See BamaDave Run (and Lift)

[BamaDave]

I think my pull or strain or whatever it is must be in the Soleus muscle. It's not a big deal, I just need to lay off of it for a couple of days instead of doing runs that aren't all that beneficial.

I doubt I'll attempt that hill on Monday. I'll have to postpone possibly to the following weekend. Even then, I may not be able to run, as my wife and in-laws are considering returning to my in-laws' home in Chalmette, LA to salvage from the flood destruction, and my 9 and 6 year-old daughters probably won't want to run with me [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] . Don't they know that will interfere with my ability to run?? The nerve! Actually, it's up in the air, since they are weighing the risks of exposing themselves to who-knows-what versus the desire to see their home of 35 years for one final time. I'm hoping they choose not to expose themselves, because there was an oil spill on top of all of the other nasty crap in the water, but I do understand the pull to see their home and belongings and hopefully find something salavageable.

Yeah, Google Earth is really incredible. Fortunately for me, I can only really use it at work, which severely limits my time (I have dial-up at home). If I had it at home, I'd probably waste many hours goofing around with it.

[BamaDave]

SAT. SEPT. 17, 2005:

I turned 39 on Saturday, and since I'm supposed to now stay 39 for the remainder of my days, I thought I better work out to keep on top of things!

I. DEADLIFTS - 8x180; 6x220; 4x250; 3x290; 3x290; 3x290. Another crash day with DL's. I've managed to go from an 8x285 set a few weeks ago to 3x290 ?!?!?!?! I was having sweaty grip problems, but even with stronger grip, I think I would only have managed another rep or two in the 290 sets. This seems to be my history with DL's, though -- I do well for awhile and then have a setback. I'll probably lower weight next time and work myself back upward.

II. PULLUPS: 5xBW; 5x BW+25; 3x BW+25; 4x BW+25.

III. DB BENCH PRESS: 8x 50ea.; 7x 75ea.; 6x 75ea.; 5x 75ea. This was actually good for me on DB Bench. And no rotator cuff pain, which I often feel when doing these.

IV. CLEAN + PRESS: 6x90; 3x115 (Failed on 4); 4x110; 5x105. I was doing these without any leg push on the press and was surprised by how difficult it was. Had to keep backing down on the weight.

V. CHIN-UPS: 4x BW+25; 4x BW+25. Went to deadhang as on pull-ups.

VI. SQUAT CLEANS: 8x70; 8x100; 7x110. Never done these before. Very challenging! This is a great exercise but will take lots of practice.

VII. ABS -

1. BB ROLLOUTS - 30
2. WEIGHTED CURLUPS (+50#) - 35
3. BICYCLES (+20# ankle wts) - 35 ea. side

----------------------------------

SUNDAY, SEPT. 18, 2005:

No running due to continued pain in my left Soleus muscle. Nothing major, but I'm hoping for this to clear up quickly and don't want to aggravate it. So, I decided to try one of the Cross-Fit workouts instead. For some insane reason, I decide to try CHELSEA:

Each minute, on the minute, for 30 minutes, do 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats.

I knew I wouldn't be able to do all of the pullups, but I thought I would probably be good for the pushups and the squats. LOL! Yeah, sure.

For the first set, I paced myself too slow, and it took me about 1:10, which meant no breather for the second set, and I sped up to try to catch up. I did catch up within a couple of sets, but then slowed down again.

First 6 sets took 7 minutes. Took a 1 minute breather.

Next 3 sets took 4:17 (ended at 12:17 total).

Started again at 13:47 -- next 4 sets ended at 19:41.

Started next 3 sets at 21:30, ended at 25:38.

Last 3 sets started at 27:00; ended at 31:18.

So I only got 19 sets in 31:18. It wasn't too far into the workout before I was having to jump on the ascent part of at least some of the pullups (still did the negatives) -- and by the end, I was doing all of them with jumping. Same on the pushups - I was on my knees for many of the pushups, and essentially all of them by the end!

The squats were no problem. But my upper body was shaking for at least a couple of hours afterward and feels like jello this morning - not to mention VERY sore. I also had more of a "pump" from this workout than a typical barbell workout.

I think I am going to try to incorporate at least one of these Cross-Fit workouts every week. Most appear to be fairly short duration, so it should be feasible to double up these with running workouts on the same day, assuming that I don't pick a routine that pulverizes my legs. In fact, I might even do 2 Cross-Fits per week and one traditional weight training workout -- or alternate back and forth.

[Buk]

Awesome work Dave! First I got you doing sprints, and now Crossfit. I have never done Chelsea, but I have done her very close sister Cindy which is to do as many rounds of the same exercises(pull-up, push-up, squat), same reps(5, 10, 15), in 20 minutes. I struggled through 11 rounds, with the push-ups slowing me down the most.

That is a great first Crossfit performance. They are usually short in duration, 30 minutes being at the longer end of the spectrum.

