The past few days has seen nice weather for this time of year, and I've sort of been lamenting the fact that I haven't been able to go for a bike ride. Actually, not that I haven't been able to - but after my last bike ride in early October, I sort of mentally checked out for bike riding for the rest of the year - so it's not until it's mid-way through a nice day that I think 'damn, it'd be a nice day for a ride'.
So after doing that (again) yesterday, I checked the weather for today and saw it was going to be decent weather again - in the 50's. So instead of going to the pool, I decided to take advantage of the decent weather and do my Wachusett Reservoir loop. The last time I had done this loop, I vaguelly recalled having done it in around 2:45 or so - and today I was somewhat curious how the leg workouts I've been doing may affect cycling performance.
It didn't take too awful long after starting out to determine that today might not be the best day for high hopes in that regard, because my legs weren't feeling incredibly strong. As the ride progressed, my mental state went through the phases of 'Hey, it's nice to be on the bike again - I'm glad I got the opportunity to go for another ride before it gets too cold' to 'Oh man, I'm not even halfway through yet and I'm kinda tired of doing this' to 'This is starting to get annoying' to 'Wow I really wish I was done, but I'm only 2/3 of the way through' to 'Should I give a call home for a pickup - because it is starting to get cold and I'm just really not enjoying this much'.
It was around the halfway point that I decided I should just admit it - I'm a fair weather cyclist. Cycling is enjoyable enough in the right circumstances, but there are aspects of it that aren't so fun no matter what the conditions - so when you start tossing in cooler weather, for me it just tips the scales enough that I'd rather not bother. Yes, there is cold weather gear, and I had (barely) adequate layers on - but even still, the cold affected other things - like it seemed like the bike frame was stiffer, making bumps more annoying. Also, my rear derailleur needs a tune-up, because it spontaneously shifts back and forth when I'm in a couple of particular gears. It occured to me that with the lower temperature and resultant contraction of the metal cable, that maybe thats why it was a lot more on the fritz today as opposed to earlier in the year.
So, all things considered - I'm glad I did it because this way if we get weather in the 50's again, I can now say 'no thanks, still too chilly for a bike ride for me', and I don't have to feel bad about missing an opportunity.
By the time I got home, I was just glad to be off the thing. When I checked my time, I was about 2 mph slower than my last time around that loop (sometime in September). So that kinda sucked as well. I'm going to blame the temperature for it all, though. It's not that I was really that cold (core temp was fine - just the extremities were a bit chilly when I got home), but I was wearing cycling shorts, so I just think that overall temperature was too low for optimal energy output in the human body. Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Day 19 - P90X Chest & Back - 11/25/11
By doing Chest & Back today, I got myself just about back on track for my workouts this week, minus swimming - which I can do tomorrow or Sunday. It's the most skippable of any workout I do, so if I don't get to it, thats not a big deal.
As suspected, having done the double session the other day (including back), I was definitely limited in the number of reps I could do today. At first I just aimed to keep pace with the previous Chest & Back numbers, but on the second set I was having to take mid-set breaks just to do that. Thats ok, though - I still managed to eek out a few more pushups and pullups overall as compared to the last time I did this workout.
And it figures - just as I start getting the hang for the grips on things like lawnmowers, heavy pants and back fly's while using the bands, I look at the worksheet and see that this is it for the Chest & Back until week 9.
That means next week is a recovery week - lots of core work, and a couple yoga sessions.
As suspected, having done the double session the other day (including back), I was definitely limited in the number of reps I could do today. At first I just aimed to keep pace with the previous Chest & Back numbers, but on the second set I was having to take mid-set breaks just to do that. Thats ok, though - I still managed to eek out a few more pushups and pullups overall as compared to the last time I did this workout.
And it figures - just as I start getting the hang for the grips on things like lawnmowers, heavy pants and back fly's while using the bands, I look at the worksheet and see that this is it for the Chest & Back until week 9.
That means next week is a recovery week - lots of core work, and a couple yoga sessions.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Day 18 - Whitinsville 5 miler Turkey trot
Today was a Thanksgiving day race that I ran with a couple friends. I wasn't really sure what to expect - I had just done the legs workout yesterday - but I figured I'd probably be able to do about 7:30 min/miles. That would give a final time of about 37:30 or so. The only other five mile race I did was way back in 2009 - the Lawrence Sons of Italy race - where I had a final time of just a hair under 39 minutes (although the course was a tad longer than 5 miles). So I figured there was a good chance of PR'ing a 5 mile race today. At least, a PR post-high school - I know I did one 5 mile race in high school on Thanksgiving, but I've long since forgotten my time - and at the time a 7:30 min/mile was on the slower side of things.
Anyhow - normally during a race, I position myself in the crowd based on where I've been finishing - if I'm finishing in the 50%, I'd get about halfway back. Part of the reason for that is to not be one of the obnoxious people who line up in front and get in peoples way. The other reason is that it helps regulate my start, so I don't go out too fast. Today, I threw caution to the wind and lined up right in front. When the race started, everyone seemed to be sprinting right out of the gate. Within a few hundred feet, I looked down at my watch and saw an instantaneous pace under 5 min/miles. I knew for a fact that wasn't sustainable - so I started to slow up a bit. At this point, a good number of people were passing me, and even though I slowed down, it was tough to get settled into a comfortable pace. My heartrate was already well into the 160's and rising, so I needed to get that under control.
As the first mile clicked by in 6:45, I knew I was still going too fast. On the other hand, there were only 4 miles left at this point, so it would not be worth really slowing down because by the time I did that and got caught up, the race would be just about over. So I just kinda had to suck it up, and come to grips with the fact that my HR was going to be in the 170's for 5 miles, and it wasn't going to be comfortable. I decided that'd be ok, though - I'm intentionally lowering miles, but this run was definitely keeping the intensity up.
I slowed down a bit each successive mile - but still stayed under 7:30 min/mile. Once I hit mile four, I could tell based on my time that there was going to be a finish in the 35 minute range. I knew this would be a PR for me, but I didn't recall the finish of the Lawrence race from a few years ago. I was thinking I finished int he 37 minute range, but wasn't sure.
In the last mile, of course - everyone got a little bit of a final kick, including myself. I gradually sped up during that mile, and opened up an all out sprint in the last 100 feet or so. My HR shot from the mid 170's to the mid 180's, and my lungs were trying to suck more air into them than my windpipe would allow. That's always fun.
Anyway, final results.
A few hours later, I got an email informing me I was 77 of 771 overall, and 15 of 75 in my age group. For someone who has typically been in the back half of the pack, that was my best showing in a race so far.
Anyhow - normally during a race, I position myself in the crowd based on where I've been finishing - if I'm finishing in the 50%, I'd get about halfway back. Part of the reason for that is to not be one of the obnoxious people who line up in front and get in peoples way. The other reason is that it helps regulate my start, so I don't go out too fast. Today, I threw caution to the wind and lined up right in front. When the race started, everyone seemed to be sprinting right out of the gate. Within a few hundred feet, I looked down at my watch and saw an instantaneous pace under 5 min/miles. I knew for a fact that wasn't sustainable - so I started to slow up a bit. At this point, a good number of people were passing me, and even though I slowed down, it was tough to get settled into a comfortable pace. My heartrate was already well into the 160's and rising, so I needed to get that under control.
As the first mile clicked by in 6:45, I knew I was still going too fast. On the other hand, there were only 4 miles left at this point, so it would not be worth really slowing down because by the time I did that and got caught up, the race would be just about over. So I just kinda had to suck it up, and come to grips with the fact that my HR was going to be in the 170's for 5 miles, and it wasn't going to be comfortable. I decided that'd be ok, though - I'm intentionally lowering miles, but this run was definitely keeping the intensity up.
