(Stopping) The Slow Slide

[kmwest]

23 Feb

Swim
50m length x 6 w/ 45-60s rest/length

My form must really, really suck. I was tired quickly. Thankfully the 73-degree air and 78-degree water in the outdoor pool was hospitable.

[kmwest]

14 Mar 09

Group Bike Ride
~45 miles
Avg speed (not including stops at lights and regrouping points): ~17.8mph

I've been working early days and late nights the past couple weeks. It's been burning me out physically and mentally. Which means, no workouts.

Ugh.

One more week here, then I'm off to Yuma for 5 weeks to support an exercise there. Hopefully I'll get plenty of time to lift, run, and bike.

[LisaS]

that's a pretty speedy average for a 45 mile ride - good work.

[BamaDave]

Yuma again? So what's prettier. Iraq or Yuma? :p That's pretty cruel to move a guy from paradise in San Diego to desolation.

[kmwest]

19 Mar 09

Bike
~10 miles

Just to enjoy the weather.

----------

20 Mar 09

Trail Run
3.9mi
27:45 (7:07/mi avg)

We had a company run. I ended up in 6th place overall. I would've done better but I started at the back of the pack and had to pass all the slow fat bastards. A couple major hills here (think 9% grade or better).

-----
21 Mar 09

Bike
~45mi

I did a personal best up the Torrey Pines Rd hill (1.59mi, 410ft gain, 4.89% grade) which comes near the end of the ride. I did it in 8:53, compared to my previous PR of 9:11. Floyd Landis can do it in the 3:00's, but I'm not him. I think it helps that I'm back to my racing weight of ~153 which is what I weighed throughout college when I was continually setting running PRs.

I'm kinda looking forward to getting out to Yuma, mainly because we've spent so many long days getting ready for this exercise. And we get $30 per diem. Although I will miss the beginning of summer in SD, but I'll be back at the end of April.

And then we go out to Yuma again in the fall for the same exercise. Again.

[kmwest]

Catchup time.fficeffice" />


24 Mar 09

Pullups (90 sec rest)
+30 1x8
+45 1x4
+45 1x5, 3, 2 (all chinups)

Hang Clean and Press (90s rest)
95 1x5
105 4x5

V-ups (60s rest)
18# med ball 1x20,15,15

Hanging Knee Raises
3x10

-------

27 Mar 09

Run
4.23mi
~35:00

----

30 Mar 09

4.23mi
31:46

Used my Forerunner to map out a course around the ffice:smarttags" />Yuma base.

--------

1 Apr 09

NROL Strength I Workout A

Back Squat (180s rest)

155 1x6
175 1x1
155 1x6
185 1x1 Wobbly legs!
135 1x10 Barely made it.
105 1x15 (I think this was it, apparently I didn't mark it down in my notebook)

Alternating Sets (90s rest per pair of sets):
Bulgarian Split Squat 20# DBs x 15
Stepups 20# DBs x 15
Bulgarian Split Squat 15# DBs x 15
Stepups 15# DBs x 15
Bulgarian Split Squat 15# DBs x 15
Stepups 15# DBs x 15

Swiss Ball Crunch +18 2x10
- These were supposed to be alternating sets with back extensions, but I couldn't find the Roman chair until my workout was complete. D'oh. I decided to get back on a regular program and NROL Strength seemed a good choice since I prefer heavier lifting anyways.

--------

4 Apr 09

NROL Strength I Workout B

BB Bench (180s rest)
135 1x6
165 1x1
145 1x6
165 1x1
115 1x11

- Damn, I'm weak.

BB Bent-Over Row (150s rest)
115 1x6
135 1x1
115 1x6
135 1x1
95 1x11

Alternating Sets (120s rest per set):
Close-grip chinup +30 1x6
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 35 1x7
Close-grip chinup +30 1x6
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 35 1x6

Lower-Body Russian Twist (90s rest)
2x10

--------

8 Apr 09

NROL Strength I Workout C

Deadlift (180s rest)

205 1x6 conventional grip, all done as singles
275 1x1 mixed grip
225 1x6 conventional grip, all done as singles
275 1x1 mixed grip, solid lift
185 1x10 conventional grip. Touch-n-go onto the floor for the set. Grip was definitely the limiting factor here, as the barbell was falling out of my hands at rep 10.
135 1x15 conventional grip. Touch-n-go. Had to reset my grip at rep 10.

