Week 6 Summary

This week marked the first week of Wednesday "Fun Time." With Wednesdays now at the track with larger groups, I've flipped my Wed & Thurs workouts. Wednesdays are now sprinting and Thursdays are conditioning/plyos/weights. In the past, I've always done track sessions the day after a lift or plyo session. Battling through any related fatigue or general flatness on track days seemed to be part of the challenge. I like this switch, however, because it allows me a track day after an off day. My Sunday track days still follow conditioning/plyos, but having a slightly different setup during the week may help Wednesdays become harder sessions and yield some better results.

Tuesday, Feb 15th - Off
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Wednesday, Feb 16th - 8x200m, 26 sec goal, walk 5 minutes recovery (can take more if needed)

I did a 200m workout during Fun Time last week. Kantor, Frankie, Keegan, Ken, Salmi, and Russ joined me for parts of the workout, which was great. Folks also threw and jawed with cantankerous old men jogging around the full track (new start time: 7pm!). Agan did all 8 and worked hard. His times were around 27-28 seconds (in sneakers) with maybe a 29 in there, which beat my times for this workout from previous years. Here are my times:

1. 200m - 26 - 26.5
2. 200m - 26 - 26.4
3. 200m - 26 - 27.0
4. 200m - 26 - 26.6
5. 200m - 26 - 27.4
6. 200m - 26 - 28.0
7. 200m - 26 - 27.2
8. 200m - 26 - 26.4

Last year, I ran this workout in sneakers indoors at Yates. I was horrible. This year, though, due to some encouraging times from Jan/early Feb, I targeted 26's as my goal. I paced the first three reps and felt pretty good, although I had to speed up a bit for reps 2 and 3...the 3rd one not being quite fast enough, which annoyed me. Frankie went out hard for #4, which I appreciated. It helped me stay fast and get a 26. After that, though, my times started to slip a bit. I went on feel/effort instead of time and paid for it. I don't think I was mentally prepared for this workout. Not sure if I'd actually been able to do it anyway, though. After running the 28 flat on #6, we rested a bit longer and pushed hard the last couple reps. For #8, I gave it everything and felt really good until about the 190m point when it started to feel like the wheels were coming off. I was really happy I was able to end on a 26, though. It would have been great to get a couple more 26's in there, but this was an encouraging workout at this early stage in the season.
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Thursday, Feb 17th - half mile jog; stadium step runs (run up, walk down for recovery, run up, 25 minutes total); explosive plyos; weights; finish with a half mile jog

I made up the Monday weight session on Thursday. I jogged from the metro to the gym as my initial half-mile jog and then spent 25 minutes running up and down the stairwell, haha. I made a point to keep me feet moving quickly and feel I need to get better at workouts like these. Then, after a brief rest, I went into a joint plyo/weight session. I've not really combined sessions like this before, but I liked it. I was able to start off with some of the lighter plyos, move into some of the heavier lifts, and then mix in power plyos with some of my lighter circuits. I did two-legged hops for quickness/explosion, squats, bench press, overhead squats, box jumps, rotator cuff, standing running arms, one-legged hops (running), lunges, and ab/adductors. For the squats, I did sets of 8, 8, and 6 @ 215 lbs. I was lifting on my own so was cautious about that last set. For the overhead squats, I did 65 lbs and still feel a little uncomfortable with them...more so because I worry about giving out or losing my balance if I do too many reps and needing to throw down or drop the weight. The Y doesn't have a power lifting area, so the space (and non-rubber plates) is not amenable to throwing weight around...

Friday, Feb 18th - Off
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Saturday, Feb 19th - 50 minute run, weights

Laura and I went on a long run in the morning. Hers was over an hour since she ran down to my place as well. We ran through Rock Creek Park with a nice detour on the way back that led to a barefoot river crossing. Fun times. Laura had worked out Thursday and Friday with long cardio sessions and some weights, so she powered through despite her third long cardio day in a row. After an insane brunch at the Tabard Inn and a mandatory afternoon nap, we raced over to the gym for about 45 minutes before it closed. I obviously wasn't able to get everything done that I wanted to, but I did manage to do squats, deadlifts, pull-ups (I think), standing running arms, and calves. For the squats, I did sets of 10, 7, 7 @ 215 lbs. Laura helped me on the very last rep. It was good having her there to step in; I may have been able to finish on my own but better to be safe.
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Sunday, Feb 20th - 4x150m buildups, 6x40m - full speed, 3 minutes walking recovery.

I took my digital camera and brand new cheapest-they-come tripod to the track on Sunday and filmed Salmi, George, and I run the 40s. I may get to posting these videos at some point, but I have a ton of stuff to improve on. George/Salmi: I checked out some stuff you guys were doing as well; we should chat next time we're at the track. My camera kind of sucks but it's better than nothing. These sprints weren't timed. The 150m buildups are 50m jog-50m stride-50m sprint. They're a nice lead-in to the full speed work. I get most worried about injury during these short distance workouts, so I made a point to warm up well.
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Monday, Feb 21st - 30 minutes cross training, weights/plyos

Went to the gym with Laura and started with 30 minutes on the bike. I did an interval workout which was tough at times but my heart rate stayed below 130, which is rare for me. Laura experienced the same thing (and she worked harder than I did). We then did squats and pull-ups. For the squats, I managed to get 3x10 at 215 lbs, a personal best. My hips felt stronger when at the bottom of the motion, which was nice. Laura folded in a circuit with bench press, calves, and back extensions...and then did squats to push presses and a few overhead squats with low weight as an intro. Laura did 3 sets of squats to push-presses with the 45 lb bar and got 7 push presses out each time before continuing on for 15-20 total squats per set. She worked really hard; the push presses were very impressive. I tried them with 85 lbs and had a tough time getting to 7 reps. I was particularly bad at lowering the weight back onto my shoulders prior to dropping down into my next squat. More often than not it came down rather forcefully and sometimes the landing was not particularly soft. At any rate, I stayed at the gym a bit longer and did dumbbell curls to shoulder press, overhead squats (just a few), calves, shoulder/triceps, standing running arms, two-legged hops for explosion, one-legged running (hopping), and lunges. I've found that combining weights and plyos (which will happen on Mondays) leave me feeling more sapped the next day than I otherwise would be; it's nice to have a day off afterward.
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Looking forward to some 300's on Wednesday. Wham-o!