Is this the way I used to live?

So since my race on Sunday, I've had a couple of very light workouts. I am on the first of 2 consecutive days off. Wow, I can't believe this used to be my everyday life. Don't get me wrong, it is nice walking around without any soreness, but I miss the regimen.

How did I live like this? How could I consider this normal? Do most people live like this? Having a few days off is definitely good for the body, I've kept my diet on track. I am now realizing how much I truly like all of this training. It has become such an integral part of my life, I am thankful for it. The gains that I have made have me dreaming about a great season (now if I could only bike and swim).

Speaking of training, Max has me doing a 13.1 mile run TT on Tuesday, February 23rd. I am thinking of driving to Quassy (where the Rev3 Tri is held) and doing the same run course that we will be doing on race day. I am thinking it will have to be the weekend before or the weekend after. If anyone wants to join me, I'd welcome the company.

I have been impressed with everyone's results this week and I start back in full on February 1st. I may have Nancy guest blog as she has been grumbling a lot about Max this week.

Results!

As everyone knows who reads my posts, I had a half marathon earlier today. I know everyone likes the results first so here they are;

1:40:16; 193rd out of 661 in my age group (35-39) Avg. HR 167; 7:39 avg. mile

This morning I ate a PBJ on a bagel, which I will have to find something else as I tasted it throughout the race. Got to the race with time to spare, saw my friend who runs about the same as me and off we went.

I had told Max that in a perfect world I would like to hold 7:30 miles. I knew this was extremely ambitious as my only ever stand alone half marathon was a 1:59:28.

The first mile was 7:37, the second was even slower. I felt terrible between mile 1.5 and mile 3. By the time I hit mile 5 I was worried if I kept this up I might not break 1:45 (my realistic goal). At mile 7 I figured I better pick up the pace and move it. At mile 10 my watch read 1:19:04, which as I just calculated was 7:54 pace. My PR 5K is 20:27, so I thought there was no chance to sniff 1:40's. I managed somehow a 21:12 5K to get to the finish. Needless to say, I am thrilled with my time and even more so with how I finished.

I have no soreness whatsoever yet, my calves get a little tight sometimes from running (tight ankles). As I am sure we all do with our races, I am thinking I would have loved to break 1:40. When I told this to Max, he said "What's another 17 seconds off of about 20 minutes" Puts it into perspective how far I've come.

Another thing I just checked was my total mileage for the past 3 months, November was 28.2 miles. December was 16.5 miles and January up to today was 14. All of this with never doing more than a 10K.

I guess you really don't have to do a lot of running to improve your running times. I have a very light week coming up and hit the ground running (maybe not so much) in February.

Ready to Run

Thursday's workout was 8x 200m run at 75% effort. I was still feeling a bit under the weather, but figured it would be nice to work up a sweat. As I started at 7.5 mph on the treadmill, it was about a minute of running. I was planning to rest the amount of time it took to run so I figured I'd run a minute/walk a minute. Finished up at 8.2 mph for the last minute. Felt better when I left than when I got there.

Yesterday was an off day and I had a conversation with Max about race strategy. We decided to deviate a little from the previous plans and try to hold a time/pace going through the race. I will wear my HR monitor, but turn the watch around so I can look back to see what my average HR was during the race.

Today was a 20 minute run at 70% effort. Put the treadmill at 7mph and felt really good. I still have some remnants of my cold, but am hoping they won't interfere with tomorrow morning.

I hope everyone is feeling good, reading your blogs definitly has me motivated, I will do my best to make "Team Trimax" proud.

Back from the grave (almost)

Nancy and I just got back from a 4 night stay in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. Since I am tapering for my half marathon on 1/24 I felt that doing a couple of lighter runs outside in the nice weather would be great. I also figured I would be able to swim everyday. What's that saying "Man plans, God laughs"?

Friday night as I was getting ready for our trip I suddenly wasn't feeling too great. We got up early, made our flight (no delays) and got to Savannah. I had a 45 minute bike at 80% effort. Not feeling great still decided to give it a try. Then Saturday night the cold hit me. First time in over 2 years that I've had so much as a sniffle. Sunday was a beautiful day, we were suppose to play golf have a little 20 minute bike/run brick and enjoy. Well, it didn't happen. I didn't leave the house until about 7:30pm to get some food. Monday was a scheduled off day and I was planning on playing golf (it didn't happen). I was still feeling pretty stinky Monday night, but better. Yesterday was already feeling somewhat better. Had a squat workout at 70% for 5 sets of 5 reps. Did them all at 145lbs. It felt good to get moving again. We left today for NYC around noon and I feel I am about 80%, which is good because I had "Helen" today at 80% effort. Finished this in 14:42 with no assistance on the pullups. No troubles with our flight, for which I am thankful. I am really hoping I am at 100% for Sunday. Either way, I'll give it my best and be happy with my effort.

All is well

So yesterday I had a 5K for time. Did this on the treadmill as it would take a while to get to the Westside Highway, run, then stagger home. I warmed up for a few minutes and got started.