Alternating Sets (90s rest per pair of sets):
Romanian Deadlift 185 1x8 mixed grip
Static Dumbbell Lunge 30 1x10
Romanian Deadlift 185 1x8 mixed grip
Static Dumbbell Lunge 30 1x10

Alternating Sets (90s rest per set):
Good Morning 80 1x10
Incline Reverse Crunch BW 1x10
Good Morning 80 1x10
Incline Reverse Crunch BW 1x10

-------

9 Apr 09

Run
4.23mi
~31:13 (~7:23 mi/avg)

Approximately 65 degrees at 9am. Better than the high of 98 degrees we had earlier this week. Have I mentioned Yuma blows?

--------

10 Apr 09

NROL Strength I Workout D

Chinup (180s rest)
+30 1x6 EASY!
+60 1x2 (aimed for 1 rep, must bump load)
+45 1x6
+75 1x1 barely made it
+30 1x8 too heavy - aimed for 10 reps

BB Shoulder Press
95 1x6 form shaky.
115 1x1 bad form
85 1x6 good load, good form
105 1x1
75 1x10

Alternating Sets (120s rest per set):
DB Bench Press 50 1x6
Wide Grip Seated Cable Row 50 1x14 (aim 8-10 reps)
DB Bench Press 50 1x7
Wide Grip Seated Cable Row 72.5 1x8

Lower Body Russian Twist 2x10

------

I have to go back to San Diego for a few days next week for a work conference. I hope the weather is cooperative so I can get in a few good bike rides (I left the chariot at home) and scenic runs.

[kmwest]

Too late to edit so I'll just add another post. The time is rapidly approaching when I (and now, my fiancee) need to decide if I'm staying in the Marines for another tour or getting out. I'll be eligible to move commands at the end of this year. If I do, my options for locations are pretty open - San Diego, Hawaii, Japan, Germany, North Carolina (no), Florida, the DC area, or back to the Midwest (if I go into recruiting). The question is whether or not I really want to stay on for another three years - I vacillate depending upon how my day is going. I will say that I doubt I would be able to find a job where I can use so much casual profanity without it being considered unprofessional. That would be a difficult habit to break, along with my propensity toward spitting and fidgeting with a pocketknife. Any advice is appreciated.

[kmwest]

12 Apr 09

Run
4.23mi
34:33 (8:10/mi avg)

I meant to do two loops around Yuma (i.e., 8.5mi) but I must've been dehydrated or something because I was ready to pass out after a single easy loop. So I stopped.

-----

13 Apr 09

Run
59:22 (distance unknown)

After discovering that I left my bike shoes in Yuma, I went for a long run at Torrey Pines. I started off on the beach, ran past a decomposing whale. After turning around on the beach I ran up the "inside road" hill at Torrey Pines (~0.6mi at 9% grade), then ran one of the trails before running back down the road. A great way to spend 6-7pm in San Diego.

[kmwest]

15 Apr 09

Run
10mi
1:23:17 (includes bathroom break, waiting at crosswalks, etc)
~8:20/mi avg

Weather: 60 F, partly cloudy, wind 4mph west off the ocean gusting to 13mph (it seemed closer to a consistent 13mph)

I hit four big hills on this run, including Torrey Pines Rd and my road which has a delightful 18% grade, so I'm pretty happy with my overall time. I'll be satisfied if I can keep shaving my time off of this run - although at the end I thought, "my PR half marathon was 12 seconds slower than my 10-mile time."

Unfortunately I go back to Yuma tomorrow or Friday. Only two weeks left there, then I'm looking to do either a 7k trail run or an 8k road race (more likely) the first weekend back.

[kmwest]

17 Apr 09

Run
3.1mi 22:12 (7:11/mi avg)
4:00 rest
3.1mi 23:07 (7:27/mi avg)

I guess part of living in mountainous suburban areas of San Diego is acknowledging that I will have to run hills no matter where I go. This run starts at my apartment's front door; I think I will use it for my regular tempo run, but I may substitute an easy mile jog in the middle rather than out-and-out rest. Weather was pretty ideal, I'd say mid 50s with no wind.

After this workout I headed back to Yuma, where I am now. Only ten more days here.

[kmwest]

Okay, after playing around with mapmyrun I have created elevation profiles for my long run and tempo run that start from my apartment.

[kmwest]

19 Apr 09

Yasso 800s
1:1 Work:Recovery time

These were done on a ~1km cement jogging track here on the Yuma base - no actual 400m track available. So I stopped at 800m and walked 200m to the starting point.

~1.2km w/u jog

1) 2:50
2) 3:03 Went too far. I was supposed to stop at a certain lightpole; I stopped at the next one. So this was probably around 850m.
3) 2:56 feeling weary...
4) 2:54
5) 2:58 Painful. Definitely time to stop.

