Never-ending Quest to be Leaner, Stronger and Faster. - Page 5 - JP Fitness Forums

twinsavsvikingsfan · 10-12-2006, 10:26 AM

Way to stick it out.

ParanoidAndroid · 10-12-2006, 12:12 PM

nice job running in the snow...It must be tough! Good luck in your race

GG300 · 10-13-2006, 06:58 AM

Friday October 13 5AM Started with light cardio on the eliptical, 2 min WU, 10 min of intervals and 3 min CD. Followed with 12 reps at 135# on the Bench. I switched around my pairings today first because everyone was camping on the cable machines so I switched out the low rows and secondly I was passing on the squats because I have a 5K race Saturday that I don't need any excuses for not posting a good time in.

PR Zones are 15 minutes with 5 minutes rest between

1st PR Zone

Bench Press @ 170# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,4,4,4,3. Total of 62 Lifts
Lat Row Machine @ 187.5# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,4,4,4,3. Total of 62 Lifts
1st time for Lat Machine PB by 2 on Bench Press

2nd PR Zone

Plate Raise @ 45# 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,4,5,4,5. Total of 68 Lifts
ST Arm Pulldowns @ 67.5# 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,3,4,4,4. Total of 62 Lifts
Pb by 6 on Plate Raise and 3 on Pulldown

3rd PR Zone

Standing Rope Crunch @ 185# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 57 Lifts
Standing BB Curls @ 80# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 57 Lifts
First time using this pairing no comparison numbers

Workout went well and as soon as I got finished on my first pairing I had the gym to my self as all the spinners scurried away to class. The benches were a little sticky today. I am not sure if it was because of the new lift in the pairing or the last minute change tweaking my thought pattern that threw me off. It really felt good to get in this lifting session. I like the running but I realy loved it when I got to lift 6 days a week. Feeling a little nostalgic for the DOMS. We are a sick bunch.

twinsavsvikingsfan · 10-13-2006, 07:23 AM

This morning I was thinking about how I missed the gym.

UpNorth · 10-13-2006, 05:35 PM

Good luck on the 5K tomorrow!

GG300 · 10-15-2006, 08:34 AM

Saturday October 14 8:10 AM 41 degrees in Madison (Verona), WI. Today was the innagural running of the Run for the Rivers 5 and 10K. It was a beautiful fall morning with the sunshining and that wonderful brisk fall air. I went to the gym at 4:00AM to loosen up on the eliptical for 20 minutes and went and had a nice breakfast before driving an hour and a half to get to the run. I was feeling great maybe even a little cocky but as soon as I got to the race site the cockiness was gone. Apparently a small town run in what has previously been named as the Healthiest city to live by MH Mag and the cold only brings real runners out. Where were the chubby buddies, the housewives who would run the first couple blocks then walk the rest and the boyfriend who comes out at the nagging of his girlfriend? Apparently they stayed home because the only people I saw were the serious runners with spandex tights, singlets and other types of the serious runners apparel. Between the 5 and 10 K we only had about 500 people and from eyening the crowd it looked like I would be happy with finishing ahead of 3/4 of the 10K crowd even though I was running the 5. The 10K got a 8 minute head start and shared part of our course but took off in an entirely different direction than we did. We started off and just as I figured there were not a whole lot of folks running my pace but I started strong as I hoped and would see how I felt after 1 mile. The first mile seemed to come up quick and with it the first of several steep inclines followed by long gradual uphill portions. Halfway through the uphill I was passed by the first of the 10K runners who was closely followed by quite a few more than the truck that was following them. At the 2 mile mark I really wanted to look back and see if I was truly last but I remembered passing to cute college girls so I figured at least there were 2 people behind me. By 2.5 miles the only thing that kept me running was the promise to myself that I would never walk in another 5K race unless I came up injured. As I passed the 3 mile mark I could see the clock was already at 35 minutes and I had nothing more left in the tank to kick with. It was going to be an ugly trot to the finish but at least I did not walk. 35:44 was my finishing time and my first thought was "YOU SUCK". All this running and I could not beat a couple of hills "what a skirt". They had a nice after run spread with bagels, coffee, fruit and alike so after cooling down I wandered around and relaxed before my drive back. While I relaxed the two college girls I passed came over by me to congratulate me on doing a good job in the run. They further went on to tell me I was like there energizer bunny whenever I would get a few blocks ahead of them they would run until they got in behind me and then walk again. I guess they figured that sooner or later I would drop of a heart attack and then they could get by me. They also said that they were quite tired because they were out partying all night and they didn't get to bed until after 2. I had to excuse myself and get more coffee before they passed on any more of their encouragement which could have forced me to wring their cheery little necks. While getting coffee I did hear many of the real runners commenting on how the hills really killed them and definetly were more than they expected. That made me feel a little better. Just another thing I have to work on I guess, I have to find some hills to run now. All in all it was fun and probably what I will see for other runners for the next few cold weather runs.

