Day 68 and SVHM Race Report

I don't really recall too much of the race, which is why I took pictures . . . which didn't help in me recalling much.

So here's my report in pictures with maybe a few blurbs.

This is an image from behind the wheel a bit after 6 in the morning heading to the place where it's HAPPENING! The beginning of the day. From Soledad, we are taking buses to the mission where the start begins.

I should have taken a picture of where the buses picked us up, but I'm a dumbass. We were picked up in the towns lone high school.  Below is probably the only picture of me on the web. Along with my friends sitting behind me. Ernesto and Charity. They are engaged and I'm supposed to be his Best Man. Though I'm really slacking off in the that department. I have NO idea what I'm supposed to do for his bachelor party. Any suggestions?

Everyone here is milling around trying to stay warm. It wasn't too bad when we arrived. But a few minutes after, it got a bit breezy and colder.

And as you can see, this is Ernesto embarrassing the shit out of Charity. In the tent behind them is the bagel and banana spread.

It's like 10 minutes before the start of the race and we've been ordered to go to the start . . .

. . . which Ernesto wanted an action shot in front of.

From here on out in the picture report, it'll mainly be pictures of the mile markers. Like I said, I'm a dumbass and should've planned on taking more of the surroundings. So here's a picture of the first mile marker next to the port-o-potties and hand wash station . .  and some runners and fields.

Keep an eye out for that tutu. She was taunting me throughout the race. I passed her and she's like "Oh, really!"
 Not really. I was thinking that after mile seven because she passed me and I was like "Hell no!" I did pass her AND her sister. Their mom beat the crap out of us though.

And here' s mile marker two. The chick stretching was with this dude who was in the port-o-potty behind us and she was getting antsy waiting for him. We passed each other at least twenty times throughout the race.

Here's mile marker three . . . and a car . . . and some barbed-wire fencing . . . and trees. Sorry, nothing interesting to report on this picture.

This is a blurry-cam picture of mile marker four and some of my fellow masochists.

And we arrive to our first aid station. Manned by the lovely young ladies of Notre Dame High School. FYI: At the time I arrived at this aid station, Danny Tapia (winner of SVHM 2012) was pretty damn close to crossing the line. He finished in 1:07:17.613 (Like thousandths of a second matter to ME!). At every aid station I passed, I tossed back at least three cups of fluid. I didn't get sick this year because of it.

Here's blurry-cam pic number 2. This one features my fellow masochists and fields and a hill.

Here we are arriving at mile marker six. As a side note, the shirts for this year were pretty sweet. Beautifully designed. Here are our beautiful models showing the back of it.

Mile marker six again along with our model. Also of note, I was feeling pretty good at this point . . .

It was a bit before mile marker seven that I had to start the run/walk strategy. The marker was also set up weirdly.  It was parallel to the road. Oh! And here's a small cliffside with a field on top of it.

As you can see in this picture of mile marker eight, runners are starting to drop off and begins seeing walking more. The lady in green was a badass. She was an older woman who finished WAY before I did. I think this was the only time she walked. The freakishly tall dude next to the marker on the other hand finished WAY behind me . . . like 30 minutes behind me. I don't know if he got hurt or what.

This picture was supposed to be a gratuitous picture of a smoking hot chick and her friend. The one in red. She also happened to be wearing Vibram FiveFingers Bikilas! I kept up with them as best I could using the view as an incentive, but they just kept going and I had to walk :(

Here's blurry-cam pic number 3. And mile marker 9 along with my fellow masochistic laggers. The VFF Bikila hot chick was still within reach . . .

Mile marker ten marked the point where I felt like I was back in East Salinas. The ladies on the right were speaking spanglish and annoying the shit out of me. Speak english or spanish! FUCK! Sorry, it's one of my pet peeves. I used that as an incentive to get the fuck away from them as quickly as possible.

Mile marker eleven and this guy knew NOTHING of who had won the race. Though he had a radio which he pulled out of his pocket just as I was passing by when he got a call from someone at the finish area. Jerk.

And this was probably everyone's favorite station. The Strawberry Stop! I think I ate like 10 strawberries. They were SOOOO friggin sweet and juicy!  Then again, maybe it was just my body screamin' for fuel. Oh! And mile marker twelve.

 Here we are at the bend nearing the finish line, which you can see in the distance. Also that annoying bitch must've passed me (and lost her friend at some point) while I was wolfing down the strawberries because I don't remember her doing that. I did beat her though. She walk into the finish area.

And here is me crossing the timing mats (there were two). I was really running at this point, hence the crappy angle of the camera. And also another lover-ly view of one of our models in the tech shirt.

I finished the race in 2:47:05.983 (Seriously?! Thousandths!) It's funny that in this shot of so many people, I can only spot one Waldo wearing this years tech shirt.

This is my godson's football team volunteers serving up some awesome tri-tip sandwiches!

And that's it. I hope I made it an entertaining read. Next year I hope to break 2:15!

GD

i'm done typing. run smiley :)

Day 66 . . . and a promise.

And that promise will be a race report on the Salinas Valley Half Marathon in the near future.

Just not today.

