Workout Journal Entry #17

Great day today! Some hard workouts including the first day of intervals. I can tell my legs are going to be blasted tomorrow but that's what recovery days are for.

Morning stats-
Blood pressure: 98/53, Heart rate: 51, Weight:193 lbs

Morning Workout:
Clean
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (7 sets of 1 rep for max effort)

135 lbs, 155 lbs, 155 lbs, 165 lbs (fail), 165 lbs, 165 lbs, 165 lbs

Afternoon Workout:
RUN- Intervals
Warm up and 10 minutes of POSE drills followed by
3 sets for max effort of:
200m, Rest 100m walk
400m, Rest 200m walk
600m, Rest 200m walk

Total intervals: 3600m

Time: forgot watch

Notes: Happy w/ Clean. Have never really tried max weight before. I felt my form, range of motion and control were good. I can really feel it in my legs. This afternoons interval were brutal but i got through them. My legs will be singing tomorrow. We are getting into the deep end of the training pool. Got to make sure I am well warmed up for this stuff to prevent injuries.

Workout Journal Entry #16 and Heroes

Yesterday was an off day and it was great- I was tired! Celebrated Graham's One-Month Birthday and the party wore me out! For as tired as this training is making me I hope I am making significant progress. In the past two weeks I have lost seven pounds and raised, with your help, $275 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital but it is still a little early to start measuring physical improvement. Maybe next weekend.

Moring Stats-
Blood Pressure: 102/55, Heart Rate: 51, Weight: 193 lbs.

Afternoon Workout

"Nancy"
5 rounds for time of:
400 meter run
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps (scaled to 75 lbs)

Time: 25 min, 55 sec

Notes: Didn't sleep very well because Graham was being fusy. Will probably move him out of our bedroom soon. As for the workout, this is the first one that I have had to scale. Overhead squats are extremely difficult and require a lot of core strength and hip and shoulder flexibility. Next time I should be able to do it as perscribed.

Tomorrow is the first day of intervals. Should be brutal!

These are the two fire fighters that pulled a woman and her two kids out of a burning SUV; an event that was all caught on tape (see Thursday's blog entry). Their name are John and Joel Rechlitz. They are BAMFs!

“It was horrific,” Joel Rechlitz told Holt. “The car was engulfed in flames and the child was in there screaming. All I could see was that child’s face, [which] seemed just perfectly fine, but you could see the car seat around the child was burning. The child was literally burning in front of me.

“It was horrific,” he reiterated. “It compelled you to act.”

Read more about their heroics here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32006584/ns/today-today_people/

Workout Journal Entry #14

Need to sleep more didn't turn off the lights until midnight. Surprised heart rate wasn't elevated.

Morning stats-
Blood Pressure: 99/58, Heart Rate: 53, Weight: 193 lbs

Morning Workout:
Thrusters
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Weights: 115 lbs, 125 lbs, 135 lbs, 145 lbs, 155 lbs, 165 lbs (fail), 155 lbs

Afternoon Workout:
15 min POSE Running Drills
"Front Nine" 2.75 mile (practice POSE running)
Time: 24 min, 0 sec

Notes: Really need to sleep more. Recovery is why we get better, not more training. I really need to practice thrusters. I can squat and I can shoulder press but you put the two together and it kills me. Must get better if i ever want a decent "Fran" time. Been working on POSE running and its making my calves sore as I am adapting. Didn't really run for time but to practice POSE.

Unrelated here is an amazing video of some real life heroes pulling a woman and her two kids out of a burning car. This is straight out of the movie "Crash" but better- its real.

Workout Journal Entry #13

Tired this morning. Pushed the morning workout to after work. I have to get more sleep. I say that as I work on this blog entry after 11 pm.

Morning stats:
Blood pressure: 101/58, Heart Rate: 51, Weight: 193 lbs

Afternoon Workout:
"CORE"
For time complete 5 rounds of:
15 reps Deadlift, 185 lbs
30 Sit-Ups w/ 20 lbs medicine ball

Time: 18 min, 10 sec

Notes: This was a lot harder than I thought and I thought the deadlifts would be harder than the sit-ups and the opposite was the case. Calves are sore. Mostly from the POSE running. Legs will have to get used to it.