UpNorth · 10-15-2006, 04:21 PM

That's a great effort in my book! Anyone who reaches the point where everything in his body is screaming "stop" and yet still digs down and continues has gained a huge mental edge that will help with every race from that point out. And to do it on a cold and hilly race is just icing on the cake. Not to mention that cute college girls referred to you as their energizer bunny -- that's got to count for something. It can at least make a good story

ParanoidAndroid · 10-15-2006, 07:07 PM

Nice job man. Running races with hills will make you a stronger runner. You'll do awesome next time you run on a flat course

GG300 · 10-16-2006, 06:48 AM

Sunday October 15 6AM 39 Degrees Scheduled 3 mile run. My goal today was to shake off yesterdays race. Same as always I did a little stretching, WU walk then into my run. All I thought about was the fact that I wanted to trim at least 1:30 of my race time on Saturday and the damn hills killed me. Not a very motivational run. Before I knew it I was on my last 1/2 mile and I had dreamed up a course with some real hills and figured out a place to start running hill repeats at least. By then I was finished and with seemingly little effort. My time was 37:19 for 3.08 miles. and after my CD walk I felt great and slightly recharged.

I also had scheduled to go on a 4 mile hike later that morning. The hike was on the John Muir Trails of the Southern Unit of Kettle Morraine. It was my first hike on any state trails (actually my first real hike) so I was looking forward to the new expierence. The hike was beautiful but nothing like I expected. You had to stop to enjoy the beauty of the trails as they were on very uneven terrain. The course was filled with large rocks, exposed roots and ridges and gullies of all sizes. If you were not watching your footing closely you were definetly going to take a spill. The course was also very hilly with several steep inclines that must have been a real treat for the Mountain Bikers that shared the course with us. It was much more of a workout than I had expected mainly because of pushing up the hillls for a second day in a row. I was starting to wonder if the Good Lord had it out for me.

GG300 · 10-16-2006, 07:11 AM

Monday October 16, 5 AM Scheduled EDT session. I started with 10 minute WU on the eliptical and then went into 1 set of 12 reps with 50# DB on the Incline bench.
PR Zones are 15 minutes with 5 Minutes rest between

1st PR Zone

DB Incline Bench @ 65# 7,7,5,6,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 50 Lifts
BB Bent Rows @ 110# 7,7,5,6,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 50 Lifts
Personal Worst by 6 lifts

2nd PR Zone

BB Military Press @ 90# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 47 Lifts
DB Standing Curls @ 35# 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5. Total of 47 Lifts
Personal worst by 4 Lifts

Curls were increased 2.5# as there are no 32.5# DB at this gym location

I realized half way into the first zone that my energy levels were way down today. I called the WO before finishing as I would have just been going through the motions. I had schedule step ups for the 3rd zone I will get them in Tuesday after my run. I felt good heading to the gym although I knew that I had not fully recovered from the weekend but I didn't think it would affect my lifting as much as it did. I also found a problem with my count on Incline Benches. I actually do 1 rep more per set than I count because I had not been counting my set up lift when I push into position. I most likely do this because when I am working with my trainer he hands the DB to me in the extended position. I will surely start counting them in future workouts.

GG300 · 10-17-2006, 06:35 AM

Tuesday October 17 4 AM Rainy and 49 Degrees Scheduled 3 mile run. Rain is predicted to stop by 10 AM so I decided to run this afternoon and take this oppurtunity to get to the gym for some core work and the step ups I bagged on yesterday. Started with 10 minutes of intervals on the eliptical with a 2 minute CD.