 If you look to the right, you'll notice my Dailymile mileage is LOW! I'm still feeling the aches of the relative long run this past Saturday.  Once I get back down to nine minutes for my mile, then I'll start racking up the miles again and progressing to longer and longer runs.  I want that half marathon to be CAKE next year, dammit!

I've got a whole year to work on that.

GD

p.s.
too lazy. run smiley :)

Day 61 and my MRG's

I love my Merrell Road Gloves. And I already need a new pair.

Here's a pic:

If you look back to Day 27, they were fine. Now I've somehow poked holes with my pinkie-toes after only about 140 miles in these shoes. The rest of the shoe is fine! My lace fix is holding up well and I will be running in these tomorrow for the Salinas Valley Half Marathon.

I'll be running a short mile today to keep up with the challenge and later tonight have some pizza and beer (maybe wings, too).

I'll try to post tomorrow after the run and maybe even some pictures. I'm still debating taking my iPhone for pictures during the run.  We'll see . . .

GD

p.s.
too excited to check. run smiley :)

Day 57

And I'm feeling pretty good!

Though that may have to do with the last four runs only being a mile each.  But I'll tell you, I'm surprised at the times I was pulling in for those.  On the first two, I felt like crap and I only went out there to keep with the spirit and law of the 30+ Day Challenge. And to make things a bit weird, on the last two days I was actually feeling much better but pulled in slower times . . . ? Weird.

And for today, I've already gone for a run. So I CAN write if off the books . . . but I can't. It was such a disappointing run that I have to run another tonight. I was about a mile and a half into it when I began feeling that twinge on my calf that I know means it wants to cramp up. It it was a flat trail, I would've kept going. But it occurred just as I was going up the BIG hill.

So I walked it . . . and the most of the rest of the trail.  Last thing I need right now is for me to damage something and not be able to make another race. I skipped out on the Santa Cruz Half because I was laid up with a horrible cold.

The Salinas Valley Half Marathon is on it's 3rd year. I was there for the inaugural run, so it'll be my 3rd year, too. This race is special to me. This is the race that got me running. I don't want to skip this one because of illness or injury.  I will limp the damn thing if I have to! I've put in too much time on the trails to not make it. I have 2:30 in my sites and I truly believe I'll make it!

If  don't injure myself.

So to make up this afternoons crappy run, I'll be going for another one tonight before picking up my godson from football practice. Don't know how long yet, but not too long. I'm calling it taper time now. Though I haven't even gone half the distance yet on ANY of my runs. Looking forward to it, though.

GD

p.s.
too tired to check. run smiley :)

Day 50

It's day 50 today with a run to come this evening.  I've got 128.43 miles accumulated.

As for the GPS watch . . . well I picked up the Nike+ GPS Sportwatch (powered by TomTom).  I ordered it through Amazon for $152, shipped. I have four runs logged with the watch. I like it so far. You can set up the watch to give you whatever information you'd like, except elevation. But once you plug the watch in and download the info to Nike, you get a decent rundown of what your run was like along with elevation.

You can add information like you can on DailyMile, too. Like where you ran, weather, shoes . . . and you can export the run data to DailyMile. You only get the stats exported to DailyMile, though. Like time, distance and pace. I've gotta figure out how to send the map, too. I think eagerfeet.org will allow you to download it. I've gotta figure it out still.

From what I understand, you can use it on several other running blog sites. If Googled, I'm pretty sure the info will be there.  I'm already using enough. I'm on Fitocracy, which is fun if you're a gamer. Also DailyMile, and Runmeter through my iPhone. Though Runmeter is mainly a datalogger which allows you to send data to sharing sites . . . like DailyMile, Facebook, Twitter . . .

It can connect to the Nike shoe pod thing to help track distance in case you lose GPS signal. Also a heart rate strap. Not sure which one though as I'm not planning on needing one . . . yet.

I'm actually pretty glad I went with this instead of just a watch that measured the distance but didn't allow you to download it. I kinda keeps me motivated to keep running, too.

I'm feeling tired right now and I think it's stinkin' allergies. A lot of others around me seem to be feeling it, too. Once I get running though, sinuses opens up and I feel better. I guess that's another benefit to running. Damn.

Anyway . . . Day 50's run is supposed to be 4 miles. Hopefully I can kick it in without shorting myself. I'm feeling beat.

GD

p.s.
too lazy. run smiley :)

Today is day 38 . . .

And I feel like shit.

Well . . . not really. I've just had a couple of bad runs and I'm feeling down.  The real bad ones I blame on my boss who had a cold and kinda passed it to me. Bastard.  I got over it fairly quick but it was enough to bog me down.

And then yesterdays run . . . ugh.  I had already planned to make it a short miler because I wanted to the take the daughter and my godson to watch Brave (awesome movie).  I had to drag'em to it with bribes.  Anyway . . . I don't like the work trail.  The elevation changes are drastic and steep (though short). The trail itself if real short unless you take the older park trail, then you'll have an arduous run you'll regret unless you like LONG climbs. That part of the trail has what I call the hill-on-a-hill. 

It's a part of the trail that fools you.  You climb a couple of hundred yards up a steep, meandering hill and it veers off to the right (going up).  As it begins to veer off out of sight, it appears to level out . . . then you get to the next straight-away. Which is an even steeper hundred yard (at least) climb.