[Chris D]

Dave,

On your deadlifts you might want to try and pull from a platform for awhile and see if that helps you at all. Of course this is coming from someone whose max is only 290 lbs, but hopefully rising! Also some rack pulls or Good mornings might help as well.

That Crossfit workout sounds like a killer. I might have to check those out.

Nice job.

[BamaDave]

Hey Buk, you're a sadist. Stop trying to influence us old guys into trying this crazy stuff! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] I'm probably going to find another CrossFit workout to do tonight. My calf is almost back, but I can still feel a twinge of pain. I'll likely try running tomorrow AM or PM - but for tonight, I'll shop around for some more CrossFit torture.

C., thanks for the suggestions! I haven't pulled from a platform in a long time - it probably would be worth a shot at changing up the approach for awhile. I have been doing Good Mornings, and I think they may have been helping with the DL progress I was making -- but the last couple of workouts have been a downward trend.

[BamaDave]

MON. SEPT. 19, 2005:

75 Barbell Thrusters (from Crossfit Site) for time
95 LBS.
12:48

After last night and tonight, my upper body is more sore than it has been in a very long time. This was another very tough workout. I was limited by the overhead shoulder press and had to break when I sensed I would fail on the next rep. The time component of these workouts really makes you push.

I actually wrote down how many reps I did before having to break during this routine: 15, 5, 8, 6, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3.

I think I could have done this a little faster if I wasn't so sore from last night, but really I didn't even think much about being sore/stiff after a few reps.

[Buk]

Did you yell "I'm a huge wild beast!" as you completed the last rep? That is a really good time. I may be influencing you into some crazy stuff, but you know you like it, masochist. I will say again, I am indeed impressed.

Originally posted by BamaDave:
[qb]I think I could have done this a little faster if I wasn't so sore from last night, but really I didn't even think much about being sore/stiff after a few reps.[/qb]

This is exactly what I tried to express the other day.

Originally posted by Buk
[qb]I find that any soreness that exists at the begining of a workout is quickly drowned by the intensity of the first few reps. I think that working through soreness actually helps train the recovery process. And it doesn't seem to impact a workout once I get past the first few reps.[/qb]

[BamaDave]

Originally posted by Buk:
[qb] Did you yell "I'm a huge wild beast!" as you completed the last rep? That is a really good time. I may be influencing you into some crazy stuff, but you know you like it, masochist. I will say again, I am indeed impressed.[/qb]

Thanks! Yeah, does this mean I'll be hauling a sandbag down the street in the not-too-distant future?? I'm hoping some of this high intensity work will help me break some strength plateaus, especially in the shoulders.

------

TUES. SEPT. 20. 2005:

AM RUN. 6.2 miles. 45:07. Ave. pace = 7:17. I ran most of this at a moderate intensity, trying to avoid any re-injury to my calf. However, I did run at a higher intensity on a 1.05 mile incline segment (7:52 or 7:30 pace), and then also for the final one mile (6:22). My calf feels pretty good now -- better than last week for sure.

[Buk]

You don't need a sandbag. I remember you complaining that you couldn't go on a long run because your wife was going to be out of town and you couldn't leave the kids that long. One over each shoulder or both in the wheelbarrow. I bet they would love wheelbarrow rides! My belief is that the adaptations are greater the greater the average power(intensity) of the workout. Perfect solution to break a strength barrier.

Glad the calf is doing better!

[BamaDave]

Hey, that is a great idea about the wheelbarrow ride! They would love that.

[Bill2380]

Must be my age. I crawled up the stairs and yelled "I'm a huge wounded beast."

[kmwest]

fireman's carry the kiddies

see how many Good Samaritans stop their cars to see if everything's ok

:-D

[BamaDave]

Oh yeah, they definitely would stop and ask! I've had several offers of rides up hills or out of the rain. LOL. They might think I'm a kidnapper.

Bill, I felt like a wounded beast too. LOL!

----------------------

WED. SEPT. 21, 2005

AM RUN -- ~14.3 miles. 113:37. 7:58 ave. pace. I missed my long run on Sunday so decided to do an almost-long run this morning before work. I kept my pace reduced, mostly because I was headed for the BIG MOMMA hill that has eluded me -- but this morning I ate that hill for breakfast! I also wanted to keep my calf in check, and so far, it's doing reasonably well. My legs were hurtin' by the end. LOL. This is the first time I have ever had to work after a run of this length and terrain intensity, but so far so good.

My plan is to do another long run on Sunday and get back on schedule, so hopefully I will be ready for that 4 days from now. I'm also going to try to keep a second run each week in the 10-13 mile range with a slower pace to help with acclimating to the long distances. I'm hoping that will help me realize the marathon pace that is "predicted" based on other race paces.

[BamaDave]

THURS. SEPT. 22, 2005:

AM RUN -- This was first run with my new Garmin Forerunner 301 [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] . I'm still learning how to play with it, but I have already overlayed the data on a Google Earth map, and it really did track my run well.

