Week 8 Summary

Otay...

Tuesday, March 1st - Off
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Wednesday, March 2nd - 10x downhill runs, then plyos

My left patellar ligament has been feeling a bit sore, so I opted against downhill runs on asphalt (the only surface near me with a slight-enough downhill grade), so I just went to the Y and did a good plyo session. I started with two-legged hops for quickness/explosion, and straight-legged jumps before moving on to the high impact exercises: one-legged hopping/running, depth jumps, eccentric calf raises, and lunges. I do lunges to finish these plyo workouts and will be increasing the reps from week to week. I did 2 sets of 30 lunges to close this one out.
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Thursday, March 3rd - 10x200m, 26-27 second goal, 5 minute walking recovery

Washington Lee was closed Wednesday, so I flipped my Wed and Thurs workouts. I met up with Neeley, Frankie, and Ken. Neeley ran a few 200's with me while waiting for the couple. They then ran 40's and did some vertical/quickness drills. Here's what I did:

1. 200m - 26 to 27 - 27.1
2. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
3. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
4. 200m - 26 to 27 - 26
5. 200m - 26 to 27 - 28
6. 200m - 26 to 27 - 28
7. 200m - 26 to 27 - 28
8. 200m - 26 to 27 - 29
9. 200m - 26 to 27 - 29
10. 200m - 26 to 27 - 29

Wow. Something felt off today. This was definitely a down workout. After speaking with Alison, we thought that maybe flipping plyos to Wednesday messed me up a bit, but it's hard to lean on that crutch...I ran noticeably faster than this a couple years ago. I got sick just over halfway through the workout, which is rare...I usually get sick before or - as has been the case recently - after. No amount of rest brought down my times for the later reps. Prior to rep 9 I rested 8-9 minutes and still ran a 29. Oh well, let's hope I bounce back.
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Friday, March 4th - Off

So, as it turns out, I came down sick today...head cold/sinus pressure and fatigue. I went home after work and crashed for three hours. Laura got sick as well, so it must have been something Wednesday night. This adds a bit more color to last night's session, though.
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Saturday, March 5th - Off

I took today off from conditioning and weights and rested most of the day.
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Sunday, March 6th - 10x80m, full speed, 4-5 minutes recovery

Met up with Agan, Jesse, and Andrea at Banneker and did some fun reps in the rain, haha. I got lots of throwing in with Agan. The weather reminded me of a day when a team would see a lot of zone, so I worked on short popper throws and quick catch, pivot, and releases. At least it wasn't cold.
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Monday, March 7th - cross-training, weights

In an effort to reduce my Monday sessions to around two hours, Laura and I did a shorter (20 min) but more intense bike session today. I was on a spinning bike and pushed through the pain for the last 8-10 minutes or so. My heart rate was up over 170 afterward. Laura pushed hard on her bike as well...her heart rate was closer to 180. We then moved to a superset of pull-ups and abs. Slowly but surely, Laura is helping improve my pathetic ab strength. I surprised myself with sets of 7, 7, and 4 of wide-grip pull-ups. I'm not that far from 10 in a row now, which was an initial goal. Laura then moved on to a circuit of flies, calf raises, and dumbbell curl to presses (with 20's!). I did bench press and rotator cuff. We then did squats as part of different supersets. I did dumbbell curl to presses with 40 lbs dumbbells and Laura did back, triceps, and a hip flexor stretch. For squats, I did 3x3 @ 255 lbs. I hadn't squatted in a week so wasn't sure what to expect. The 20 lb increase from the week prior shocked me a bit, so I think I can rebound pretty quickly and get sets of 5+ reps at this weight next time. Laura then left and I stayed a bit longer to do overhead squats (3 sets of 10 @ 65 lbs - still does a number on my back), abductors, adductors, and leg press (3 sets of 5 @ 270-280 lbs). I felt decent today, given the recent illness and time away from the gym. I've learned that I need to be in the gym about every 5 days or so to maintain my strength. Any more than that and I start to slip, which sucks.
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Ultimate combine next Saturday the 19th at Washington Lee (late AM)! Book it!

Andrew