I like walking that trail, hell no am I attempting to run it.

I've gotta post pictures one day.  Today's nice. I might go out for a walk this afternoon.

Anyway, the run sucked and I paid for it all last night. You'd figure with ALL this running I've been doing, my legs would get better. NOPE. I was doing fine until I got sick. Then I think I got lazy on my runs and started screwing up my form.

OR

Maybe I've been running too much?

I've been seriously debating this. I have (including today) 25 days until the Salinas Valley Half Marathon. If I continue with crappy runs by Friday (day 40), I'll be taking the weekend off and focus on flats and distance beginning Monday (July 16th).

So my 30 day challenge will have been extended to 40 days.

IF my running feels better than it has this past week by Friday (day 40), I'll continue with the challenge. But I'll still take the weekend off. Kinda.  I'll keep those short with the shorter Toro Estates run (1.77 miles) and on Monday begin my flat/longer distance runs.

I'll be picking up a gps watch because I HATE running with my phone. There's a cheapish $100 watch called the Soleus GPS 1.0 that's had decent reviews. For tracking distance, it's fine.  Their upgraded version sucks balls (2.0) and only because of the software issue. You get the same watch with crappy software. Though I see that they've upgraded the software, so maybe they fixed it?

I just want to track distance and time. The 1.0 should work great for that. But I'll be shopping around (the Nike one looks pretty cool).

GD

p.s.
too lazy and hurt to check. run smiley :)

Day 32?

Yup. Day 32 today. Wow.

I've accumulated 81.43 miles in these 31 days, previous.  Tonight will be another day to log in.  I feel good, no major aches like I used to have when training for the SVHM in the two previous years.  The only problem is that I haven't run any real distances during these runs.

I've been running a brutal (for me) trail near work. Lots of terrain changes, sandy, long and steep hills, etc . . . and my times on it have been kind of improving on it.  I have noticed that my times on the flats have gotten better, but . . .

I suck at flats.

I'm not sucking wind or anything when running them, it's just that my legs don't do well.  I guess it's because it's the same set of muscle groups working for longer periods of time on the flats.  And seeing that the SVMH is MOSTLY flats, I'm going to have to start working on that. Damn.

I'm going to try something beginning tonight.  I've heard anecdotes of Crossfit people never having run long distances using Crossfit to train for a Half. So I'm going to attempt something similar.  I'd like to incorporate my trail run with Crossfit.

Seeing as I'm pretty well beat up after my run, that should mean I've got a pretty good warm-up in, right?  So . . . I'm going to take a 45lb plate with me to the trail and use it for some simple Crossfit workovers.  Like a modified Fran or something.  I'll get my post stretch in first then get to work.  Hopefully I don't look like a TOTAL doofus killing myself out there.

I know I'll be able to do it, too. By the end of the run, I'm pretty well spent.  But after the stretches and a bit of a rest as I'm walking back down the hill to my car, I feel as if I can go again.  I'm hoping to get to work after that. Though where the hell I'm gonna stash a 45lb plate while I'm running is going to be a bit of a problem. I don't wanna imagine running with that plate.

Though I could probably strap it to my back . . . hmm.

GD

too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Two more days :)

And I've accumulated 74 miles to date. I wanted to be further along in mileage but I think being a overweight bastard doesn't help recovery as quickly. I know I was feeling ok this last week, but beginning Thursday evening, I was feeling a bit off. Friday and Saturday went great as far as the run was concerned, but post-run . . .  not so much.

I'm beginning to suspect that I do need my fish oil. I haven't been taking any for about three weeks. I'll have to pick some up again. I've been eating half decently, and my appetite has changed. I'm not digging the carb loaded stuff like I used to before all this extra running. Proteins, veggies, fruit . . . I've been trying to be a bit smarter this time around.

But beer will always be there. But the craving has been only a bottle a night so far. Arrogant Bastard Oaked! Awesome. Looooove this stuff. I had been on an IPA kick (Stone Ruination), but ABOaked has been hitting the spot wonderfully post-run. Usually when sitting back before crashing for the night, reading.

I'm still feeling kind of blah right now, but that usually goes away during the run. Maybe it's a bug, who knows.  All I know is beginning Wednesday, I'm starting up Crossfit again and I can't wait!

GD

p.s.
run smiley :)

Today marks 24

 . . . and though that run still isn't easy, I keep improving on time.  Monday was a dog of a run.  I felt like I was dragging someone else with me, it was so hard.  But as hard as it was, I was able to improve my time somewhat compared to the previous run there.  But what I think dragged me down was my shoes.  I bought a pair of Yanks.  They are supposed to help in keeping your shoes on without having to tie them all the time. They're elastic, bungee laces.  I can see how they may help other people, but I need my shoes LOOSE!

Like so:

Those are my really well worn Merrell Trail Gloves. I love the lacing system on those. Really adjustable, and I can have them loose and comfortable. As you can see, I tied knots onto the laces ends. Perfect. The only reason I don't use them on the trail is that the sole is worn enough . . . sorry that's a load of bull.  I just wanted a newer pair of shoes. I use these at work in the lab. I have a pair of Redwing boots that I bought a year ago that still look new cause I use those only when I have to.