I slowed down a bit each successive mile - but still stayed under 7:30 min/mile. Once I hit mile four, I could tell based on my time that there was going to be a finish in the 35 minute range. I knew this would be a PR for me, but I didn't recall the finish of the Lawrence race from a few years ago. I was thinking I finished int he 37 minute range, but wasn't sure.
In the last mile, of course - everyone got a little bit of a final kick, including myself. I gradually sped up during that mile, and opened up an all out sprint in the last 100 feet or so. My HR shot from the mid 170's to the mid 180's, and my lungs were trying to suck more air into them than my windpipe would allow. That's always fun.
Anyway, final results.
A few hours later, I got an email informing me I was 77 of 771 overall, and 15 of 75 in my age group. For someone who has typically been in the back half of the pack, that was my best showing in a race so far.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Day 17 - P90X Double Session - 11/23/11
So, I never got to Legs & Back last night - got home too late to get it in before bed.
Since I had today off from work, I was able to do a double P90X session - Legs & Back this morning, and Shoulders & Arms this evening. I did skip the ab-ripper portion of legs & back though, and only did one session of that today. So that puts me back on track for the week - I'll do Chest & Back on Friday and find some time over the next few days for a pool session.
So it was pretty much the same story with Legs & Back as before - trying to increase reps or eliminate breaks on each round. What is really starting to surprise me is the total number of pull-ups I'm able to do in the full workout - over 60. What I'm curious about is whether this workout will affect my performance at all during tomorrow's five mile race.
With Shoulders & Arms, I was back to using the bands. I did manage to tweak things a bit to start getting more effectiveness out of them, so that is good. But there are still some of the exercises that are difficult because the grip is imbalanced (no handles on the bands).
Since I had today off from work, I was able to do a double P90X session - Legs & Back this morning, and Shoulders & Arms this evening. I did skip the ab-ripper portion of legs & back though, and only did one session of that today. So that puts me back on track for the week - I'll do Chest & Back on Friday and find some time over the next few days for a pool session.
So it was pretty much the same story with Legs & Back as before - trying to increase reps or eliminate breaks on each round. What is really starting to surprise me is the total number of pull-ups I'm able to do in the full workout - over 60. What I'm curious about is whether this workout will affect my performance at all during tomorrow's five mile race.
With Shoulders & Arms, I was back to using the bands. I did manage to tweak things a bit to start getting more effectiveness out of them, so that is good. But there are still some of the exercises that are difficult because the grip is imbalanced (no handles on the bands).
Monday, November 21, 2011
Day 15 - Yoga - 11/21/11
My schedule this week is all askew. I was going to do Legs & Back tonight, but made dinner plans with a friend tomorrow evening - so I couldn't do yoga then. And there is no 7:30 yoga class on Wednesday, so I needed to get it in at some point this week - so I opted to go tonight, and try to get the Legs & Back workout in tomorrow somehow, sometime. Worst case scenario, I end up having to do Legs & Back on Wednesday morning, and Shoulders & Arms Wednesday evening since I'm not going to work that day. It might affect my performance on the 5 mile turkey day run I plan on doing on Thursday, though.
Anyhow - the past couple weeks I've been finding that I am getting more precise with balancing during the balance series:
Standing Head to Knee - This pose has consistently been on the top of my nemesis list. It looks easy, but holding it for as long as you do in class is really, really hard and exhausting when you get to it in class. Believe me - you may stop reading this and try it out and say 'eh, he's a wimp' - but I can tell you from personal experience that new students in class often kinda laugh and snicker through the first few postures, but after this one they have a look of horror and the biggest 'Hoe-Lee SHIT!!' expression on their face. It's quite amusing :) (hey, I was that person once)
I still can't straighten my horizontal leg all the way, but I'm getting there (the left leg is 95% of the way there!). The thing I liked about it right away is that I always felt like it was engaging the stabilizing muscles in the hips that directly affect the IT band - the gluteus medius. A few weeks ago I feel like I came across a point of balance in my hip where I don't need to hold the leg and hips in place with as much muscular effort - kinda like I figured out how to balance a marble on the tip of my finger. This made the posture significantly easier.
Balancing Stick - This pose has never been much of a killer for me, but it is surprising how much it can make your heart pump. I'm sure when I first started I was more like the guy in the video (awkward and falling over), but that was quickly remedied. Regardless, kinda like that marble analogy from before, I find it easier nowadays.
Standing Bow Pulling Pose - Ok, I can't get my leg nearly as high as the woman in the video - but as you could guess, this is a great posture for increasing quad flexibility (yes, please!). So over time, I've gotten better at it - but the balance is often a tricky thing because you are trying to kick your leg up, keep your torso horizontal and maintain balance all at the same time. Add the fact that this pose causes me to get lightheaded after coming out of it - it makes for a unique challenge. But once again, finding that point in the hip to balance on has made it significantly easier.
So it is definitely nice that I'm finally, after a year of practicing, able to find that point of balance where I don't have to consistently use minor muscle corrections to keep myself balanced - and, ironically enough, I find that when I totally lock the standing knee, it is easier. Go figure - cuz they say to lock the knee every. time.
Anyhow - the past couple weeks I've been finding that I am getting more precise with balancing during the balance series:
Standing Head to Knee - This pose has consistently been on the top of my nemesis list. It looks easy, but holding it for as long as you do in class is really, really hard and exhausting when you get to it in class. Believe me - you may stop reading this and try it out and say 'eh, he's a wimp' - but I can tell you from personal experience that new students in class often kinda laugh and snicker through the first few postures, but after this one they have a look of horror and the biggest 'Hoe-Lee SHIT!!' expression on their face. It's quite amusing :) (hey, I was that person once)
I still can't straighten my horizontal leg all the way, but I'm getting there (the left leg is 95% of the way there!). The thing I liked about it right away is that I always felt like it was engaging the stabilizing muscles in the hips that directly affect the IT band - the gluteus medius. A few weeks ago I feel like I came across a point of balance in my hip where I don't need to hold the leg and hips in place with as much muscular effort - kinda like I figured out how to balance a marble on the tip of my finger. This made the posture significantly easier.
Balancing Stick - This pose has never been much of a killer for me, but it is surprising how much it can make your heart pump. I'm sure when I first started I was more like the guy in the video (awkward and falling over), but that was quickly remedied. Regardless, kinda like that marble analogy from before, I find it easier nowadays.
Standing Bow Pulling Pose - Ok, I can't get my leg nearly as high as the woman in the video - but as you could guess, this is a great posture for increasing quad flexibility (yes, please!). So over time, I've gotten better at it - but the balance is often a tricky thing because you are trying to kick your leg up, keep your torso horizontal and maintain balance all at the same time. Add the fact that this pose causes me to get lightheaded after coming out of it - it makes for a unique challenge. But once again, finding that point in the hip to balance on has made it significantly easier.
So it is definitely nice that I'm finally, after a year of practicing, able to find that point of balance where I don't have to consistently use minor muscle corrections to keep myself balanced - and, ironically enough, I find that when I totally lock the standing knee, it is easier. Go figure - cuz they say to lock the knee every. time.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Day 14 - P90X Chest & Back w/Ab Ripper - 11/20/11
This workout was originally to be on Friday, but I ended up making other plans with a couple friends, and intended to get to the workout on Saturday. However, I had to work on Saturday and it took longer than I thought it would - not getting home until 9:30 - so the workout didn't happen then either.
This posed a bit of a problem, because tomorrow is supposed to be legs & back - but having just done back today, I really don't want to do it again tomorrow. And then with Thanksgiving this week, the schedule is all a mess. So at current I'm thinking I'll go to Yoga tomorrow, followed by Legs & Back on Tuesday, and swimming on Wednesday. I will hopefully be able to get Shoulders & Arms in on Thursday evening, leaving Saturday for Chest & Back, and putting me pretty much back on schedule without having missed a workout. That would be nice.
