1010 8/legx3 rest 75 (1.5 pood in each hand)
C1 Powell Raises 3010, 8-10/armx3 rest 60
C2Anchored Sit-ups 35x3 rest 60

Today
A Power Clean/Push Press/Push Jerk/ Power Jerk 1.1.1.1x5 rest 180 (155, 165, 175, 185, 190F on push press)
B1 KB Swings heavy 15x3 rest 90 (2pood)
B2 HSPU close grip 21X1 amrapx3 rest 90
C1 GHD Raises 2020, 12x3 rest 60
C2 Toes 2 Bar 15x3 rest 60

Also today I'm going to run 1.5 miles to my car. Fun stuff!

Long post, oh yeah and I got a haircut today.

For Angela

Alright Anglea, this one's for you.

This break has been great not for working out though. I have done little in the form of workouts, I think perhaps one in Minnesota and nothing in Michigan. I did however cut and split a few logs at the cabin, punched a hole in the ice on the lake, and skied a few days.

My diet has been quite holiday, lots of sugar and high GI foods. I could really feel it most of the time and look forward to realigning this metabolic derangement. Which has gotten even more deranged as of late. Yesterday was a travel day, from Minneapolis to Boston, and the only meal I had (some sausage and coffee cake probably amounting to a lopsided 2-3 block meal) and that was it. Partly because I didn't have time in the airports to grab food and partly because I didn't have any food when I returned home. I arrived home at 11 last night and woke up at 5:30am to being one of my many jobs. Since I had yet to go shopping I remained in a fasted state. My day continued, without a food source mind you, until 6:30 this evening after returning from my final job of the day and gathering nutients from Whole Foods. I'd call that about a 37 hour fast with under 6 hours of sleep and a sinus infection to boot. That's right a sinus infection, it is awesome. However, many times during the day I was brought back to my college days. Pushing hard and doing a million things on little sleep and little food. It has been an interesting experience, but I have noticed my calves cramping ever so slightly. Hopefully with food that will go away.

From nutrition to gym. I am now an official member of Revolution Fitness. Alas, I cannot afford Crossfit Boston on my megre earnings, but RevFit looks like a satisfactory gym to continue my training. If I am feeling up to it, and have time, I will be starting an OPT designed program. It commenced last November and is Phase 1 of 2 from what I understand. I am excited to see what his style of Crossfit feels like. They will be providing me with two personal training sessions at the gym. I am excited to see what I can learn from them. It will be interesting comparing fitness definitions and goals. RevFit was once an affiliate so perhaps they are familiar in the traditional.

There you go Ang, happy?