Bleh, new random post

I'm tired of this blog.  Everyday posting blows....haha

My times have dropped dramatically lately as my legs have begun to catch up with my heart and lungs.  I ran 4 miles the other week at 6:15 pace for an easy run.  My mile splits for workouts has dropped from averaging 5:45 to 5:30 with minimal rest.  I even accidentally pulled a 5:12 out when I was only going for a 5:30.  Hopefully I can start adding these miles together without rest into a decent 5K time.  I've been keeping my mileage at around 10-12 per week, and I haven't been pushing too much in terms of speed...but I think that's going to change.  I'm going to be pushing for sub 5-minute miles during workouts and going all out now.  3 months into my training, things are going very well and my results are better than I expected...but with only 2 months left until the race I can't afford to keep going easy.


On that note, I just found a BMX course that is completely muddy from all the rain we've been getting.  It's right next to a huge cargo net with two 25-foot tall posts.  Since Columbus is almost entirely flat, and Warrior Dash is going to be very hilly with obstacles, I got a little creative and came up with my own practice course combining the BMX course and the cargo net. According to Gmaps pedometer, it's .3 miles per lap without accounting for terrain.  My workout was 2 laps on the BMX course and then 1 time through the cargo net with touching the top of one of the posts and going a different route each time.  I ran this 6 times with no rest.  This was hands-down my hardest workout so far.  It was basically like running through quicksand with bricks on my feet as the mud caked on my shoes pretty badly and the mud was about 4 inches thick through half the course.  It took me 33 minutes to finish the 3.6 miles and 6 passes along the cargo net (each pass took around 1:30).  In my mind, this is the worst case scenario of what Warrior Dash is going to be like in terms of wind, terrain, surface, and obstacles.

I'm heading down to Sharon Woods tonight after work to try a different trail.  Then work on the house for a few hours.  Later.

Week 11 Day 3 and Day 4

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Warrior Dashers!

The workout:

Baron:  This is a workout I created to help me ease into Warrior Dash training.

Exercise	Time
400M	1:17.70
1 min rest
400M	1:15.83
1 min rest
400M	1:17.42
1 min rest
800M	2:50.75
2 min rest
1600M	5:53.21
4 min rest
800M	2:44.33
2 min rest
400M	1:15.58
1 min rest
400M	1:15.43
1 min rest
400M	1:11.75

My total time or the workout was 32:00.40 and it’s a total of 3.5 miles.

My total time spent running was 19 minutes, which is 5:26/mile for 3.5 miles.  I’d like that to be my Warrior Dash race pace, so hopefully in 2.5 months I can get rid of 13 minutes of rest.

This morning’s workout:

So I finally managed to get myself up for a morning run…but only because of St. Patty’s day today.  I needed to work out before work so once I’m off I can go and enjoy the festivities.

Anyways, I had a 4 mile jog in the darkness in 30:52.  It felt good to get my blood pumping early…and I’ve been absolutely STARVING ever since.  Maybe it’ll be a good way to get rid of some of those extra pounds so I don’t feel like such a tank when I run.

Tomorrow evenings workout:

Crossfit’s hero workout “Griff”

Have fun and be safe tonight everyone.

-Osmosis

Week 11, day 2

It is now the mid-point in my training for Warrior Dash.  I have to keep my eye on the prize:

Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling like everything has been going downhill as opposed to improving.  I think I figured out why though.  I went from indoor running on a 12 lap/mile track (which helps me keep pace very easily) with people around watching (which makes me run faster) to running out in the wilderness on dirt, mud, and gravel with hills and rain with no one around and rarely a mile-marker.  On top of that, I went from standard running shoes to minimalist trail shoes – which is basically a completely new form for me and killing my calves. 

I’m on the fence about what I should; stick with my minimalist shoes and see what happens, or go back to my old ones?  Maybe I’ll try and ease into the new MT101’s a little bit by wearing my traditional shoes once or twice a week.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The workout:

I was sore all over so I decided to take it easy and do some light lifting.

Stretch

Set 1:

3x15 pull-ups

3x15 dips

3x15 20lb kettlebell swings

Set 2:

3x15 20lb Arnold’s

3x15 135lb bench press

3x15 2x45lb plate shoulder shrugs

Stretch

Then a quick ab routine

Tonight’s workout:

I was planning on Baron as a speed workout, but my calves are still fried.  It’s also raining out and I don’t know where I could find a good outdoor location with at the very least ¼ mile markers.  I’m going to dread this workout if it’s indoors though.  Blah blah blah, I’m full of excuses this week. 

-Osmosis

Week 11 Day 1

The workout:

Gravel/hill trail run at Highbanks – 4 miles in 27:14 – which is 6:48/mile pace.  This is a picture of an actual part of the trail that the Warrior Dash is going to be on:

My running partner got lost on the trails, so I had to loop back 2.5 miles to find her.  I didn’t time myself, but my pace wasn’t fast at all.