One of the things I'm still toying around with in P90X is how to go about increasing reps - I don't want to go to exhaustion for one pull up set when I know there are others coming up, and I don't want to go balls to the wall for one thing and end up sacrificing something else. So for something like Chest & Back, where there are two sets - I thought one idea might be to do the same number of reps as the previous week for the first set, and then on the second set increase reps. Theoretically I should be less fatigued during the first set on the subsequent week, leaving more ability to do more reps on the 2nd set. Then, on the next week (which would be the third), I could bump up the number of reps on the first set, and keep the reps on the 2nd set the same as the 2nd set from the previous week. Follow? If not - don't worry - there are only 5 workouts for chest & back, and 2 are finished already and two occur in the last month of the P90x schedule, so it really doesn't matter.
But anyway, it does help illustrate my goal numbers for this week and why I (for the most part) kept set one the same as the previous week, and opted to increase the reps for set two.
This posed a bit of a problem, because tomorrow is supposed to be legs & back - but having just done back today, I really don't want to do it again tomorrow. And then with Thanksgiving this week, the schedule is all a mess. So at current I'm thinking I'll go to Yoga tomorrow, followed by Legs & Back on Tuesday, and swimming on Wednesday. I will hopefully be able to get Shoulders & Arms in on Thursday evening, leaving Saturday for Chest & Back, and putting me pretty much back on schedule without having missed a workout. That would be nice.
One of the things I'm still toying around with in P90X is how to go about increasing reps - I don't want to go to exhaustion for one pull up set when I know there are others coming up, and I don't want to go balls to the wall for one thing and end up sacrificing something else. So for something like Chest & Back, where there are two sets - I thought one idea might be to do the same number of reps as the previous week for the first set, and then on the second set increase reps. Theoretically I should be less fatigued during the first set on the subsequent week, leaving more ability to do more reps on the 2nd set. Then, on the next week (which would be the third), I could bump up the number of reps on the first set, and keep the reps on the 2nd set the same as the 2nd set from the previous week. Follow? If not - don't worry - there are only 5 workouts for chest & back, and 2 are finished already and two occur in the last month of the P90x schedule, so it really doesn't matter.
But anyway, it does help illustrate my goal numbers for this week and why I (for the most part) kept set one the same as the previous week, and opted to increase the reps for set two.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Day 11 - 2700 yd swim - 11/17
I'm still working on tweaking minor aspects of my swim stroke. Today I mostly concentrated on keeping my hand lower during the catch - I have a tendency, in my attempt to elongate my body as I reach my arm forward, to keep it outstretched. As a result, it tends to be closer to horizontal, and I can feel the drag it creates - as opposed to when it is lower (hand maybe more like 1 ft below the surface) and the induced drag feels less. I'm still not sure exactly why that is - you'd think that being horizontal in the water would be more streamlined. Maybe it is for the hand itself, but then again body position is affected by hand placement - and usually a large contributor to drag is the body itself, when the legs are lower than the torso. So by lowering the hand, it helps keep the rest of the body in a more streamlined position. At least, that's what seems to happen - so I'll go with that.
A few times during these swim sessions, I get a lap or two that feel exceptionally nice and smooth. I usually try and make a mental note of which laps they are so I can go back and look at those lap times to compare, but I usually forget, or after a lap of being conscious of how things feel really good, I end up inadvertantly trying harder (ie, using muscles more) which ends up being counterproductive. So I think one of the next goals will be to try and emulate those good feeling laps as much as I can - I at least have a sense of what the entire stroke should feel like, so it gives me a little bit of a direction.
54 laps - 45:47
A few times during these swim sessions, I get a lap or two that feel exceptionally nice and smooth. I usually try and make a mental note of which laps they are so I can go back and look at those lap times to compare, but I usually forget, or after a lap of being conscious of how things feel really good, I end up inadvertantly trying harder (ie, using muscles more) which ends up being counterproductive. So I think one of the next goals will be to try and emulate those good feeling laps as much as I can - I at least have a sense of what the entire stroke should feel like, so it gives me a little bit of a direction.
54 laps - 45:47
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Day 10 - Yoga - 11/16/11
I was originally doubtful I'd be able to make it to yoga today due to flight times returning home, but yay for finishing early and catching an early flight!
And I needed it. Between minor residual soreness from Sunday, and the workouts Monday and Tuesday, I woke up Wednesday morning and knew I had to get to yoga - at the expense of my next workout, if necessary.
Nothing too major from this class - I got into toe stand again this time (a tad easier). The top of my right foot was still aggrevated, especially during kneeling poses where there is a lot of weight on it - but it wasn't as sensitive as it was last week. So that is a good sign that things are healing.
And I needed it. Between minor residual soreness from Sunday, and the workouts Monday and Tuesday, I woke up Wednesday morning and knew I had to get to yoga - at the expense of my next workout, if necessary.
Nothing too major from this class - I got into toe stand again this time (a tad easier). The top of my right foot was still aggrevated, especially during kneeling poses where there is a lot of weight on it - but it wasn't as sensitive as it was last week. So that is a good sign that things are healing.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Day 9 - Shoulders & Arms - 11/15/11
The main reason why I ended up doing legs & back yesterday - with the legs being a day after a hard workout on the half marathon the day before, and the back on short rest - was because I knew that this evening I'd be in a hotel. I can do the leg routine in a hotel room, but I have no pull up bar, so my workout would be limited. Hotels, however, often have dumbbells - and the shoulders & arms routine is one that I feel I get a huge benefit from when using dumbbells. As a result, it was possible for me to get a good workout in today while also seeing what kind of weights I'd need to get, if I were to get dumbbells. See? I think of everything!
Unfortunately, it also means it is hard to compare against last week - because all I know is that I used the blue band last week - but no idea how many equivalent pounds that ends up being. But I can say that I found a set of 15's and 20's are definitely adequate for this workout for me. Most of the things like curls or presses were good with 20 lbs, while some of the fly and tricep stuff was better with the 15' lbs. The one exercise I couldn't really do was the outstretched shoulder fly, because the lowest weight they had was 15's, which was still too heavy.
Other than that - because I was able to select the proper weight to limit reps not on time elapsed before they went on to the next thing, but instead my own fatigue - I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be feeling sore in my arms starting tomorrow and into Thursday. But, its a good kind of sore, because I brought it.
(Except I didn't do ab ripper today, I'll do that tomorrow)
Unfortunately, it also means it is hard to compare against last week - because all I know is that I used the blue band last week - but no idea how many equivalent pounds that ends up being. But I can say that I found a set of 15's and 20's are definitely adequate for this workout for me. Most of the things like curls or presses were good with 20 lbs, while some of the fly and tricep stuff was better with the 15' lbs. The one exercise I couldn't really do was the outstretched shoulder fly, because the lowest weight they had was 15's, which was still too heavy.
Other than that - because I was able to select the proper weight to limit reps not on time elapsed before they went on to the next thing, but instead my own fatigue - I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be feeling sore in my arms starting tomorrow and into Thursday. But, its a good kind of sore, because I brought it.
(Except I didn't do ab ripper today, I'll do that tomorrow)
Monday, November 14, 2011
Day 8 - Legs & Back - 11/14
As I suspected, the back workout today was affected by the fact that it was only Saturday that the previous back workout occured. This morning I could tell I had worked out the back muscles and they were still recovering. I had toyed with the idea of switching around my schedule this week to accomodate, but decided not too because doing so would be more hassle than it'd be worth. So, instead of trying to increase reps today, I'd do what I could - if I could match last week's numbers, great. If I fell a rep or two short, oh well - thats ok too.