Weather: clear skies, warm (mid 80s). It got up to 95 degrees today and should be at or above 100 all week. Awesome. There was an 11mph tailwind going out, and I really felt it on the backside of the track coming into the finish.

I think if I increase this by 1 800 every 1-2 weeks I can be doing 10 800s @ ~2:55 by the end of May. Then I'll start dropping the times.

It feels like I'm getting back into it. There's an 8k road race coming up Sunday May 3 in downtown SD - that's a few days after we come back from Yuma. I'm thinking of doing it. The alternative is doing a 7k trail race (with a 13% grade!) on Saturday May 2, but that would mean I'd miss out on my Saturday group bike ride which I really enjoy. Choices choices!

[BamaDave]

Hey, those Yassos are starting to look like your old Yassos! Maybe Yuma is good for you, and you should stay forever.

[kmwest]

Thankfully I got back to beautiful (yet unseasonably cool) San Diego on Tuesday. I have a lot of workouts to log, will get to them this weekend.

And I had a kickass Yasso workout today on the track at Univ of California - San Diego (~5mi from my apartment and open to the public). Plenty of eye candy too. But then I remembered that it's been 3 years since I got my undergrad degree and I felt a little creepily old.

[kmwest]

1 Apr 09fficeffice" />

NROL Strength I Workout A

Back Squat (180s rest)

155 1x6 easy
195 1x1
165 1x6 better load
195 1x1 Solid
135 1x12
95 1x16

Alternating Sets (90s rest per pair of sets):
Bulgarian ffice:smarttags" />Split Squat 15# DBs x 15
Stepups 15# DBs x 15
Bulgarian Split Squat 15# DBs x 15
Stepups 15# DBs x 15
Bulgarian Split Squat 15# DBs x 15
Stepups 15# DBs x 15

-- Stepups were higher, and Bulgarians deeper, than last time.

Back Extension +20 1x10
Swiss Ball Crunch +18 1x10
Back Extension +45 1x7
Swiss Ball Crunch +18 1x10

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

23 Apr 09

Run
33:55 4.23mi

Hot! 84F with 23% humidity, slight wind, sunny. Disappointing run.


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


25 Apr 09

NROL Strength I Workout B

BB Bench (180s rest)
145 1x6
175 1x1
145 1x6
170 1x1
120 1x12


BB Bent-Over Row (150s rest)
120 1x6
140 1x1
120 1x6
145 1x1
105 1x11

Alternating Sets (120s rest per set):
Close-grip chinup +30 1x7
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 35 1x8
Close-grip chinup +30 1x7
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 35 1x8

Lower-Body Russian Twist (90s rest)
2x10


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


27 Apr 09

Run
9.97mi
1:20:26 (8:04/mi avg)
Yuma, AZ

Except for a couple tiny inclines (they don't count as "hills," now that living in San Diego has redefined what I consider a hill) this was pancake-flat along the canal bike path that runs through the middle of Yuma. Weather was decent - clear, no wind, starting at ~60F (7:40am) and ending at 75F. I started/finished at the Yuma Territorial Prison Museum, and when I got back there was a group of young schoolchildren on a field trip. As I ran in the last quarter mile they were all cheering. One girl yelled "Run faster!" When I collapsed at my car and clicked my Forerunner, a little boy asked me how far I ran. "10 miles," I responded. How fast? "An hour and twenty minutes."

"Wow, you should get a gold medal!"

It was a great pick-me-up.


-----

30 Apr 09
ke
Yasso 800s
UC San Diego track

1:1 work:rest

1) 2:41
2) 2:41
3) 2:48 - better job at pacing myself.
4) 2:45 (??) Accidentally cleared my watch on when stopping the clock. It was around 2:41 coming into the last 20m or so though.
5) 2:41 Nice!
6) 2:44 Ready to vomit.

I met my pacer from the Carlsbad Half Marathon, who was there coaching a UCSD triathlon club. Weather was perfect - 55F, no breeze, sunny. Felt great.


---------

2 May 09

Bike
45mi

~2h,30min

The normal Saturday ride I do with the San Diego Bike Club. I haven't rode for over a month (I wasn't going to take my sweet-ass bike to the desert hellhole known as Yuma) so it was tougher than I remember, but I kept up.