First minute was at 8.5mph, 2nd minute was 8.6, 3rd minute was 8.7, 4th minute 8.8, 5th minute 8.9, 6th minute at 9.0mph. Held it at 9.0 until 2.1 miles, then started bumping up the speed about every tenth of a mile or so. Was at 10.2mph when I hit the 5K mark at 20:27. This is a PR for me so I am really pleased with the result.

The only detractor is that it was done on the treadmill. I often wonder if I was outside, could I push it this hard. The treadmill forces us to run at the programmed speed.

Nancy and I are going away tomorrow through Wednesday next week. I won't be updating until then, but I will get all of my workouts in and some extra swimming.

Happy Daze

So yesterday's workout was of course a double. The first part was 10,20,30 rep rounds of box jumps, squats, pushups and burpees. I thought I wasn't too sore from the previous day's squats until I tried my first box jump and realized my legs felt fully leaded. Then as I am doing my squats, I looked in the mirror and realized I looked like the Fonz from Happy Days when he did that crazy dancing. Made myself laugh and finished in 13:21.

Second part of the workout was a 20K bike TT. at 80% effort. This was hard to regulate after going all out on previous workouts. Finished this part in 49:31. This workout was done on the recumbent bike at the gym for my apartment complex. Not even close to being optimal.

I realize that after swimming, biking is a big weakness of mine. Not so much the strength needed, but the actual ability (or lack thereof). Living in NYC it is a pain to ride outside (although doable in nice weather). Living in an apartment with animals that like to chew anything, makes it a process to take my bike out of the closet, set up my trainer, set up the bike, lock the cats away and ride. This is why I usually end up doing the stationary bike at the gym. Also, my computer broke during my last race and I have not had it fixed yet. I realize as I am writing this that these all sound like excuses and not valid reasons. After my race on the 24th, I will use the trainer for all bike workouts (that I don't go outside for).

I guess Max does know squat!

Today's workout called for 5 sets of 3 reps of max weight back squats. A little background first. My legs have always been skinny. More importantly they have always been weak. Even when I used to work out a lot (long time ago) I never did squats. When I started this training, I realized I couldn't care about my ego or what I looked like doing any type of exercise prescribed. The goal was to be able to finish. I was fortunate enough to stumble onto Max and he has been helping ever since. One thing I seem to be doing with some regularity is squats.

On November 3rd 2009, the most I could handle for 3 reps was 165lbs.
December 26th I was able to get 185lbs for 5 reps.
Tonight's result was one set at 185lbs, then 4 sets at 205lbs.

These results have made me optimistic about what the season might hold.

Finally, a quick one

So yesterday's workout consisted of deadlifting 1/2 my body weight 30x and a 1000m row for time. The rower is a level below the free weight area and I couldn't figure out how to get it to read in meters before I started, so I figured I would just row all out for 4 minutes.

Set up the deadlifts for 95lbs. and went to work. Realized I forgot to start my watch, so at 15 reps, I put the weight down and started it. With the 4 minute row, I was done in 6 minutes even. I figure I should add about 30-45 seconds as the first 15 were unbroken and smooth. I feel like I would have finished the row in anywhere from 3:40-4:00 as my splits for 500m are usually around 1:45-1:55.

Today is an off day, for which I am thankful. A lot of tapering to come for my race on the 24th. I wanted to tell everyone how much fun I am having reading the Trimax blogs.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing (well almost)

So today's lunch meal was a planned cheat meal. Ever since last January 9th (when I first met with Max and almost drowned in the pool) I have been craving Pizza Hut. Don't ask me why. I live in Manhattan where there are a ton of great pizza places, so I don't know why I have been craving Pizza Hut. Nancy and I met a friend there for lunch. Here is what I ate; 4 cheese breadsticks and 4 pieces of stuffed crust meatlover's pizza. Six hours later and I still am kinda full. I won't feel the need to eat there again for another year.

Here are the results of yesterday's workout;
200m run, rest that time, 400m run, rest that time, 800m run, rest that time, 400m run, rest that time, 200m run rest that time.

Did the work on the treadmill at the following speeds 9.7, 11.0, 10.0, 10.0, 10.0. It was easy to figure out the rest time with these speeds too.

Jumped right on the stationary bike for the tabata work (32x). Total distance was 4.7 miles.

I had another 2 hour part of my Total Immersion swim workshop and I now feel I can actually swim (at least a little). Nancy and I are going away next weekend where there is a pool, so I will be able to get a lot of practice in.

Today's workout called for deadlifts 1/2 bodyweight and 1000m row for time. Due to timing difficulties I swapped this workout with tomorrow's workout.

The workout I did tonight with a belly full of Pizza Hut was 500m row 15 pushups 4x for time. Nancy was doing the same workout, so we went together. Finished this in 9:35 Lungs are still sore. Deadlifts and row tomorrow!

You did Deadlifts with your wife?