I actually ended up doing reasonably well. I was at least able to match the reps from last session, but I did have to take a couple extra mid-set breaks. On the other hand, though - there were a few spots (like round one of the wide front, or the closed grip overhand pullups) where I was able to add a rep or two before taking a break. So, all told - I'd call it a wash. Considering it was only 48 hours of rest, I'm pretty happy with that.
The legs were definitely still fatigued from yesterday, though. Wasn't much of a big deal on stuff like the lunges and squats - that just meant pushing through a little more adversity - but I definitely lost something on the wall squats, specifically the single leg ones. I had just gotten to the point of being able to maintain for the full 60 seconds, but this time I had to take a break during the entire middle 20 seconds. Thats fine, though - after taking 13 minutes off a half marathon PR, I'm ok with it!
As will be the case going forward, I won't put links in the text of each post - there is a link on the bar above that should bring you to a google docs spreadsheet that I update with my progress.
I actually ended up doing reasonably well. I was at least able to match the reps from last session, but I did have to take a couple extra mid-set breaks. On the other hand, though - there were a few spots (like round one of the wide front, or the closed grip overhand pullups) where I was able to add a rep or two before taking a break. So, all told - I'd call it a wash. Considering it was only 48 hours of rest, I'm pretty happy with that.
The legs were definitely still fatigued from yesterday, though. Wasn't much of a big deal on stuff like the lunges and squats - that just meant pushing through a little more adversity - but I definitely lost something on the wall squats, specifically the single leg ones. I had just gotten to the point of being able to maintain for the full 60 seconds, but this time I had to take a break during the entire middle 20 seconds. Thats fine, though - after taking 13 minutes off a half marathon PR, I'm ok with it!
As will be the case going forward, I won't put links in the text of each post - there is a link on the bar above that should bring you to a google docs spreadsheet that I update with my progress.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Day 7 - Monson Half Marathon - 11/13/11
I guess this would be filed under 'cardio' in the P90X workout schedule.
So today was the Monson half marathon. I approached it with the attitude that it was a race at a time when running miles are down, and therefore I'd push myself to try and keep up the intensity. Reason being is that through talking with people and doing some research, I've come across the idea that one way to maintain running conditioning during a down period is to make the runs more intense (ie, not all LSD). Due to road conditions around these parts, the winter is definitely a down period for running.
I ran part of this course with my dad last Sunday to get a feel for it, get a sense of hills and what-not. I've only run 3-4 times since the marathon, so I really had no major preconceived notions of my performance because I had no idea how much dropoff to expect. My previous half marathons (and PR) have been in the 1:53 range (not counting the half marathon in the patriot half iron) - an 8:40 min/mile pace, or so. There were two primary factors in the back of my mind that led me to believe that I was likely ready to break through that plateau, though:
So really, the biggest question was how would the hills impact my performance. There was potential to completely burn out in the first half, making for a very long and brutal second half. Even with the downhill - once you are gassed, just putting one foot in front of the other can be a challenge.
Since I knew the course to be fairly hilly, I did a few things for this race that were new - things I had recently heard were beneficial, but had no experience with:
So, as usual, I started off relatively slow as a warm up (the joke between my dad and I was to 'start slow, and then taper back from there') for the first mile. But something was wrong - the first mile clicked at just over 8 minutes. Shit! I better slow down, because otherwise I'm going to be gassed pretty quick. But my HR was < 155, which is high for a first mile, but not terrible. The problem is that I didn't feel like I needed to slow down. I'm not sure why, but I decided to keep up at a similar pace, maybe slow down a bit on the steeper portions - but I was finding that after those sections, my legs were re-energized pretty quickly, and I could resume buzzing along at a sub 8 min/mile pace.
For the next few miles, I just kept up pace and it felt fine. Which was surprising because my HR was at least 165. Typically at that intensity, my endurance starts to plummet, but I wasn't feeling nearly as strained as I would have expected. Very odd. The concern was how I'd feel at the halfway point of the race - would I burn myself out?
As the miles clicked by, I continued to be surprised by how strong I felt. I have to admit, I was keeping myself motivated by passing people on the hills - there were a few times I was keeping pace with someone nearby, but eventually we'd hit a hill and they'd drop back. I switched to using mostly calf muscles for ascention, giving the quads a brief break. During the downhill parts, I picked up speed - but not too much. I think this ended up being a smart strategic move - the downhills gave my body a chance to recover, and my not flying down them, I had a longer period of time for that recovery so that I was re-energized for the next uphill.
By the time I hit mile 11, I had been on a downhill slope for a couple miles and hit a mini wall. My overall pace was slowing down slightly because cadence was dropping - so I had to start consciously thinking about that to maintain a high foot turnover. This is where the race became mental - at this point I knew I was going to beat the 1:53 previous PR, but now it was a matter of pushing it for the last two miles, and not having the ego hit by being passed. Honestly, those last few miles - that was a huge part of what kept me going. I'd pass someone, and I didn't want to be that guy that passed someone, only to have peaked too early and then crash before the finish line. Plus, by this time, my foot was starting to hurt again, so I just wanted to be done. And the only way to do that was to run faster.
So anyhow - how did it go?
Absolutely crushed it.
Remember how I said my halfs PR was in the 1:53 range? This was a full 13 minutes faster! Are. You. Flippin'. Kidding me?
And this was on a hilly course! Where the hell did I ever pull that from?! And on a right foot that is not 100%! (which was actually fine and painless until mile 7 or so, BTW)
I'd have been reasonably happy with something in the 1:53 range, figuring 'eh, it was a hilly course, haven't run much at all in the past few weeks, and on a bum foot'. I'd have been really, really happy with a 1:45 - knocking 8 minutes off a 13 mile course, around 40 sec/mile faster than before, is significant improvement! But a full minute/mile faster?! I really pulled some magic out of my ass on this one.
So today was the Monson half marathon. I approached it with the attitude that it was a race at a time when running miles are down, and therefore I'd push myself to try and keep up the intensity. Reason being is that through talking with people and doing some research, I've come across the idea that one way to maintain running conditioning during a down period is to make the runs more intense (ie, not all LSD). Due to road conditions around these parts, the winter is definitely a down period for running.
I ran part of this course with my dad last Sunday to get a feel for it, get a sense of hills and what-not. I've only run 3-4 times since the marathon, so I really had no major preconceived notions of my performance because I had no idea how much dropoff to expect. My previous half marathons (and PR) have been in the 1:53 range (not counting the half marathon in the patriot half iron) - an 8:40 min/mile pace, or so. There were two primary factors in the back of my mind that led me to believe that I was likely ready to break through that plateau, though:
- Previous half's were done at a time when it was pushing the envelope of my conditioning - either being the first half I've ever done (Lowell Sun '08), after IT band issues (Lowell Sun '10), or building up to that kind of mileage in minimalist shoes (Worcester '11). This was the first time I was doing a half where I had little significant reason to be cautious, so I could just go.
- Two of my September threshold runs were 10 miles in length - with eight of those being in the 7:40 min/mile range, for an overall average of right around 8 min/miles. Those runs were on a flat course with an average HR below 155. A third threshold run was hillier, but done at the same pace of around 8 min/miles, but with a HR of 161. Since I didn't let it all out on those runs, I knew that I could maintain that HR/intensity for the time required to complete the 13.1 mile distance.
So really, the biggest question was how would the hills impact my performance. There was potential to completely burn out in the first half, making for a very long and brutal second half. Even with the downhill - once you are gassed, just putting one foot in front of the other can be a challenge.
Since I knew the course to be fairly hilly, I did a few things for this race that were new - things I had recently heard were beneficial, but had no experience with:
- Compression pants: A couple weeks ago, my sister got me a pair of compression pants. I've always thought of them as somewhat gimmicky, but when they arrived and I put them on, I noticed that my legs felt more springy. I immediately thought that any small benefit could easily be worthwhile during the ironman next year - so they were definitely worth trying out.