In 9 days we go to a mountain warfare training center to hike, fastrope, and get lost in the woods for ten days. Dude, this whole military deal is crimping my ability to effectively train all year round in San Diego. I missed the La Jolla Half Marathon (which goes, quite literally, past the end of my street) because I was in Yuma. I’ll miss the America’s Finest City Half in September because I’ll be on another exercise. So the only other ½-M in SD is in November. I should be able to do that one, but I’m going to look for another one somewhere in SoCal in June or early July.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by kmwest

And I had a kickass Yasso workout today on the track at Univ of California - San Diego (~5mi from my apartment and open to the public). Plenty of eye candy too. But then I remembered that it's been 3 years since I got my undergrad degree and I felt a little creepily old.

Great Yasso workout!

[kmwest]

I also shaved my head while I was in Yuma, so I was told I look like a balding serial killer. That contributes to the effect.

[kmwest]

4 May 09

Run
6.01mi
42:41 (7:06/mi avg)

Tempo run around my suburban neighborhood, mapped here. Turning right onto Del Mar Heights Road just after the 4-mile mark (with its fun 18% grade), I felt a pop in my left knee. Which mean I spent the last mile and a half or so going much easier than the previous four. Weather was clear with calm winds, but warm, near 70.

I'm thinking of making another, flatter, lower-traffic tempo run course around my neighborhood. Having to stop at an endless series of lights (or tactically dodging cars) is not all that fun. The total time includes the two or three minutes I spent waiting at a light about 1/3-mi in.

[BamaDave]

Them hills is good fer ya!

I'm pretty sure I ran in Torrey Pines State Park a couple of times while there for a meeting. Great place! If I recall correctly, I ran through a bunch of trails through scrub and then down a very sharp decline to the beach. Nice!

[kmwest]

Yep, plenty of great trails at Torrey Pines. It was one of the reasons I looked for an apartment in that particular part of San Diego.

5 May 09

Bike
~1hr
~12-14mi

I got home at 6:30pm, just in time to change over and get on my bike as the sun was setting (for visibility, it gets dangerous to be riding around 8pm). Rode up Torrey Pines Road hill, both the "outside hill" (i.e., the main road, gentler slope but long) and the "inside hill" (inside the park, only about 0.6mi but with an insane grade). My legs are pretty fatigued from yesterday, and the pain on the outside of my left knee persists. Ugh. Then I headed back and got home just as it was getting dark. Then had some Mexican food to celebrate Drinko de Mayo here in North Tijuana.

[kmwest]

7 May 09
Yasso 800s
UC San Diego track

1:1 work:rest

800m warmup jog
1) 2:43
2) 2:46 - a group was doing a workout and was doing some clockwise laps and were using up lanes 1-3. So this was in lane 4 and thus a little longer than my normal lane 1 reps.
3) 2:47 lane 4
4) 2:42 back in lane 1
5) 2:46 slow, but still in lane 1
6) 2:44 tough!
7) 2:46 done.

I definitely did not feel "on" today like last time. Maybe because I'm only two days past a tough tempo run, or maybe because it was significantly warmer (near 80) than last Thursday. Or maybe because my twinge from the other day has turned into some significant ITB irritation. At any rate, I think I'm going to aim for 2:45-6 per rep for future Yassos.

When I was leaving, there was a $45 parking ticket on my wiper blade, with the campus cop walking along. If my workout had been five minutes shorter.... ach!! Unfortunately they actually report these to the California DMV, so I can't just blow it off.

[kmwest]

OK, so it's been a while... I spent ten days up in the extremely high Sierra Nevadas doing some mountain training (highest elevation: a fun forced climb up 2000' vertical feet to a top altitude of 9440'), then immediately turned around and went to the pool-table flat fields where my parents live in Indiana. Now I'm back in San Diego, finally, for more than a week. Ugh.

24 May 09
Tempo Run
Whiteland, IN
7.25mi 56:03 (7:43/mi avg)
Extremely hot and humid when I took off around noon. My fiancee' had the Forerunner on her wrist and was riding my dad's extremely heavy and rusty Schwinn Skyliner, serving as my pacer. Except she didn't understand that the pacer keeps a constant pace - the one the runner desires - and is not supposed to just go out full-bore. So the first couple miles were nearly sub-7. She got it around mile 4.