According to the watch, my distance was 6.49 miles, time = 46:29, with an average pace of 7:09 per mile. My pace plot looks like a seismograph reading. LOL. This route is one that I use regularly and have measured in a car as 6.3 miles. My best guess for the discrepancy is that a car travels straight down the road, whereas when I am running, I am frequently weaving to change lanes to stay on the safest side of the road due to hills and/or to avoid cars. So I imagine the weaving adds a little distance.

I did use the heart monitor. I thought it was interesting that my heart rate started rising just in anticipation of the run, and when I started it was already up to 110! My ave. heart rate during the run was 158 bpm. The Forerunner is supposed to adapt to my heart rate and adjust max heart rate and heart training zones accordingly. I'm not sure how much I'll use this information, but it's interesting.

My legs feel blasted after yesterday's long one plus this morning's run. I was planning to scope out another CrossFit routine for tonight, but I may try to do that in the morning - I feel exhausted right now.

I'm also planning to try intervals again at the track tomorrow - I hope my calf will cooperate. That should be fun with the new toy!

[BamaDave]

FRI. SEPT. 23, 2005:

AM WORKOUT:

I thought I was going to blow off a workout this morning, but I'm caught in a pattern of waking up between 4:45 and 5:15 every morning, so I had plenty of time before rushing the kids out the door to school. I browsed the CrossFit site again, and chose a WOD from a few days ago. This time no beat-the-clock with the routine, which was 3x5 Cleans followed by 3x5 Front Squats and 3x5 Split Jerks. I did add a warm-up set before each exercise.

CLEANS: 5x95; 3x150 (Failed on 4); 5x145; 5x145

FRONT SQUATS: 6x120; 5x185; 5x190; 5x190

SPLIT JERKS: 5x100; 3x120; 4x120; 3x120 (almost on 4th)

I seemed to be in the right ballpark for the cleans and working on technique, especially the dip down to catch the bar on my shoulders. Front squats went well, and 190 was a good weight for me for 5 reps with going rock bottom. I was tilting forward somewhat on the last couple of reps, but overall decent. I seem to be doing a lot better with bar placement on these than in the past - these used to kill my wrists. I wonder whether that was due to tilting forward too much and putting pressue on my curled back wrists.

I had never done Split Jerks before, and I will have to work on the technique. I'm assuming I should be able to jerk more than I military press. LOL. I was already pretty well exhausted from the cleans, so that probably hurt me somewhat on these as well, since my shoulders tire out pretty fast.

I'm planning to go to the track after work and play with my new toy again.

[BamaDave]

I have been playing with some features at MotionBased.com. Here are two graphs of my run from yesterday. LOL. One is Elevation vs. Grade of the terrain. The other is Elevation vs. Pace. The "Pace" data is hard to see, because the scale they are using for that axis is really broad.

[BamaDave]

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23, 2005:

Back to the track! PM INTERVALS ---

Rest periods were 400 meters of slow jogging and/or walking (200 meters for the 400 meter intervals)

Warmup: 1200 meters

2x1200:

4:29 -- slower than last two times! (rest - 2:44)
4:36 -- sux! (rest - 3:29)


3x800:

3:00 (rest - 3:41)
2:55 -- better (rest - 3:44)
2:59 -- rest (4:08 )


4x400:

1:20 -- (rest 2:21)
1:20 -- this one would have been my best at approx. 1:18, but I got screwed up by a bunch of walkers and field maintenance equipment parked on the right hand side of the track. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] (rest 1:56)
1:21 -- (rest 2:24)
1:22

TOTAL MILEAGE with INTERVALS AND WALK/JOGS: 6.5 miles

This felt like a good, hard workout, although I was not as "on" as my last two track workouts (aside from last week's when I nailed my calf). In general, all intervals were slower than last time. I definitely had more leg fatigue before starting this workout, so I'll just have to adapt to the increased training.

My Forerunner didn't work so well at the track -- the GPS signal was only "fair," which caused the distance measurements and pace calculations to be off. This surprised me, since the track is in a wide open space, obviously.

Just for fun, I overlayed my "run" on a Google Earth image. I swear I was not running outside the track and across the field:



The heart rate profile for this workout was pretty cool, though, because it clearly reflected the intervals:



-------------------------

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24, 2005: AM RUN

DISTANCE: 6.94 miles
TIME: 53:50
AVERAGE PACE: 7:45

This run was difficult. It was my fifth consecutive run day, and I could really feel it. I planned to do some tempo intervals, but that only happened for one split, ~0.5 miles, fairly early in the run. Otherwise, the terrain was all of the intensity shift I could handle today.

Here's a pace versus elevation profile. So far, I am not finding the pace calculations from the Forerunner to be all that helpful in hilly terrain. When I get into more level to rolling areas, it stabilizes better and is more useful. So I think it could be helpful during races or during longer runs on less variable terrain. Motionbased.com does calculate some pretty nice statistics, like giving you your average paces for ascending (8:33), descending (7:05), and flat terrain (7:45).



Here's a Google Earth Image of today's course, and then I'll quit posting useless graphs and images from my new toy!


<