- Carbo loading technique: Everyone has heard of this, and I never really paid much attention because I've heard conflicting reports on its effectiveness. However a few weeks ago I came across an article discussing the results of a study where the methodology of carbo loading was optimized. See link in the sidebar for more details. Once I saw that study, I decided to give the technique a shot. So yesterday, after the P90X Chest & Back session, I did the quick 3 minute balls-to-the-wall run, following by consuming a bunch of carbs. I didn't quite match the nearly 750g of carbs that the technique calls for - but I didn't hold back on the Mountain Dew or the left over halloween candy or the chocolate chip cookie for lunch after the workout.
- Caffeine: Speaking of Mountain Dew - I've always avoided caffeine before a race figuring that it is a diuretic and that I wanted to retain as much water as possible. However, I've read things recently that caffeine can help improve performance. Apparently it's a debatable topic, but I figured what the hell - there are already so many unknowns in this race, I mine as well give it a shot.
- Stronger Legs: Not so much an unknown, but recently I've noticed a big difference in leg strength. The first major indication was being able to do the P90X Legs workout the other week without being sore for days, the second indication is the noticibly longer holds on the wall squats - both regular and single leg. The last indication is that the past couple yoga classes, the sitting portions of awkward pose (similar to wall squats) are much easier than they were before. So I was hoping that the increased leg power might help with ascending hills, as well as recovering quickly from said ascention.
So, as usual, I started off relatively slow as a warm up (the joke between my dad and I was to 'start slow, and then taper back from there') for the first mile. But something was wrong - the first mile clicked at just over 8 minutes. Shit! I better slow down, because otherwise I'm going to be gassed pretty quick. But my HR was < 155, which is high for a first mile, but not terrible. The problem is that I didn't feel like I needed to slow down. I'm not sure why, but I decided to keep up at a similar pace, maybe slow down a bit on the steeper portions - but I was finding that after those sections, my legs were re-energized pretty quickly, and I could resume buzzing along at a sub 8 min/mile pace.
For the next few miles, I just kept up pace and it felt fine. Which was surprising because my HR was at least 165. Typically at that intensity, my endurance starts to plummet, but I wasn't feeling nearly as strained as I would have expected. Very odd. The concern was how I'd feel at the halfway point of the race - would I burn myself out?
As the miles clicked by, I continued to be surprised by how strong I felt. I have to admit, I was keeping myself motivated by passing people on the hills - there were a few times I was keeping pace with someone nearby, but eventually we'd hit a hill and they'd drop back. I switched to using mostly calf muscles for ascention, giving the quads a brief break. During the downhill parts, I picked up speed - but not too much. I think this ended up being a smart strategic move - the downhills gave my body a chance to recover, and my not flying down them, I had a longer period of time for that recovery so that I was re-energized for the next uphill.
By the time I hit mile 11, I had been on a downhill slope for a couple miles and hit a mini wall. My overall pace was slowing down slightly because cadence was dropping - so I had to start consciously thinking about that to maintain a high foot turnover. This is where the race became mental - at this point I knew I was going to beat the 1:53 previous PR, but now it was a matter of pushing it for the last two miles, and not having the ego hit by being passed. Honestly, those last few miles - that was a huge part of what kept me going. I'd pass someone, and I didn't want to be that guy that passed someone, only to have peaked too early and then crash before the finish line. Plus, by this time, my foot was starting to hurt again, so I just wanted to be done. And the only way to do that was to run faster.
So anyhow - how did it go?
Absolutely crushed it.
Remember how I said my halfs PR was in the 1:53 range? This was a full 13 minutes faster! Are. You. Flippin'. Kidding me?
And this was on a hilly course! Where the hell did I ever pull that from?! And on a right foot that is not 100%! (which was actually fine and painless until mile 7 or so, BTW)
I'd have been reasonably happy with something in the 1:53 range, figuring 'eh, it was a hilly course, haven't run much at all in the past few weeks, and on a bum foot'. I'd have been really, really happy with a 1:45 - knocking 8 minutes off a 13 mile course, around 40 sec/mile faster than before, is significant improvement! But a full minute/mile faster?! I really pulled some magic out of my ass on this one.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Day 6 - Chest & Back w/Ab Ripper
So, this workout was supposed to have happened yesterday, but because I was gone all day, I punted it to today. For the time being, I am skipping plyo (even though it's on the P90x schedule) because I am trying to minimize high impact activities until my right foot feels 100%. Plus, I'm doing a half marathon tomorrow - so I'm not sure how the idea of minimizing impact and then doing a half marathon reconciles with each other. Whatever.
Anyhow - since there's no plyo this weekend, it gave me an opportunity to catch up on the Chest & Back. The only potential problem I could see was that I am looking to do the Legs & Back on Monday - meaning only one day of rest in between workouts involving pull ups. So I'm a little concerned that my pull up numbers will be low on Monday. On the other hand, maybe I'll just grin and bear it. Maybe I'll end up surprising myself.
I haven't done this yet, but I mine as well start - logging on here how many reps I do for each workout. It'll give a better way to demonstrate improvement, as opposed to just saying 'yay I did more!' Plus, maybe the improvements will help motivate someone to give P90x a shot, seeing some real actual results.
Link to Chest & Back Results
The heavy pants, lawnmowers and backflys were performed with resistance bands instead of dumbbells. Even using the thickest band (blue), it is still tough to really feel like I'm working muscles much, so I usually go with an isometric hold at the top of the exercise. It provides something, but I don't think it is as effective as actual weights would be. As a result, the count for those exercises aren't really good for comparison, as they are usually an indication of how many I did before time expired, as opposed to how many were done before muscle fatigue set in.
Anyhow - since there's no plyo this weekend, it gave me an opportunity to catch up on the Chest & Back. The only potential problem I could see was that I am looking to do the Legs & Back on Monday - meaning only one day of rest in between workouts involving pull ups. So I'm a little concerned that my pull up numbers will be low on Monday. On the other hand, maybe I'll just grin and bear it. Maybe I'll end up surprising myself.
I haven't done this yet, but I mine as well start - logging on here how many reps I do for each workout. It'll give a better way to demonstrate improvement, as opposed to just saying 'yay I did more!' Plus, maybe the improvements will help motivate someone to give P90x a shot, seeing some real actual results.
Link to Chest & Back Results
The heavy pants, lawnmowers and backflys were performed with resistance bands instead of dumbbells. Even using the thickest band (blue), it is still tough to really feel like I'm working muscles much, so I usually go with an isometric hold at the top of the exercise. It provides something, but I don't think it is as effective as actual weights would be. As a result, the count for those exercises aren't really good for comparison, as they are usually an indication of how many I did before time expired, as opposed to how many were done before muscle fatigue set in.
Day 5 - Rest!
Writing this the day-after. Due to work scheduling, there was no time for working out at all. It wasn't exactly restful, though - woke up at 4am to catch a 6am flight to DC, spent the day in a data center (didn't even have time to get lunch), caught the 7:30pm flight back to Boston, got home at 9:30, watched a little TV and went to bed.
Later today, though - Chest & Back.
Later today, though - Chest & Back.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Day 4 - 2500 yd swim
Kinda odd to be labelling a swim as day 4, since there is no swimming in P90X, but whatever.
Anyway, short update because I have to catch a 6am flight and need to get to bed. Intended to do 1.5 miles (54 laps), but was cut short at 50 because the pool was closing. I got there a few minutes later than intended, and didn't go immediately after work because the local swim team uses up 6 of the 8 lanes until 8 pm.