If there is any constriction on the top of my foot, it annoys the shit outta me.  It feels as if my foot is always flexing or something. It works harder than it should and I can't relax on my run.  I really tried to get the Yanks to work, but alas . . . they were not long enough to satisfy my requirements for a comfortably loose shoe. The original laces were also not long enough to tie.  That's why I went with the Yanks. So what were my choices if the Yanks didn't work nor the original laces?

I stuck with the original laces . . . with a bit of a modification:

These are my newish Merrell Road Gloves . . . with added zip ties :D

Yesterdays run was the first relatively comfortable run where I wasn't pissed at my shoes, just the trail. I wish it had the same lacing system as the Trail Gloves, but I made do. I still tied the lace ends but they were a bit too long, hence the zip ties. Perfect.

My times on this trail are all OVER the place.  Some days are good, others not so much. I'll say the bad days are due to the shoes being too tight. The good days prior to the lace fix, were due to having been wearing my Vibram Bikilas. Those are always comfy.

I'm feeling a relaxed kind of tired today.  It shouldn't hold me back on my run. I'm looking forward to a good one.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

22 days into 30 day running challenge

So I'm looking at my calendar this morning and I notice that Day 30 ends on July 3rd and I've been wondering what I'm going to do.

I think I'm going to continue . . . kinda. What I mean is that I miss lifting mass. I was noticing improvement when I was doing Crossfit and I'd really love to incorporate that into my running again.  Do CF one day and run the next. That could be my next 30 day challenge. Or just a lifestyle change.

I was expecting to hurt a lot more than I am.  As a matter of fact, I believe I'm hurting less than if I'd gone full out with the recommended training of one day on, one day off.  Of course, the training also recommends doing SOME cross-training on those OFF days and increasing mileage on the ON days.

My gauge of improvement is how well I'm doing on those hills at Manzanita Park.  How far up can I go before I have to stop and walk. They're bitchin', killer hills with a sand pit right before most of 'em. The hills here in Prunedale are sandy because they used to be under water eons ago.  Prunedale's at about 100 feet in elevation and Manzanita Park is about 200 feet. It's not that high up from sea level. There are certain parts here in Prunedale where you can just see the ocean between hills, so we're not that far from it. If one goes digging through around here, you can still find seashells. Pretty cool.

So . . . anyway . . . for the morning of the 4th of July, I'll be beginning Crossfit once again.  I believe the inaugural CF workout will be Fran.  I wanna see if I can improve on my time.  I don't know what it is off the top of my head but it was over 15 minutes. Hopefully I've made some improvement in stamina.

I've run a bit over 55 miles so far.  I was hoping to get near 100, but it doesn't look that way. If I continue with what I've been posting up, I'll have added another 20 miles by the end of this week. So by day 30 I could be close to 90 miles. I'd like to break 100, but that means really pushing myself and cranking up the daily miles. I'd have to average 5 miles a day . . . oof. Maybe do the 4 during the week and do longer weekend runs. We'll see.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Tonight should be Day 19

And along with it, I'll have broken through 50 accumulated miles since this weird endeavor began.

I still cannot explain to myself why I'm continuing with this. I've not had these kind of masochistic tendencies since I was in high school.  I start out ok and then on come the stinkin' hills! They are a BEAR!

For Manzanita Park, you start out going down hill for a while.  It's a decent warm-up, and then you gotta make it back up!  Well, by then I'm drenched and the legs are starting the feel it.  Now I've gotta climb back up the hill?!!! Ugh!

And to make me feel even better, you've got the CX team out there running up the hill . . . chatting away like it no thing. Bastards.  OH! And the cherry topper, little league soccer players right behind them laughing and chatting!  FUCKING bastards!

So whenever I come up on a walker (not Walking Dead walkers, enjoying the day walkers) I tell them they still have a LOOOOONG way to go uphill . . . to discourage them.  So they can go back to being potatoes.

Not really. But I really want to . . . sometimes.

I say the "Good job", moral support thing. I know there have been times when I'm draggin' ass and then someone comes along says that and it reminds me to keep pushing. Gotta "Pay it forward" and all that.

I'll be going for four tonight.

To the Pain!

"It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."

GD

p.s.
to lazy to check. run smiley :)

I've gone 15 days!

The mileage for those days aren't any big deal, but for ME to say that I've gone 15 days straight of running some amount of distance greater than a mile . . . awesome.

I had started running flats for the first nine days. It's the trail by the Toro Estates. It's one of those ninja trails because it fools you into thinking you're running a level trail.  But you're not! It's a very slight rise in elevation of about 45 feet.  It doesn't sound like much, but I always thought the run back was much easier.  Now I know why.

I started running Manzanita Park Last Wednesday. I'd heard there was a trail there last year but because I was a chicken-shit and didn't want to run it solo at first, I never went.  But I'd been wanting to try another trail for a while. Toro Park is cool and all, but it's kinda out of the way for me. It takes about 20 minutes to get there because I've gotta go through town and there is no straight shot through.

