Week 10 Summary

10 weeks in. Right around the halfway point to race #1 on Memorial Day weekend.

Tuesday, March 15th - Off
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Wednesday, March 16th - 12x200m, 26-27 second goal with 5 minute walk recovery

George and I met up at Washington Lee and were pleasantly surprised to find a Kantor there, running 60m sprints. Gorgeous and I got right into the workout, as it was going to be a long one.

1. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26 or 27 (watch malfunction)
2. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
3. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
4. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27
5. 200m - 26 to 27 - 28
6. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27
7. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
8. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
9. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27
10. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27
11. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27
12. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27 flat

Props to George for doing all 12. Very impressive for someone who hasn't really been doing workouts like these. His times were mostly between 27 and 29 seconds, with a few 30's and one or two 31's in there. George tried to boot a number of times but failed each time*. One of his attempts, however, did manage to cause me to boot.

*the final attempt - post-workout - caused an ab cramp so bad that he had a hard time straightening his torso, haha

This workout got quite tough by the end. Reps 8, 9, and 10 were the toughest. We took a longer 8-minute "halftime" break after #6 which certainly helped us down the back stretch. Also, one of the earlier 26's was actually a 25...I timed a 26 but ran 5 lanes wide to get around a mass of joggers who poured onto the track right as we started. That must have fired me up a bit. At any rate, we both felt awful afterward but rallied and went to Carpool to meet up with all the concrete jungle VAers. Food and water made us both feel 1000 times better. George was bouncing around feeling that runner's high, as was I. Good workout to build on going forward, especially after having experienced some down workouts over the last few weeks.
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Thursday, March 17th - Conditioning mile, then plyos

Green beer (not really)! Party! Birthday! Nothing like a rare morning workout to kick off the b-day. Got up at 7 and started my conditioning mile before 7:30. The pace was not inspired in any way, but I did do 30/30 for push-ups/dips, which is a first this year. I'm hoping for 40/40 by the end of the season. I then went into a power plyos workout: one-legged running/hopping, eccentric calf raises, depth jumps (platform was too short), straight-legged jumps, and lunges (2 sets of 40). I then showered at the gym, which is noteworthy only in that it was the first time I had ever done so (in 4+ years). At work by 9. Boom.
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Friday, March 18th - Off
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Saturday, March 19th - conditioning, then weights

Inspired by Linc's crossfit workouts, Laura and I went to do one of our own for the conditioning portion of our workout. We did 5 rounds of 6x30m shuttles, 5 pull-ups, and ab bicycles (30 reps). Laura did eccentric pull-ups and did all five sets on her own. I was able to get sets of five out for the first three rounds but then only managed 4/1 and 3/2 splits for the last two. Doing pull-ups while breathing hard is a good challenge. We then went into the weight room. We did bench press on an oblong physioball, bicep curls to shoulder press, calves, and squats. Then Laura left to do a bit on the bike before rolling out and I stayed to do regular bench press, standing running arms, triceps, overhead squats, ab/adductors, and hip flexors. For squats, I did sets of 5, 3, and 5 at 255 lbs. I'm being very conservative without a spotter and was happy to get sets of 5 here. I think my body has adjusted to the new weight. Standing and breathing before reps actually helped me again, which was nice. I finish with as many reps as I could at 135 lbs. I stopped at 15 again. I want to get to 20. For overhead squats I did 3x10 at 75 lbs and felt good. Then I showered at the Y (#2!) before heading straight to H Street to watch bball and heckle a Dartmouth pong tournament.
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Sunday, March 20th - 4x450m, 67 second goal with 5 minutes walking rest

This workout was brutal. I pushed really hard at the gym yesterday and knew I was in trouble after the first rep. George, Michelle, and Laura were all out there too, doing different things. Some 400's for Michelle and Laura and 60s/40s for George. We all helped each other. George, in particular, ran the final 200m of each of my reps and helped push me.

1. 450m - 67 - 70
2. 450m - 67 - 71
3. 450m - 67 - 74
4. 450m - 67 - 78

Talk about a breakdown. Wow. That first 70 did not feel easy. That's when I knew it was going to be a grind. My legs just started breaking down by the end. I must have brought too much fatigue in from the previous day. I had leg weakness after #4, similar to how I've felt after races. Crazy. I spoke with Alison on the way home because I was concerned about doing too much the day before hard workouts like these. She felt, though, that while it'd be okay to key it back a little, this period of the program is for strength endurance...I shouldn't really feel fresh and springy going into these workouts. That said, today was rough. My quads felt a little tight and strained later that evening. Good news is I didn't hurt myself and ran a couple 70's to start off. This workout has always been my foil. Haven't run consistent times yet (let alone consistently sub-70).
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Monday, March 21st - conditioning, then weights

Laura and I met up at the Y today. We started with 20 minutes on the bike. My quads were a little strained from the Sat/Sun workouts, so I didn't push too hard. My back was sore on Sunday evening from the pull-ups the day before and was still weak on Monday, so we forewent the pull-ups and went straight into a bench press, calves, and overhead squats circuit. We opted out of heavy squats today to avoid tempting injury. For overhead squats, I did 3x7 @ 75 lbs and did not feel very strong. My body still felt drained from the weekend. Laura went off to do a bit more conditioning before leaving and I did bicep curls to shoulder presses, standing running arms, triceps, rotator cuffs, ab/adductor, and a single set each of leg extensions/hamstring curls. I interspersed one-legged running/hopping, two-legged explosive hops, stiff-legged jumps, and a set of frog jumps in amongst the later exercises. I figured I'd go stronger on the plyo route with my lighter weights.
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Fun Time tonight. I'm leaving for Portland tomorrow and missing this weekend. My workouts next week will be shuffled a bit as a result.

Andrew