Interesting note - when I got to lap 44, I knew I wasn't going to get another full 500 yds in, so I kicked up the intensity a little bit to try and maybe eek out an extra lap or two before I had to go. I figured each of those last six laps would be a solid two seconds faster than normal (down to about 48 seconds). Well, two of the six were about that much faster, the other four were either par for the course at that time (around 52 seconds), or only slightly faster at 51 seconds or so. Regardless, what I might toy around with is increasing intensity for the last ten laps or so - not so much to improve time (it won't make that much difference) - but more to see if I can locate any additional form streamlining improvements due to the increased drag. But also don't want to go too much more intense - because obviously the return on investment of time vs energy expenditure is very low - so anything I do I want to be done with an eye towards maximizing energy efficiency.
2500 yds - 42:26
Anyway, short update because I have to catch a 6am flight and need to get to bed. Intended to do 1.5 miles (54 laps), but was cut short at 50 because the pool was closing. I got there a few minutes later than intended, and didn't go immediately after work because the local swim team uses up 6 of the 8 lanes until 8 pm.
Interesting note - when I got to lap 44, I knew I wasn't going to get another full 500 yds in, so I kicked up the intensity a little bit to try and maybe eek out an extra lap or two before I had to go. I figured each of those last six laps would be a solid two seconds faster than normal (down to about 48 seconds). Well, two of the six were about that much faster, the other four were either par for the course at that time (around 52 seconds), or only slightly faster at 51 seconds or so. Regardless, what I might toy around with is increasing intensity for the last ten laps or so - not so much to improve time (it won't make that much difference) - but more to see if I can locate any additional form streamlining improvements due to the increased drag. But also don't want to go too much more intense - because obviously the return on investment of time vs energy expenditure is very low - so anything I do I want to be done with an eye towards maximizing energy efficiency.
2500 yds - 42:26
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Day 3 - Yoga
I normally never post anything about yoga classes - primarily because there's not that much interesting that happens and is worth reporting. Once you get past the shock of the first class and the heat and humidity (which is certainly worthy of a post), and then you get to the point where you can go through the entire class without a break (worth of another post) - occasions are few and far between that are worth posting about.
But today happened to be one of those days! Over the past year (holy crap - I've been doing yoga for a year now!), my flexibility improvements have been drastic and obvious. I credit yoga a huge amount with being able to remain injury-free up until the marathon. However, there are two places that I find I still struggle with - hips and knees (in that order). For those two reasons, one particular pose has always been a far off dream to be able to do - the toe stand pose.
To try and describe it would be a waste of time, so here is what it looks like:
There is a process to be followed to get into it, starting with bring your foot up to your thigh, dropping your knee, and leaning forward. Over time, I've been able to lean forward, with my foot on my thigh, enough that instructors have encouraged me to fall forward in an attempt to slip into the next phase of the pose. Problem is that I've always been paranoid about my knee - not because I've had knee issues - but I've been paranoid I'd screw something up, torque it and rip my ACL right in two.
For whatever reason, today I decided to throw caution to the wind, and lean forward. To my amazement, I was then able to bend my supporting knee and sort of get into the pose. I say sort of because I didn't look anything like the above picture. My leg wasn't really horizontal (my knee was higher than my ankle), there was no way I was balancing on my toes on one foot (I was balancing with the help of my hands on my side), and my back was nowhere near straight (I was hunched over like a leprechaun). BUT I managed to be in sort of a sitting position, so I'll take it!
But today happened to be one of those days! Over the past year (holy crap - I've been doing yoga for a year now!), my flexibility improvements have been drastic and obvious. I credit yoga a huge amount with being able to remain injury-free up until the marathon. However, there are two places that I find I still struggle with - hips and knees (in that order). For those two reasons, one particular pose has always been a far off dream to be able to do - the toe stand pose.
To try and describe it would be a waste of time, so here is what it looks like:
There is a process to be followed to get into it, starting with bring your foot up to your thigh, dropping your knee, and leaning forward. Over time, I've been able to lean forward, with my foot on my thigh, enough that instructors have encouraged me to fall forward in an attempt to slip into the next phase of the pose. Problem is that I've always been paranoid about my knee - not because I've had knee issues - but I've been paranoid I'd screw something up, torque it and rip my ACL right in two.
For whatever reason, today I decided to throw caution to the wind, and lean forward. To my amazement, I was then able to bend my supporting knee and sort of get into the pose. I say sort of because I didn't look anything like the above picture. My leg wasn't really horizontal (my knee was higher than my ankle), there was no way I was balancing on my toes on one foot (I was balancing with the help of my hands on my side), and my back was nowhere near straight (I was hunched over like a leprechaun). BUT I managed to be in sort of a sitting position, so I'll take it!
Day 2 - P90X Shoulders & Arms w/Ab Ripper - 11/8
Today was the first day I've ever done the Shoulders, Arms & Triceps routine. I originally figured I'd be doing Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, but when I looked at the P90X schedule, I saw that was in Phase II. So I figured I'd follow along and do the prescribed routine and do Shoulders & Arms for Phase I.
The other reason I avoided this is because I had a hunch that Shoulders & Arms would require dumbbells, and be tough to do with the bands that I have (which don't have handles). It turns out, I was mostly right. I was able to make do with the bands I do have - but I think at my heart I'm really going to want to use dumbbells when possible. The problem is that they aren't cheap, at like $1/lb - and I don't know whether to get 12 lb, 15 lb, or what. So that is potentially a lot of money in trying to hone in on the proper weight. Yeah, there can be dumb bells had for cheap on something like craigslist, but a full set can still end up being a couple/few hundred dollars. I think in the end I'll just end up either getting a few sets of dumbbells and dealing with the possibility of being a few pounds off my ideal weight, or getting a set of adjustable dumbbells and dealing with adding and removing weights in between sets. I'd rather avoid that, but I also don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on convenience. Yet. Perhaps in the future, after I've proven to myself that I may want to stick with this kind of thing, and I get really sick of switching out weight plates, I'll change my mind.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in this workout, though. Unlike other workouts, I really didn't break much of a sweat in this one, so I wonder about my caloric burn. On the other hand, it's not like I'm doing this in a warm room - I'm doing this in a 60F basement. In the end, though, I think the major reason is that it seems to be a workout with a lot of isolation - so there just isn't a large proportion of muscle mass being used in any one exercise. The morning after, I am slightly sore - so I guess that is a good sign.
And of course, Ab ripper kicks my ass. Getting better, but man those Pfeiffer Scissors are killer by the time you get to them.
The other thing I need to do, and soon, is get pictures. It's the P90X thing to do, even though it'd kinda be cheating, since I've done a lot over the past eight months to trim down. But then again, people post before and after pics for subsequent rounds of P90X that they start on.
The other reason I avoided this is because I had a hunch that Shoulders & Arms would require dumbbells, and be tough to do with the bands that I have (which don't have handles). It turns out, I was mostly right. I was able to make do with the bands I do have - but I think at my heart I'm really going to want to use dumbbells when possible. The problem is that they aren't cheap, at like $1/lb - and I don't know whether to get 12 lb, 15 lb, or what. So that is potentially a lot of money in trying to hone in on the proper weight. Yeah, there can be dumb bells had for cheap on something like craigslist, but a full set can still end up being a couple/few hundred dollars. I think in the end I'll just end up either getting a few sets of dumbbells and dealing with the possibility of being a few pounds off my ideal weight, or getting a set of adjustable dumbbells and dealing with adding and removing weights in between sets. I'd rather avoid that, but I also don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on convenience. Yet. Perhaps in the future, after I've proven to myself that I may want to stick with this kind of thing, and I get really sick of switching out weight plates, I'll change my mind.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in this workout, though. Unlike other workouts, I really didn't break much of a sweat in this one, so I wonder about my caloric burn. On the other hand, it's not like I'm doing this in a warm room - I'm doing this in a 60F basement. In the end, though, I think the major reason is that it seems to be a workout with a lot of isolation - so there just isn't a large proportion of muscle mass being used in any one exercise. The morning after, I am slightly sore - so I guess that is a good sign.