Here is a moto video...highlights from the 2009 CrossFit Games

Workout Journal Entry #12

Great training day! Motivation has been climbing every day and I am looking forward to seeing my progress in the next couple of weeks.

Morning stats-
Blood Pressure: 109/54, Heart Rate: 50, Weight: 192 lbs

Morning Workout:
While wearing a 20 lbs vest complete for time:
5 rounds of:
5 strict pull-ups
5 kipping pull-ups
5 jumping pull-ups

Time: 17 minutes, 48 seconds

Afternoon Workout:
15 minutes of POSE Running drills &
RUN- 3 Mile Fartlek
First 5 minutes run as warm up followed by 8 rounds of
1 minute ON (75%)
1 minute EASY (50%)

Time: 25 min, 20 sec

Notes: Morning stats are pretty good although my weight loss is not sustainable. Most likely due to dehydration. If it doesn't stabilize then I might have to back off. Pull-up workout was harder than I thought; I actually scaled the reps from what my original plan was. Just started on POSE running (more about that later) and it actually is coming along quite naturally. Will definitely require more getting used to and more practice.

Here is a little motivation. This was almost exactly 10 years ago. Lance's first year back in the Tour after beating cancer. No one really new what he could do and after surprising people by taking the yellow jersey in the time trial people thought he would crack in the mountains. I remember watching this stage and jumping up and down on my bed as I watched this with my own eyes...you could hear the astonishment in the announcers voices. This was epic! Enjoy!

Progress, Thanks and Motivation

Well, the first full calendar week came and went without any major catastrophes (no injuries). I did get a fair assessment at my current fitness- pathetic -but my motivation has been growing by the day. Right now by my and other estimates I would run a marathon in about 5 hours and 15 minutes. That's 67 minutes slower than my PR and 90 slower than my goal...I will need to knock off over 3 minutes/mile for the entire marathon! Despite this overwhelming challenge my motivation is not phased and that is in large part because of YOU and the progress we have made in fund raising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Just ten or so days into it and we have already raised $275- over 25% of our fund raising goal! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
If you haven't had a chance to contribute please go to my St. Jude Fund Raising site.

As many of you are aware I am not going to be doing your traditional endurance/marathon training. I think it takes too long in terms of required training hours and the speed of progress. Instead I am using only CrossFit and CrossFit Endurance. With that, some might find it interesting that my total workout time this past week, including warm up and cool down, was only 4 hours and 45 minutes. Should be interesting to see what kind of results I get in 96 days.

I found this today. If you have never done "Helen" then it will be hard for you to grasp the physical accomplishment that this is. For some context, when I was in great shape I did "Helen" in about 9:15. Five months ago when I was in okay shape I did it in about 10:30. This past week, over 13 minutes...this guy goes sub-seven minutes. Oh, and that big metal ball he is swinging is 53lbs. For those of you that have done "Helen" prepare to be amazed. Enjoy!

Workout Journal Entry #10

Morning Stats-
Blood pressure:94/52 (strange), Heart Rate: 55, Weight: 194 lbs

Afternoon Workout:

Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3-3 (6 sets of 3 reps)

225 lbs, 245 lbs, 265 lbs, 275 lbs, 285 lbs, 295 lbs


Evening Workout:
RUN- "Round of Golf"
Run the 18 holes of Hyland Hills Golf Course, about 5 miles

Time: 48 min, 22 sec

Notes: I love CrossFit. I haven't done a single crunch or sit up and my stomach is sore...not sure what from but I know it got worked. Deadlift was as expected...weak- 65 lbs short of my goal. As for the 5 mile run it was slow but it definitely feels like its getting better. Utilizing a calculator from Hill Runner I was able to get a little more insight on my expected marathon time. According to Hill Runner, in my current shape I should be able to run a marathon in 4 hours and 40 minutes. This of course assumes that I am prepared for that distance, which I am not. So realistically, assuming that my knees could survive it would probably be more like five to five and a half hours.