------

26 May 09
400m repeats (90sec rest each)
Franklin High School track, Franklin IN

1) 1:22
2) 1:16
3) 1:16
4) 1:19
5) 1:18
6) 1:21
7) 1:18
8) 1:21
9) 1:19
10) 1:21

I rode the aforementioned Schwinn two miles to the high school, jumped the low fence and got on the track. I already felt vaguely criminal, especially since school was still in sesion, so I kept my singlet on despite the oppressive heat (I started my warmup stretches at high noon) and extreme humidity. I started out wanting to do Yasso 800s, but after the first 400 I was ready to collapse onto the Astroturf. So the workout turned into 400s with 90s rest. I felt ready to vomit and pass out after the tenth - it was a serious gut check going past #7. It helped that I recently read Once A Runner - the future mother-in-law bought it as a welcome-to-the-family gift - and I kept repeating phrases from it.

-------
30 May 09
Long Run
San Diego, CA
9.96mi 1:21:32 (8:11/mi avg)

This was actually a relatively flat run. There is a freeway that runs in an east-west valley, and they built a bike path adjacent to it. I ran two miles downhill from my apartment to the entrance to the bike path, then 3mi out-and-back on the path with only a few tiny hills. Even better, for much of the way there is the paved path, plus a parallel dirt path to give my ITB a bit of a break. The weather was good - low 60s, overcast, misting. The only problem came when I had to run through two inches of water and soak my socks/shoes. The time includes a few traffic lights, so consider a good 7 minutes in there. I think this will be my regular long-run route now. I just mapped out a flat 6-mile tempo run around my neighborhood, so now I need to ride it on my bike to familiarize myself with it before going live on my next tempo run.

[kmwest]

13 June 09

Magic Shoes 5k
Newport Beach, CA

18:25 clock time
~18:20 chip time (?? - official results aren't online yet)

I put 18:20 because my 5k PR is 18:19. I actually think I PR'd but I don't want to jinx it. :P

Because there are no races in San Diego this weekend, my roommate and I woke up absurdly early for a Saturday and drove north into The OC. Per Google Maps, I took a toll road freeway ($4.25!! WTF, California?). The directions I got off the race website said to exit the toll road at a certain road that did not, in a precise and technical sense, have an interchange with the toll road. When the road signs said I officially left the city the race was in, and passed into the next town, I knew it was time to get better directions.

So after getting directions from a helpful girl at a coffee shop, we turned around, got on the no-cost freeway, and within about ten minutes were at the race site, a local high school (thankfully the race started at 8:30am, vice the 8:00 it said on the website and we were planning for). Did a quick race-day registration and started warming up. Did a 10-minute jog, some stretching, and a few strides before getting into the chute. I crashed my bicycle last Saturday and bruised my left knee, so I didn't know if I'd feel up to actually pushing it. But I felt fine on the warmup jog so I decided to lay it out. My goal was 6:00/mi splits.

The start was a clusterf**k, as there were too many slower people up at the front (I was right behind a woman with a stroller). So when we started, I had to push and break out in the first 200 meters or so. Thankfully it was chip-timed.

The course was flat as a pancake, and the mile marker clock said 5:51 when I passed. My watch said 5:43. I had no idea I was going that fast, and realized I had to dial it back a bit if I wasn't going to bomb. I aimed for 6:00 even for the second mile, and hit it exactly, even with having to do an about-face at the turnaround point. The third mile was tough, and I was fading, but I pushed myself to the end.

Around 2.75mi we left the roads, coursed through some back lots at the high school, and emptied onto the school's track for a 3/4-lap to the finish. Did the third mile in ~6:02, and another 30s for the final 0.1. The final clock said 18:25 when I hit the mat. I then curled up on the track, off to the side, for about a minute before having them take off my chip. I was nowhere near first, probably around 30th overall. My roommate came in a couple minutes later and after wandering around the little expo we left. I wonder what my actual time was!!!

[kmwest]

18:17 (5:53/mi avg)

PERSONAL

RECORD

THANK YOU, BROOKS RACER ST RACING FLATS

http://results.active.com/pages/disp...jsp?rsID=79815

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Nice job, Ralph!!! Congrats on the PR.

[LisaS]

oh Hi - you were in my backyard!

Congrats on the PR!

[kmwest]

Thanks both of you. It's definitely encouraging to post my first PR in three years.

Lisa, the race was at Corona Del Mar High School - are you near there then?

[LisaS]

Yes. I'm just over by Fashion Island if you drove by there. About 2-3 minutes from CDMHS

[kmwest]

Yeah, I ended up exiting the 405 onto Jamboree Rd and taking Jamboree all the way to CDMHS.

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Ralph, I just keep going to new distances. That way I set a PR every time I race!

(I did race a 5K this morning, too. Not nearly as speedy as you, though a lot faster than I would have thought for no speedwork in 6 months and training myself to run 10 minute miles.)