Manzanita Park is on the way home from work. Because I work on a mushroom farm, it was built on an old Foster Farms poultry farm. Because it was a poultry farm, it was built in the middle of Prune-tucky (Prunedale, CA).  Nice hills and valleys to prevent chicken shit (and now mushroom compost) from annoying neighbors.

Manzanita Park is a county park that is used by youth athletic leagues.  They have baseball, softball, soccer and even BMX races there. They have batting cages on-site, too.  And one neat-o running/hiking trail.

This is what I ran last night after work:
http://j.mp/Kws2NW

 
What I did to mark the 4 miler is take my phone with me to and used the Runmeter app to log the run. As I reached the 2-mile mark I was looking for a landmark I could use. When I did get to the 2nd mile, there was a convenient lone tree off to the side to use as a landmark and headed back the way I came.  I could complete the loop for an under 3 mile run, but for this week I'm going to attempt to keep with the 4-miler.

My legs were bugging me, but I think it was because the shoes I was wearing. They're fine for the "shorter" run, but I was getting beat up and it was because I couldn't get comfortable in my shoes.  They're relatively new and on flats, they're fine. But with this more challenging trail, my feet need to be free!  I'll be using my VFF Bikilas today and from now on for Manzanita.

I'll tell you what though, after my first couple of runs there, my calves were aching! They haven't ached like that since I began running in minimalist shoes. The funny thing is that while I'm churning through the trail, I'm hating life and wondering what the hell I'm doing when I could be at home enjoying a beer. But after the run . . . SEVERAL MINUTES AFTER . . . I'm so glad I did it. It's not really about the accomplishment, it's more like the stinkin endorphins have finally kicked in!

Why the hell couldn't they kick in while running!

GD

p.s.
too pissed to check. run smiley :)

Today could be Number 10

Last week I read a post that inspired me to accept a challenge put forth by the blogger. The challenge was to run at least a mile everyday for 30 days.

Today's run could be run number ten!  And so far I've kept with running more than a mile a day.  And it hasn't been that difficult.  I'll admit some days I just didn't want to go, but after the run my mood had been lifted and felt MUCH better.  Those days have been the reason for me to continue on this challenge.  I just let go . . . and go.

The little bit of miles rack up and last week I cranked out about 18 miles. Not bad, but I'd love to do better.  I know what I've got to do to improve, but it'll be a bit before I can make some of those changes.  I hope to start this weekend, if things don't go to shit again.

So far the one major improvement I've noticed has been I've been sleeping the sleep of the dead. No more waking up several times a night, tossing and turning.  Drawback?  I can't seem to wake up the hour earlier so I can go for my run and do my crossfit workovers in the evening.  That's going to have to be one of the changes I need to make. That one's going to be difficult.

Legs have been feeling better as well. I'm still working out running form, even though I thought I was good. Nope.  I've got to learn to relax.  Every time I ask myself if I'm relaxed, I notice I'm not. It's hard to be relaxed when running, but it's doable. It's just minute changes, but they are noticeable.

I'm looking forward to tonights run. I'm thinking it's time to push for four miles . . .

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Not dead. On hiatus.

I was on a 10 day exercise hiatus.  Crap too deep to get into, but . . . I'M BACK!

I began on Monday with my usual under 3-miler at the Toro Estates.  I NEEDED to get out there.  I'd been needing to get out and do something for the last couple of weeks and I finally went.  I felt ok.

The next day (Tuesday) I was checking out the blog-roll and Trisha Reeves of [barefoot] Monologues had this posting about a running challenge being done by a friend of hers who was first inspired by a challenge proposed by Jason Robillard of Barefoot Running University.  Sorry about all the links but I figured someone might want to know if I'm making this shit up.

ANYWAY . . .

The challenge was to run AT LEAST one mile every day for 30 days . . . or longer. Trisha's friend was just about to reach 120 days straight. She says it's helped him get strong enough to complete an Ultra with very few runs longer than 10 miles! When I read the that, I was dumbfounded.  I was like, "CRAP! That sounds reasonable! Running 30 days straight shouldn't sound reasonable!"

But if you ONLY have to run AT LEAST 1 mile a day . . . that's reasonable.  Everyone has AT LEAST 15 minutes of time to kill (p.s. I don't run 15 minute miles . . . just sayin').

So far, I've stuck with my regular trail run of 2.68 miles since Monday.  That's a tad over 8 miles over the last three days.  Tonight will be my 4th day of the challenge and I'm not hurting.  The legs have been tad stiff after Monday's run, but I think that was because of the unintended hiatus (I was a total potato).

The only problem I see is how I'm going to incorporate some Crossfit workovers into this. Right now, my plan is to run 5 to 6 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm thinking run in the morning and do a good workover in the evening.  But I want to do some workovers during the week, too.

I think I may have to finally turn into one of those annoying morning people and get up at the ungodly hour of 6am for a run . . . ugh.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

What the hell is a barbell complex?!

Well, I learned what it is and I hope I don't have to do it again anytime soon!

This weekend I didn't do anything for my well-being.  I just ate bad food . . . but at least I wasn't overdoing it.  So I guess that kinda counts . . . ?

