Training Log Archive: wants

Event: NEOC Hale Reservation
 

Took it nice and easy and my knee didn't show any signs of trouble until the last couple minutes, but even then it was only an indication that it might be starting to swell a bit. Really happy about that.

The course was pretty easy but the map was awful so that made it a bit more interesting. There were lots of big handrails and catching features on the course so I tried to take routes that were a bit more interesting so that I could work on my navigation.

I'm always amazed how nearly perfectly I can navigate when I'm moving at a slower pace. Feels really good.

C • traverse entry 1

Afternoon EKs. Still feeling a bit tired from doing them late last night.

Took the pups to a nearby park with a great paved trail network.

Blading with the pups.

Evening EKs.

C • EKe 2

Been rollerblading a bunch with the pups lately. Finally found a spot tonight where I can go in circles and let the pups loose so I don't have to drag them. Got in some decent hard skating going round and round. I forgot how good of a workout blading can be when you can actually push hard.

Doin my EKs at home tonight. Feeling pretty good.

Sigh another missed training due to working late and being too exhausted when I got home.

Somewhat intrigued by the discussion of morning training in Ross' log. Downside is having a hard-cap deadline to finish by vs. being able to take my time at night. That's assuming I even get to the gym at night though, so perhaps a rushed workout in the morning is better than no workout at all.

I'll have to experiment...

C • recipe for hardcore-ness 4

Finally back from a long weekend mapping in SF, and rested. Had so much to write but now I just don't know whether to be frustrated, confused or encouraged anymore. Gonna go work out for a bit and see if I can resurrect my thoughts on the matter.

For now, just remember, everything will be perfect, tonight...

Some warmup spinning on the stationary bike. Legs feeling great.

Doing my EKs. Finally got the confusing ones figured out by searching on youtube. Still don't understand how the original one-minute-for-each method can possibly work so I just assigned reps/times for myself. Struggling to reach these now but will hopefully be able to up them eventually to be like the real pros.

pushups - 60
wall sit - 60 secs
v-sit - 15 (I'm hoping this is the situp thing and not the gymnastic v-hold)
jump squats - 15
chinups - 15
front plank - 60 secs
regular situps - 60
calf raises - 30 each
bicycle situps - 60
tricep pushups - 15 (discovered the correct way to do these and it's a lot easier than triangle pushups, damn)
situps w/ feet in air - 60
lunges (alternating) - 60 (didn't quite know where to stop here, felt like I could go all night)
side plank - 60 secs each side
side left lifts - 30 each side (bonus for me)

Back was particularly sore and exhausted from trying to sleep on the airplane Sunday night.

Did some extra work on the weights and some stretching after.

C • V-sit 9

Did a little bit of test time on the elliptical to see how my knee would feel. Was very happy to experience no pain or soreness the whole way through. Capped it at 10 minutes just to be safe. I almost figured out a decent stride on that silly machine, but it seems to be very limiting in how fast you can go. Still a better cardio workout than the bike and much closer to running. Hopefully I can work up to some decent time on this thing before getting on the treadmill.

Easy finish up on the stationary bike. Legs feeling somewhat... tired? Cool, I guess.

Sitting in the airport instead of working or training. Feels good to take a bit of a forced break. I need to travel more again.

Beats for the evening... I can't get enough of Armin and Susanna:

Wow this is awesome: http://omaps.worldofo.com/mobile.php

Too bad the majority of the "closest maps" are over 4000km away :/

C • One pin 11

Got home late, packed for San Fran, then passed out. Sigh...

Flying on the stationary bike. Legs felt awesome and I was really excited about doing my first EK workout after. Had Armin blasting at max volume and I couldn't let it stop.

Quads a bit tight.

Took a stab at my first EK workout courtesy of the queen herself. Did pretty well overall, but all the situps definitely kicked my butt and I couldn't make it past 75 seconds on the wall sit. I'm gonna have to work on that "situps with feet in the air" business if I'm going to be able to incorporate it seriously.

Skipped the v-sits, jump squats, and lunges because I have no idea what kind of canadian concoction those could be. I'll have to get the lowdown at some point so I can do the whole thing and become officially hard core.

Oh, and how the hell are you supposed to do chin-ups for a full minute? I did 15 (using the weight simulator since I don't have a bar) and ran out of steam. I've only ever seen one person do more than 20 at a time and even he capped out at 32. A minute's worth of chin-ups is something I'm going to have to see first hand before I can start to seriously aim for it.

Now that I think of it, I had the same problem with the tricep pushups, capped out at 15. Gah, this is too hardcore for me.

Also did some extra work on the weight machines at the end. Legs felt amazing on the leg-press machine. I always feel like I could just go all night on that thing.

Back on the stationary bike to round out the evening. Took it a bit easier than before, but still felt great. Amazed at how well my knee is taking to the biking now. I definitely had some issues with it before so maybe things are actually getting better after all.

Night-O at Hammond Pond. Jogged a bit at the beginning, and the knee didn't start hurting for at least the first 10 minutes. The running was so technical so you spent a lot of time in your knees without really pounding down or pushing off hard. I think that really helped.

I had trouble moving at a fast pace regardless of my knee since there were so many features you had to navigate through and it wasn't always easy to simplify. I felt like I could have gone longer at the end as my legs were basically completely fresh still, but it was probably best for my knee to not push it much.

Got home really late but decided to hit up the gym around midnight because I still had so much energy. Legs felt great on the bike and I kept busy watching O videos on youtube and stalking people on Attackpoint. I was particularly impressed with this video on Tiomila 2008:

Some stretching and core strength both freestanding and on the weight machines. Need to get ready to start working up to some serious EK workouts.

Event: Hudson Highlander
 

Back from a long week of watching people train. Was so awesome to be back in the thick of things even though I couldn't run. Tasting the excitement and exhaustion made me relapse. I want this.

Very curious about this spider tape stuff that Pither mentioned in his log. I wonder if the support would help me get back into running more quickly.

Did some walking/jogging on a training course on southern Surebridge in Harriman. Knee felt pretty swollen by the end, but it wasn't too bad while just walking. It was cold and poring rain and it just felt so good to be out in the woods on a map. It was especially interesting to practice over-reading in the technical terrain as I was going so slow. It's quite fun to know exactly where you are at all times with no generalizing across short distances. I wonder how close Thierry gets to that kind of experience while running at race pace. I imagine pretty close.

Did some hiking with the pups today and the knee was really stiff. Too much pain when lifting it and bending it to be able to go up or down any hills. Had to basically keep it straight the whole time I was walking. Quite depressing.

Easy trail run before dinner with the Frenchies. Knee felt decent going out, but stiffened up as we went. I don't think I could have done much more than 15 minutes as it was already pretty swollen. I guess I won't be able to do much running this week like I had hoped.

C • Frenchies 2

Event: UNO Boulder Dash