PR Zones are 15 minutes with 5 minute rest between

1st PR Zone

Step Ups Right with 30# Db's 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6. Total of 60 lifts
Step Ups Left with 30# DB's 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6. Total of 60 lifts

Bumped the weight up 5# per DB since I was only doing 2 zones and this was my starting lift. Only missed my previuous numbers by 2 lifts even with the weight increase.

2nd PR Zone

Swiss Ball Crunch to Press @ 25# 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6. Total of 66 Lifts
UB Russian Twists @ 25# Right 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6. Total of 66 Lifts
UB Russian Twists @ 25# Left 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6. Total of 66 Lifts
First time with this pairing/ no comparison numbers

I had much more energy today then yesterday and I feel recharged right now. Hopefully this energy is still around and the rain is not for my run this afternoon. God I love going to the gym in morning.

GG300 · 10-18-2006, 07:05 AM

Tuesday October 17 3PM 52 Degrees Scheduled 3 mile run-It was overcast and very pleasant when I set out for my run. I am generally in my resting mode later in the day so I don't like to do afternoon runs. From the start I was thinking how much I hate doing these, which is a very different mindset than my morning runs. After 1 mile of passing kids getting off school, mid day traffic and just being tired from the day I just wanted to go home. Once again I adopted the one foot in front of the other strategy that has got me home before and pushed on. No second wind, no breaking through the wall just a boring ass run when all I wanted to do was go home and relax. I hit the finish of the run and checked my watch 35:31. I was shocked I was expecting something around 37 at best as I really phoned this one in. Then I remembered that I had a few course deviations because of traffic and kids but I also waited about 6 or 7 seconds for traffic. I thought I must have shortened the course somewhere. When I checked the run this morning on Mapmyrun it was actually 3.15 miles. I was thrilled that I put this one in right off of my race pace with not much effort. Well that gives me something top look forward too. Afetr my weekend runs I was not feeling all too thrilled about this running thing but that gives me some encouragement. Maybe I can break 30 minutes before 2007. This run shaved 1:48 off my previous training time for 3 miles plus the deviations added .07 miles.

GG300 · 10-18-2006, 09:30 AM

Wednesday October 18 5:15 AM scheduled WO with my Trainer - Started with 10 min WU on eliptical followed by session with trainer. All lifts done in straight sets with 2 minutes rest with 90 seconds rest between.

Incline DB Bench 12@50# 5@75# 5@75# 5@75# 5@75#
BB Flat Bench to failure 11@165# 12@165#*
FM Front Cable Raise 12@25# 12@27.5# 12@27.5#
Skullcrushers with EZ bar 10@70# 10@75# 10@75#
Incline DB Rows 10@25# 10@25# 10@25#
Cable Curls with Rope Handle 12@100# 12@90# 12@90#**
FM Overhead Single Cable Curls 12@35# 12@35# 12@35#

* Trainer assisted with lest rep on each set
** Dropped to 90#, had bad form with 100#

Had a great WO felt charged up and ready to hit the weights. Could have gone heavier on the last 2 sets of Inclines but he wanted to do the 2 burnout sets on the flat bench instead. He's the boss.

GG300 · 10-19-2006, 06:25 AM

Thursday October 19 3:50 AM 40 Degrees and breezy - Scheduled 5 mile run nothing fancy just looking to bring the run home. Even though the temperature was a little brisk the warm up jacket was a little warm for me. The run felt good and went through a number of different paces to continue to find something comfortable for longer runs which start next week. Finishing time was 1:04:13. A 57 second PR for this distance.Next weeks long run gets bumped up to 6 miles and a new course to take on.

UpNorth · 10-19-2006, 12:04 PM

Congrats on the PR! A one minute jump is huge between runs. It seems you've got some hidden potential there... or rather you're not near your potential.

twinsavsvikingsfan · 10-19-2006, 01:47 PM

Your kicking ass, man! Nice job and keep up the hard work.

I wanted to say something profound about that race you ran last week in Madison but I can't remember what it was. It had something to do with your comment about only real runners being out there- or something to that effect. Guess what that makes you then?

As for that 3 miler the other day- that feeling of not running harder and then finding out you were faster? You will begin to experience that more often. And it is a good feeling, huh?

ParanoidAndroid · 10-19-2006, 02:40 PM

nice job taking a minute off your time. You're starting to get into serious mileage ; 6 miles is pretty far.