And of course, Ab ripper kicks my ass. Getting better, but man those Pfeiffer Scissors are killer by the time you get to them.
The other thing I need to do, and soon, is get pictures. It's the P90X thing to do, even though it'd kinda be cheating, since I've done a lot over the past eight months to trim down. But then again, people post before and after pics for subsequent rounds of P90X that they start on.
Day 1 - P90X Legs & Back - 11/7
I retroactively decided that this would be the start of my winter routine. It came about after a couple weeks of finding myself settling into a pattern of days that I was doing certain activities - when I looked at it more closely, I realized I was 90% of the way there, just had to make a couple minor tweaks). One thing I wasn't giving thought to before was following the nutrition guide for P90X - but I'm actually starting to give more thought to it. I'm still unsure, to be honest - but I'll likely decide this by the end of this weekend, knowing that the more realistic possibility is that I'll just record what I eat instead.
So until I settle in on what to actually document (will I bother to list out how many reps, and the corresponding weights? Or will I just mention improvements I notice as I go along? I don't know), there isn't really a whole lot to mention other than that I did the Legs & Back routine today. Usually, when it comes to performing one of the exercises, I look at what I did previously, and depending on how I feel, try to improve on it in some way. So if I did six total chin-ups last time, with a mid-set break at four, then the next time I'll see if I can get to seven, or maybe do all six again but without the break. So thats what today's back workout portion was mostly about - trying to either improve by one rep, to do the same number as before but without a break.
The leg routine was fairly typical - since it is all about reps first, and weights second - I often don't end up recording whether I was holding 4 lb or 8 lb weights during things like the calf raise squats. So I suppose I need to get better about documenting that as well. It was one thing to be a slacker about that during the summer when I was just doing the routines as a way to break into the program, but if I really want to
,
then I have to start writing some of this stuff down.
So until I settle in on what to actually document (will I bother to list out how many reps, and the corresponding weights? Or will I just mention improvements I notice as I go along? I don't know), there isn't really a whole lot to mention other than that I did the Legs & Back routine today. Usually, when it comes to performing one of the exercises, I look at what I did previously, and depending on how I feel, try to improve on it in some way. So if I did six total chin-ups last time, with a mid-set break at four, then the next time I'll see if I can get to seven, or maybe do all six again but without the break. So thats what today's back workout portion was mostly about - trying to either improve by one rep, to do the same number as before but without a break.
The leg routine was fairly typical - since it is all about reps first, and weights second - I often don't end up recording whether I was holding 4 lb or 8 lb weights during things like the calf raise squats. So I suppose I need to get better about documenting that as well. It was one thing to be a slacker about that during the summer when I was just doing the routines as a way to break into the program, but if I really want to
then I have to start writing some of this stuff down.
Workout & P90X routine - Winter 2011/2012
I believe I've settled on what my routine will be for the next couple months. It ends up being very similar to the stock P90X routine, but I've modified it to suit a few of my specific needs:
- Saturday or Sunday would be my run days, as the only days of the week during the winter when I can realistically get outside during daylight for any run over a few miles.
- I'm hoping that stacking a couple legs heavy workouts (running and plyo on the weekend, combined with Monday's leg workout) in succession will be successful in providing adequate stress to maintain or improve the power-to-weight ratio, while not sacrificing endurance.
- I wanted a solid days rest after the legs workout before yoga, to take full advantage of being able to really crank on muscles and tissues that may get tight over the weekends.
- The yoga instructor for Monday and Wednesdays class tends to hold postures longer than other instructors, so that gives an extra edge to the workout. So getting to yoga on one of those two days was also somewhat of a priority.
- The swim does not come immediately after an upper body strength workout, and seemed to nicely fit in on Thursday (which is also a day that the pool tends to be rather vacant after 7:30pm or so)
- I removed the Kenpo, Yoga, Stretch and Cardio from the P90X. Kenpo may be fun, but I couldn't find a place for it. Yoga, Stretch and Cardio - well, the first two are covered with Bikram yoga and the cardio is covered during the weekly run, yoga and swim sessions.
PHASE 1
|
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Chest & Back, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Chest & Back, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Chest & Back, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Core Synergistics | Core Synergistics | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Core Synergistics | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
PHASE 2
|
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Core Synergistics | Core Synergistics | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Core Synergistics | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
PHASE 3
|
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Chest & Back, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Chest & Back, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Legs & Back, Ab Ripper | Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper | run/plyo | run/plyo | |
| Core Synergistics | Core Synergistics | Bikram Yoga | Pool Swim | Core Synergistics | run/plyo | run/plyo |
Sunday, November 6, 2011
P90X & 10 mile run - 11/6
It is starting to become routine that Friday night is a P90x night, since the pool closes early. With Legs & Back having been on Wednesday, I usually go for an upper body workout on Friday, to give my legs more recovery time. So this week it was Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. This routine is basically variations on push-ups, tricip extensions and other things to isolate the shoulders. For now I'm just trying to find a routine that works with P90X in terms of what days to do certain workouts, so while I'm tracking numbers and weights and such, I'm a little more laissez faire at the moment, as opposed to what I intend once the weather really gets crappy.
On Saturday I dusted off the plyometrics DVD. Last time I did this workout, I stopped halfway through, because I could tell it was going to make me sore - so I didn't want to do too much. For that reason, I have been holding off on revisiting it, because I didn't want it to impact my training for the marathon - but on this day I decided to revisit it. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed it much better this time around. I still only did half the workout, because I knew this morning I'd be going for a run in hilly terrain, and because the impact of the jumping was starting to aggrevate my toe (damn thing!). But it was really nice to know that I'm more able to keep up with it and not get totally wiped out. So that bodes well for incorporating it into a routine over the winter.
Speaking of which, I've been trying to think how everything would settle out. There are a multitide of factors to consider when doing certain workouts, but I think something like the following will work out best:
Monday - P90X Legs & Back
Tueday - P90X Chest, Shoulders and Tricips
Wednesday - yoga
Thursday - swim
Friday - P90X Chest & Back
Saturday - run or plyo
Sunday - run or plyo (opposite of Saturday)
This gives me rest between back workouts, yoga after the more intense legs workouts of plyo, running and P90X legs, a few days between chest workouts, and swimming on Thursday which, so far, has proven to be a day where there are few people at the pool. It also gives me two chances to run on the weekend, depending on how the weather shakes out.
Finally, today was a 10 mile run to get a sense of the course for the Monson half marathon I intend to run next weekend. I ran this with my dad, as he's done the race a few times in the past, and likes to run the course beforehand. I haven't run much in hilly terrain this year, so it was an opportunity for me to see what it would be like. From what I can tell, there will be a couple primary challenges - the first being the immediate up-hill, so a slow warmup will be essential to prevent burnout before the three mile mark. The second is the steep downhill on the backside of the route - I find a slight gradual downhill is best, but the grade on this particular section is fairly steep. Fortunately, the uphill sections are either short when they are more intense, or fairly gradual on the more extended sections. However, it is one thing to experience them at a pace where the HR is well below 150 - it'll be another thing to feel what they are like during race conditions and trying to maintain a 155-160 HR.
On Saturday I dusted off the plyometrics DVD. Last time I did this workout, I stopped halfway through, because I could tell it was going to make me sore - so I didn't want to do too much. For that reason, I have been holding off on revisiting it, because I didn't want it to impact my training for the marathon - but on this day I decided to revisit it. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed it much better this time around. I still only did half the workout, because I knew this morning I'd be going for a run in hilly terrain, and because the impact of the jumping was starting to aggrevate my toe (damn thing!). But it was really nice to know that I'm more able to keep up with it and not get totally wiped out. So that bodes well for incorporating it into a routine over the winter.