That was the response my coworker had this morning when I told him that Nancy and I had done deadlifts together last night. I jokingly told him it was our idea of a romantic evening. Kidding aside, it was fun to have a training partner. To get to spend some of these workouts with Nancy is just great. I find myself trying to impress her, why I don't know (she already married me).

Here are the results 225, 265x4. These were 3 rep sets for max weight. Nancy called me "Red" because that's what color my face turned. Had to regrip after the second rep on the last 2 sets. Thought I tweaked my back, but it feels fine this morning.

Went to the pool afterward to practice my Total Immersion techniques. I feel I am making progress and look forward to the time when I swim that I don't look like I am drowning.

Double Doozy

Yesterday's workout consisted of course a double! First part was 500m row,50 KB swings 20lbs.(substituted 20lb dumbbells) 500m row, 40 KB swings, 500m row, 30 KB swings, 500m row. Nancy had this workout too and she completed it in just under 15 minutes so I knew that was the goal. Finished in 12:43. Felt pretty good about my time.

I waited my usual 3 minutes and hopped on the stationary bike for a prescribed 20K bike TT. Finished this part in 37:08. Legs feel tired today. I have max weight deadlifts tonight followed by a tabata bike (which I am switching to tomorrow so I can practice some swimming). Nancy is doing the max weight deadlifts tonight too, so it'll be fun to do this workout together before my swim.

I am really enjoying reading all the blogs. Keep up the good work everyone!

We are Family

After seeing Max's email this morning and then connecting with a few more members of the Trimax family, I have to say how great this idea is of linking us all together. Most of us do this training on our own for a number of reasons (work, family, etc.). So it is nice to see that I am in fact, part of a team, "Team Trimax".

Blogging has been more enjoyable than I originally thought it would be and I am excited to see that others will be blogging too. I look forward to reading them and now I have a team to keep me motivated and to push me when I need it.

Here are my results from the past few workouts. Switched the 1/2 and 1/3 workouts since I had the 2nd part of my Total Immersion workshop ( I substituted the 2 hours in the pool for the swim WOD). The 2nd part of the workout was 10,20,30 rep rounds of box jumps, knee pushups, burpees and pullups for time. Nancy questioned my manhood with the knee pushups so I substituted regular pushups for the knee pushups. Finished this workout in 19:32. Burpees are always hard for me. I still am a surprised I did all the pullups myself with no assistance.

Sunday was 5 sets of 5 reps max weight back squats. I warmed up with the bar and got to work. Here are the results; 135,185,185,175,175. I could have continued with the 185, but my form would have suffered too much. I was pleased with the results since on 12/13 my max 1 rep squat was 185. Then it was off to the stationary bike for the 40k TT. 84:54 later I was done in more ways than one.

Yesterday was an off day. Good thing too as it felt as if I literally got kicked in the rear. It was as if someone gave me 2 swift kicks (one in each cheek).

Today's workout was a double (so what else is new). First workout was Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats AMRAP in 20 minutes). Finished 16 rounds in the prescribed time. I am harping on the fact that I can do pullups now with out assistance. Then I recovered a whole 3 1/2 minutes before getting on the treadmill for my 10K TT. The gym for our apartment has 4 treadmills and 2 were out of order. There is a 30 minute time limit if people are waiting. Part of me (around the 20 minute mark) was hoping for someone to ask me to get off. No such luck, so I stuck it out and finished in 46:13 (34 seconds off my pr).

I look forward to getting to know all of you through your individual blogs and really can't wait until we all meet at the races this year.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was an off day and Thursday's workout was a double. It seems as if all my workouts are doubles these days.

It consisted of 400 meter run, 30 wall balls (substituted 20lb. dumbbells) 30 box jumps 3x for time. First off, can I say how sore I was from the deadlifts? My hamstrings were so sore in places I have never felt before! I heard a track coach once say, to run fast, you need strong hamstrings. Mine better be getting stronger considering how sore they were. My hands were sore, my entire back was sore. In all of the tough workouts I've done. The deadlifts rank up there with the hardest.
Finished the first half of the workout in 15:47.

Nancy had a tabata that I timed for her in between workouts, which gave me almost 20 minutes to recover. Then hopped on the treadmill for a 5k.

Let me say that my hamstrings were on the verge of cramping the entire run. I finished in 24:55 and was actually satisfied with the time. I didn't have to walk and was glad I was done.

Today's workout was a double too (I am sensing a theme). First part was 15lb. dumbbell thrusters 5 reps, 5 pullups 5x for time. No assistance for the pullups and finished in 2:44. Hamstrings are STILL sore to the touch from deadlifts on Tuesday.

Second part of the workout was 4x800 with 2 minutes rest in between. Was hoping my hamstrings wouldn't hamstring me with this workout. Was tentative at first on the treadmill and actually was warming up as I went along. Times are as follows in order 3:17, 3:11, 2:58, 2:52. As of me writing this, the hamstrings are finally feeling a little better.

Gearing up for a half marathon on January 24th.