I was itchin' to do something yesterday and I felt like doing some Crossfit.  I checked out the local Crossfit website (Crossfit Ranch) and saw their workout posted for the day:

5x3 tempo back squat @70% (135lbs)
(smooth descent, hold at bottom for 3 whole seconds then fire up)
Run 400m
3 rounds of the BB complex (BBC)-
5 Deadlifts 85#
5 Hang Power Cleans 85#
5 Push Jerks 85#
Run 400m
2 rounds of the BB complex
Run 400m
1 round of the BB complex

After the warmup (about 10 minutes), I rested a couple of minutes and started the workover.  The back squats were difficult.  Especially because I had to hold the squat at the bottom for those three seconds . . . and then try to explode up?!!! Ugh!  My legs weren't necessarily gone,but they were pretty close to it when I got back from what I used to think was a relatively short 400 meter run!

The deadlifts felt good, the HPC's started out good and the PJ's were beginning to wear . . . in the first round.  The next two were a friggin' fight.  The run sucked so bad the neighbors (who are awesome cause they work on really cool jacked-up Jeeps) were looking concerned.

When I got back, I took a few seconds to attempt to catch my breath and started up the next two rounds of the BBC.  I've never really worked with the HPC before, just some practice with the Burgener Warm-up.  I can tell you, I will definitely be using the Burgener Warm-up every friggin' day!  My form was all over the place!  I had to mentally check myself way too often that the bar stayed in a vertical line over my feet when popping the bar up and that I bent my elbows to get it to my shoulders.  And my shoulders were burning when doing the push-jerk.  IT WAS ONLY 85 POUNDS!

And then to run again, except the neighbors were smirking this time . . . jerks.  I completed the last round at 14:33 mark.  I took a while to get my breath back, which I felt was TOTALLY unjustified!  I can run three stinkin' miles non-stop damn it! WTF!

And when I was running . . . Oh! I wasn't running.  I was clomping like the fat guy I am! I had to remember to keep my head up and lead with my chest . . . which I usually did in the last half of each 400m run.

I'm only looking forward to tonight's run because I don't have to think about that workover.  Shoulders are sore which only means it's gonna be bad tomorrow.  Can't wait.

GD

p.s.
ugh! run smiley :)

A bit of catch up . . .

Monday after work I went for my usual run at the Toro Estates trail.  Legs were feeling tight still and just couldn't get into it.  But on the plus side, my time improved from the Saturday run . . . so I guess that's a good thing . . . ?

And yesterday . . . well yesterday was weird.

I went to my cousins place to help with being soccer mom.  She needed help shuttling kids back home after their dance practice for the daughters sweet sixteen celebration.  When I got back home, I didn't want to wait for my brother so I started my crossfit workover.  I should tell you that he had said that he wanted to try it out.  I agreed to help him with this.

My brother is 22 years old.  You see him and you would agree that he's built like a brick shit-house. He's 5' 6" and weighs about 200 lbs.  Most of it muscle.  He's blocky.  He's recently started to develop a gut.  He goes to the gym and works with MASS!  I don't do mass like he does, but I know how to move it without hurting myself if I have to.

He said he wanted to try doing Fran.  Dumbass.  Let me reintroduce Fran:

Fran, as I've explained before is using a 95 lb bar for Thrusters and kipping pull-ups.  I can't kip or do a real pull-up yet.  For the pull-up, I use a horizontal row making sure I engages the lats.

Anyway . . . I had already completed my warmup had started my modified Fran when I heard my brother arrive.  Looked in the backyard and saw me dying and went to change into his workout gear.  I was finishing my last set of thrusters when he and his friend came out and observed my workover.

I could barely speak when I finished and after about ten minutes, I finally started them on the warmup.  Neither of them are AT ALL flexible.  I had them trying the pass-throughs and even at the widest point on the bar (five foot bar) they could just get it behind their back without complaint.

Once those were done, they went through the warmup ok. Three sets of ten each of pvc bar overhead squats, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and good mornings. Oh, wait.  I had to teach them how to do a proper overhead squat.

When I showed them and asked them to do it, they kept coming up on the balls of their feet.  NO!  They found it difficult to stay on their heels when doing the squat.  I could already foresee a problem when it came time to do Fran.

They elected to do a straight chin-up instead of the row or the kip.  Because of the difficulty of them them learning to do a proper squat, they were working muscles that they weren't used to using so it took them some time to do it.  Isaiah, my brothers friend, I can understand why he had problems.  He doesn't work out and he's a mean ol' pot smoker.  But he's rail thin.  He's wiry! He's fairly strong and knows how to use his body.  He works at a home depot doing a lot of manual labor stuff, like moving A LOT of cement bags.  So he ain't exactly a wimp.

He was actually doing better with the squats than my brother.  He was going all the way down and staying on his heels.  Yeah, he would lift forward a bit, but for the most part he stayed where he was supposed to be at.

One thing I noticed is that my brother cheats.  When doing the chin-up, I kept having to tell him to get a FULL extension.  He wouldn't go all the way down.  The same thing with the squats.  He wouldn't or couldn't go all the way down.  I kept telling him, "Your ass has to break parallel!"