I think I did a decent job for my first outdoor run on hills, especially considering how sore I was.  I felt like a tank the entire run though, and felt like I couldn’t get a decent stride in at most times.  Plain and simple; my endurance is crap.

It’s time to start planning some two-a-days for the coming weeks to fix this problem.

The food:

I was avoiding carbs as much as possible but my body seemed to be craving it…so I caved and ate some homemade Lasagna last night. Being accustomed to eating huge meals, cutting carbs makes me feel like I’m never full. I think I need to find some good foods to replace that urge.  Any suggestions?

Tonight’s workout:

I’ve got “Justin” planned, which is basically just lifting so I can rest my muscles.  I’ll probably throw in a mile jog in my Vibram’s just to get the blood flowing though.

-Osmosis

Week 10, Days 5 and 6

The workout:

Crossfit’s hero workout “Forrest”

Give this workout a try and unless you religiously Crossfit, you will be feeling this for a few days.  I did this workout 6 hours after my last meal, so I was feeling drained afterwards and didn’t do the Crossfit Endurance workout afterwards.  It’s Monday and my chest is still sore from this workout and I have no clue why.

The workout is:

20 L Pull-ups

30 toes-to-bar

40 burpees

800M

3 sets, as fast as possible.

My final overall time was 48:49 for the whole workout.  I was dripping sweat the entire time, and I made sure I wasn’t taking any rest other than transitioning between exercises. My 800 times were 2:57, 2:47, 2:52 while being completely fatigued from the burpees. 

The hardest part for me was the toes-to-bar’s.  My grip isn’t strong enough to do more than a few in a row and I couldn’t build up any swinging momentum to assist me because I’m too tall for any of the equipment.

Weekend workout:

On Saturday, my buddy was in town and he’s training for a secondary NFL combine, so I was planning on working out with him.  He ended up doing a lot of speed-form drills, which won’t really help me out with the Warrior Dash, so I decided to give “Death by 10M” a try.

The workout:

Death by 10M is exactly what it sounds like.  You set up 2 cones exactly 10M apart and then start your watch.  In minute 1, you have to run 10M and touch the line by the cone.  Whatever time left in the minute is your rest.  In minute 2, you have to run 20M and touch the line at each cone.  Minute 3 is 30M, and so on.  Your goal is to sprint between the cones to gain some agility.  Also, as the distance increases, your rest decreases and the workout then becomes incredible grueling.

I finished 17 rounds.  Not bad for my first attempt.  I recovered in just a few minutes, so next time I try this, I’ll probably go for 3 rounds.

I also did some 10M sprints and 20M cone-drills with my buddy to work on my sprinting/agility.

It’s Monday and I am completely sore from this workout.  My lower back is sore from beding over, and my hip-flexors/groin are toast from the lateral movements and using my long-dormant sprinting muscles.

Tonight’s workout:

I have Baron scheduled for today, but that’s supposed to be a speed workout and considering how I feel and the weather almost reaching 50, I’m going for a long-run on the gravel and hills of Highbanks.  I’ll probably knock out 6.5-8 miles, depending on how I feel.

Take is easy Warrior Dashers.

-Osmosis

Week 10 Day 4

The workout:

4 miles run with 8 Fartlek’s.  The weather was changing from rain to snow, so it was an interesting workout.

My final mile time was 6:49 over the 4 miles.  I have to say, I'm a little disappointed.  I was running tempo runs of 7/5:50/5:50,7 indoors.  I guess the terrain/weather isn't helping, but still...my body feels like it’s dragging.  I really need to increase my mileage because I’m now recognizing that I’m building my speed on top of no distance base whatsoever. 

Tonight’s workout:

Crossfit’s “Forrest” and then I’m going to follow it up with today’s Crossfit Endurance treadmill workout, which is:

12% incline
0-30 seconds slower than 5K race pace
20:10 X 8 rounds

20 on, 10 off - all out effort.

Wish me luck.

-Osmosis

Week 10 Day 3

Let’s get into it.

The workout:

Crossfit’s Cindy workout followed by my ab routine.

The workout is:

5 pull-ups

10 push-ups

15 squats

20 minutes, as many rounds as possible.

I was able to get 25 rounds in and probably could have kept going for a few more minutes.  The push-ups are what killed me the most starting after the 9^th round.

For my abs, I followed my typical ab routine, which is 3 sets of:

Exercise

20 sit-ups

20 crunches

40 bicycles

Ab-holds - 15 seconds each, 2x through

--6 inches off the ground

--Flutter kicks

--Scissors

40 ab-twists

10 super-mans

The meals:

I’m trying to cut my carbs a little bit to slim down since I’m a 6 foot 3, 200 pound guy tying to run a fast 5K.  I’m 40 pounds heavier than I was when I ran track in college, so it’s more than needed.

Tonight’s workout:

5 mile tempo run out in the rain

How I feel today:

I feel good.  Hopefully I can keep up with my tempo run times, but if not, at least I’m getting some mileage in some crappy weather in.

-Osmosis