Speaking of which, I've been trying to think how everything would settle out. There are a multitide of factors to consider when doing certain workouts, but I think something like the following will work out best:
Monday - P90X Legs & Back
Tueday - P90X Chest, Shoulders and Tricips
Wednesday - yoga
Thursday - swim
Friday - P90X Chest & Back
Saturday - run or plyo
Sunday - run or plyo (opposite of Saturday)
This gives me rest between back workouts, yoga after the more intense legs workouts of plyo, running and P90X legs, a few days between chest workouts, and swimming on Thursday which, so far, has proven to be a day where there are few people at the pool. It also gives me two chances to run on the weekend, depending on how the weather shakes out.
Finally, today was a 10 mile run to get a sense of the course for the Monson half marathon I intend to run next weekend. I ran this with my dad, as he's done the race a few times in the past, and likes to run the course beforehand. I haven't run much in hilly terrain this year, so it was an opportunity for me to see what it would be like. From what I can tell, there will be a couple primary challenges - the first being the immediate up-hill, so a slow warmup will be essential to prevent burnout before the three mile mark. The second is the steep downhill on the backside of the route - I find a slight gradual downhill is best, but the grade on this particular section is fairly steep. Fortunately, the uphill sections are either short when they are more intense, or fairly gradual on the more extended sections. However, it is one thing to experience them at a pace where the HR is well below 150 - it'll be another thing to feel what they are like during race conditions and trying to maintain a 155-160 HR.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
1850 yard swim - 11/3
I went to the pool today intending to do another 1.5 miles, but by the time I was 100 yds in, I was feeling the fatigue from yesterday's P90x Legs & Back workout. There were two good things that came out of that workout - I greatly improved in pullups and chinups over previous performances, and I think that finally, leg soreness will be minimal. The downside is that it appears my lats are just tuckered out and haven't recovered.
For whatever reason, I just wasn't feeling all that great about the swim workout the entire time. I could relax and settle into a rhythm for a short period of time, but never had that groove going for an extended period of time. By the time I got to the 36th lap, I decided that I had had enough - I just wasn't feeling it today, I felt sluggish in the water, and didn't want to develop bad neuro-muscular habits in part because of being fatigued. For a while I was trying to look at it as an opportunity to make sure that my form would be maintained through fatigue, but continuing that requires a lot more mental fortitude than I had on this particular day. Oh well, these things happen.
37 laps - 31:48
For whatever reason, I just wasn't feeling all that great about the swim workout the entire time. I could relax and settle into a rhythm for a short period of time, but never had that groove going for an extended period of time. By the time I got to the 36th lap, I decided that I had had enough - I just wasn't feeling it today, I felt sluggish in the water, and didn't want to develop bad neuro-muscular habits in part because of being fatigued. For a while I was trying to look at it as an opportunity to make sure that my form would be maintained through fatigue, but continuing that requires a lot more mental fortitude than I had on this particular day. Oh well, these things happen.
37 laps - 31:48
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
5 mile run - 11/1
A day late making this post.
Anyway - last week I started off with a 10 mile run, somewhat re-aggrevated my right big toe, did the P90x Legs & Back workout, and figured that the incipient soreness would keep me from wanting to run. It did, but by Sunday I was starting to wonder if I could run again. My toe was feeling 95% better - but it was one of those things where the last little bit of ache just. wasn't. going. away. Once in a while I've had aches that were like that, and they aren't necessarily made worse by running, and in some ways can actually be helped. I've always surmised in those situations that the extra bloodflow helps more with healing than the harm done by the activity. The problem is you never know quite when you cross the line from activity hurting to activity helping.
After a couple days of this, I decided to give a shot at a fairly short run. The complication I had in mind was this: I am hoping to do a half marathon in a couple weeks, and this coming weekend I'm hoping to do 8-10 miles of the course. It is a hilly course, so having some exposure to the route would be beneficial. On the other hand, if I went for a run and started over with reaggrevating the ache, then I'd likely have to pass on the half marathon and just suck up a few weeks of not running.
In the end, I decided to take a gamble - mostly because the ache had actually migrated up the foot a tad, and was no longer in the same spot. So I reasoned that this might be an effect of the human body's ability to compensate during injury to reduce stress in one area - an action which can often cause extra stress in another.
It wasn't looking so good initially, as I was feeling the foot every time it struck the ground. About a mile in I was really debating the wisdom of this, but for some reason I kept going. I'm not sure why - I think it was just plain old stubborn-ness. I kept up a threshold pace for the run, but I wasn't looking at the Garmin - mostly going just on what felt comfortably hard. I didn't know whether I was doing 8:30 min/miles or 7:45.
When I got back home, I iced my foot immediately and took a couple aspirin - thinking that maybe if I caught it in time, the inflammation could be minimized. My foot did hurt a bit initially, starting out feeling like it was definitely reaggrevated, but over time it actually diminished quite a bit. Probably an effect of the aspirin.
I woke up this morning with it actually feeling like it was back to square one - no worse for wear. I took an aspirin in the morning, and another at lunch. My current thinking is that maybe a constant low level of NSAID's will help knock it out by preventing just normal every day life (ie, walking) from causing a constant low level of inflammation. I guess we'll see how it goes - but so far, as I write this 9 hours after my last aspirin tab, it does seem to as feel close to 100% as it has felt so far.
Anyway - last week I started off with a 10 mile run, somewhat re-aggrevated my right big toe, did the P90x Legs & Back workout, and figured that the incipient soreness would keep me from wanting to run. It did, but by Sunday I was starting to wonder if I could run again. My toe was feeling 95% better - but it was one of those things where the last little bit of ache just. wasn't. going. away. Once in a while I've had aches that were like that, and they aren't necessarily made worse by running, and in some ways can actually be helped. I've always surmised in those situations that the extra bloodflow helps more with healing than the harm done by the activity. The problem is you never know quite when you cross the line from activity hurting to activity helping.
After a couple days of this, I decided to give a shot at a fairly short run. The complication I had in mind was this: I am hoping to do a half marathon in a couple weeks, and this coming weekend I'm hoping to do 8-10 miles of the course. It is a hilly course, so having some exposure to the route would be beneficial. On the other hand, if I went for a run and started over with reaggrevating the ache, then I'd likely have to pass on the half marathon and just suck up a few weeks of not running.
In the end, I decided to take a gamble - mostly because the ache had actually migrated up the foot a tad, and was no longer in the same spot. So I reasoned that this might be an effect of the human body's ability to compensate during injury to reduce stress in one area - an action which can often cause extra stress in another.
It wasn't looking so good initially, as I was feeling the foot every time it struck the ground. About a mile in I was really debating the wisdom of this, but for some reason I kept going. I'm not sure why - I think it was just plain old stubborn-ness. I kept up a threshold pace for the run, but I wasn't looking at the Garmin - mostly going just on what felt comfortably hard. I didn't know whether I was doing 8:30 min/miles or 7:45.
When I got back home, I iced my foot immediately and took a couple aspirin - thinking that maybe if I caught it in time, the inflammation could be minimized. My foot did hurt a bit initially, starting out feeling like it was definitely reaggrevated, but over time it actually diminished quite a bit. Probably an effect of the aspirin.
I woke up this morning with it actually feeling like it was back to square one - no worse for wear. I took an aspirin in the morning, and another at lunch. My current thinking is that maybe a constant low level of NSAID's will help knock it out by preventing just normal every day life (ie, walking) from causing a constant low level of inflammation. I guess we'll see how it goes - but so far, as I write this 9 hours after my last aspirin tab, it does seem to as feel close to 100% as it has felt so far.
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