And when I think back, he's been doing that with a lot of his weight lifting.  When bench pressing, the bar doesn't go all the way to his chest.  In other words, he's working out for the shape of the muscle instead of the funtionality.  He looks big, but he walks around with bent arms.

If he keeps wanting to do this, I'm not sure how much he's going to like me.  I'm going to be on his ass to do everything properly.  I guess that'll help me out too.  You know what they say, Learn by Teaching.  This'll help me to keep these concepts fresh in my mind when I'm working out so I do them properly as well.

I think I'm running tonight after work.  Feeling good and looking forward to it.

GD

p.s.
my time on fran was a little over seven minutes.
theirs was around 20 minutes.

p.p.s.
i'm a badass

p.p.p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Saturday easy run . . .

I had originally planned to go for a run in the morning on Saturday.  But as things turned out, stuff came up and put a halt to that.  It's only a couple of more weeks for the daughters Sweet 16 bash and apparently we needed to still do some ironing out of some things.  And it had to be taken care of in the morning because the people we needed to meet had other plans for the day.

Well we got that taken care of.  But the daughter and her friend had a barbeque fundraiser they would have to attend a couple of hours later.  So I took them to breakfast. They're cheerleaders and it made sense to them somehow.

After dropping them off at their fundraiser, it was time for me to head to the restaurant. It was my brothers turn to be cook for the day so I knew we would be leaving early.  But it was my moms idea to close.  She figured it being Mothers Day the next day, no one would show up.  Well she called it right.  It was a slow day and we ended up closing shop at 3pm.

My brother is much fitter than I am.  But I'm much more flexible than he is. As an example, if you're familiar with pass-throughs (Click here for a YouTube link) I can get through that just fine.  I'm working on narrowing the grip.  I have five foot pole and at his widest grip, my brother can't even do ONE.  He has to let go of the pole.  That sort of convinced him to start working on his flexibility.

He's been working out with his Merrell Trail Gloves lately even after what happend last year. He attempted the Santa Cruz Half Marathon with them. I warned him he was nowhere NEAR ready for such a long distance in minimalist shoes.  He just finished under the wire, but only because of how fast he was for the first eight miles.  After that, he was in pain.

He calves were cramping up bad and just wanted to sit and keep his legs straight. Good thing we were in my car (2002 New Beetle).  Plenty of room in the front seat.

But he's kept at it all this time . . . at least with working out with them.  Very little running.

Which is why it surprised me that he wanted to run after our duties were completed at the restaurant.  I figured he could work with my current mileage and off we went.  This time he was a bit chafed.  He wore regular boxers and we had to cut the run to about two miles instead of the almost three.  I wasn't expecting to run anyway so a nice easy run was fine for me.

So he was a bit chafed.  He said he could also feel his calves working again and thought he'd be sore.  He will be, but it won't be as bad as last time.  I'll find out how he's doing later when I see him.

Tonight it'll probably be Crossfit. If not, then definitely a run.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Crap run

Yesterday's run was crap.  My legs were tight from the previous evenings exertions. I should've warmed up proper before the run.  I've never needed to before cause I always started slow.  But I guess one gets used to getting properly warmed up that you kinda miss it.  Eh.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Crossfit Home: Day something or other . . .

Every since I've started CF'ing at home (sounds dirrrty), I haven't been keeping track of what day into it I've been like I was when I was at Crossfit Ranch.  If I could justify the cost of going to CF Ranch, I'd keep going. But with me having the necessary gear at home and the monthly cost of going to CF Ranch, I had to rethink my priorities.

For one thing, doing a quick Google search on the web for Crossfit, you'll come up with a TON of different WOD's (Workout Of the Day) available to choose from. I just pick the ones where I have the equipment for.  Pretty much just body-weight, weight-lifting, and running WOD's for me.  I've been shopping around for a Concept 2 rower, but they're a pretty penny . . . used.

Another thing, I had to motivate myself to GO to the ass-end of town to go to an awesome gym.  On a good day, it took 20 minutes to get there from home.  I could make the same trip on a bike in about the same amount of time. But with the intensity of the workouts, I doubt I'd be able to make it back home in any reasonable amount of time . . . if at ALL!  I'd be calling for a ride or something.

Taking those things into consideration and the fact that I'm saving myself a good amount of money, allowing my masochistic tendicies to come to light in the comfort of my home was a better option.

I'm still saving up for some bumper plates because having those make total sense!  I would've dropped my plates yesterday if I could, but I didn't want to damage my gear or my concrete. They are SOOOO convenient.  Someday soon though, someday soon.

Yesterdays workover was the following:
10 minute AMRAP

5 Burpees
10 Thrusters
30 Double-unders . . .  err. Um. 60 jump-ropes.  I can't do a consistent double-under to save my ass!

I did the usual dynamic warm-up post in the previous few posts.  Got the core plenty warmed up and heart a-going.

I did four complete rounds and two thirds of the fifth round with my timer going off as I completed my tenth thruster.  I was drenched, my calves were sore and I REALLY had to concentrate on form for the last couple of sets thrusters.  I didn't need a tweaked back. I fucken HATE thrusters, and combine burpees and jump rope with that and I was queasy!  The contraction of the core, jumping up and down combined with exhaustion . . . a pretty potent spewifier make!  I fought hard not to hurl.

Tonight is relatively easy.  I'll be heading out for run at the Toro Estates.  I'd like to make it a 4 miler, but it's a bit warm and muggy.  I shouldn't need it, but I'm probably taking a bottle of water with me at least to splash my head with.  Looking forward to the run.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

This potato is back on the wagon

Yup.

I've begun the whole shebang again after about a month hiatus.  Except I'm tweaking it a bit.  I'll be doing Crossfit along with more running.  As far as the Crossfit aspect of it, I'll be doing it at home. Seeing as how ALL the workouts are online and that they are scalable, I should have no excuses.  I have most of the equipment I need for most of the workovers.

Just a quick rundown of what I've done . . . but before that, a bit of an anecdote:

Several years ago, I informed my cousin (Meno) of a job opening at the lab I work at.  It'd be labor intensive, but he was fine with that.  He worked at a Lowes about 45 minutes from home and he was looking for something closer.  He got the job and about 5 years later, he's now the rising star in the company.

He was a big boy when he was in high school and he busted his ass to really trim down.  So when he started at the lab, he had the whole athletic package pretty boy good looks.  I introduced him to one of my oldest friends and his family.  He hooked up with the oldest daughter.

He was 22 at the time, she was 36 . . . and had a daughter . . . and divorced from a gay ex (who's a mayor in his town) . . . I could keep going with the fodder for this relationship.

Needless to say, there was soooo much shit-talking from BOTH families of the relationship.  I supported them, but I didn't think it would last long (they're still together . . . kinda).

But that's neither here nor there.  Let's just say it worked for them.

She love baking. He has a sweet tooth the size of a Lincoln. A match made in heaven. 

Also his undoing as he now weighs as much as I do (236 lbs) and about my height (5' 7").

He recently went to a conference in Texas and some pictures were shown of the place he works at from when he first started.  He happened to be in some of those pictures.  The before-and-after were startling to some.  Some comments were made.

One of the VP's (pretty good friend, too) even made the comment of Meno now being the "grocers best friend".

I forwarded that comment to Meno.  He didn't know what that meant and I told him to go ask said VP.  The VP was in his office down the hall and away went my cousin.  The next thing I hear is the loud laughter of the VP, followed by my cousin saying "Fuck you, man! Fuck you!", as he walked away with a shit eating grin on his face.

Apparently what the VP had done was pat his belly while he was busting out laughing.

I had told Meno earlier that morning that I was going for a run after work and he declined to join me.  After that incident, he called me later in the afternoon to let me know he'd be joining me after all.

Now I don't usually like working out with him because he NEEDS motivation.  He can't push himself.  He's always been a jock and he likes having someone yell at him to push harder.  Also, it didn't help that my uncle (his dad) was a drill sergeant in the Army and ran his home the same way.  I love my uncle, but he's a scary mofo.

We went for a shortish run that evening (Thursday) at my favorite trail.  He did ok, better than I did actually.  Friday, we were supposed to do weights.  It was going to be a modified Crossfit workout of Fran.

Modified Fran
21 / 15 / 9: Alternating between Thrusters (65 lbs) and Horizontal Pull-ups for time.

I forgot to set the timer.  Not that I cared because I was dying after and I probably would've forgotten to stop the timer anyway.

He got out of work earlier and was waiting at my house talking to my brother and another friend of ours when I arrived.  I changed into my workout gear and let him know that I was going to start.

I set up the bar and the pull-up station and began warming up.

Dynamic Warmup
10 Overhead Pass-throughs
10 Side Pass-throughs (left and right)
3 Rounds of the following (first round slow, easy and relaxed)
6 Overhead PVC squat
6 Push-ups
6 Sit-ups
6 Horizontal Pull-Ups
6 Good Mornings
10 Second hold of the Samson Stretch (left and right leg)

When I was done, he still hadn't come out.  I'm not babysitting anyone.  I started getting worked over by Fran.  He finally came out when I completed the 15-set of Fran and just watch me die as I began completed getting worked over by the 9-set.  The last three thrusters were a hell of  fight to get over head. And I still had to do the pull-ups.

My forearms were engorged and I was beginning to feel my legs again when Meno asked what he needed to do.  I wanted to smack him.  When I finally got my breath back, I explained and wrote down the warmup and told him how to do it.

As I was explaining the pass-throughs, my brother and our friend came out.  They decided to participate as well.  Then it degenerated to horseplay and then the talk of food.

Meno did nothing and we went to Round Table for pizza and beer.

The WHOLE weekend was yardwork catch-up.  Boy did it need catching up.  But all the hard work paid off as now I can be proud of my yard (front and back).

Yesterday we took the same trail.  I kicked his ass this time.  But not anywhere near the time I used to have on this trail.  It took me about 33 minutes for this run.  My BEST time was around 26 minutes.  I've got some work to do.

Tonight it's going to be weights:

4 Rounds for time
400 meter run
15 Back Squats (65 lbs)

Can't wait!

GD

p.s.
too long to check. run smiley :)