5k

The weather is getting better recently, and I love it. Perfect for a Friday. today I wanted to get another benchmark time in terms of my running. I decided to run a 5k route that I ran about 3 weeks ago. I wanted to see how I have progressed recently. I finished the route in 19:50, which is 17 seconds better than last time. My efforts are paying off.

I was really having trouble justifying this run before it started. I wasnt feeling strong and I felt my lunch still being digested. But I knew I would be able to push myself regardless, because the faster I finished, the sooner it would be over. I made it to the half way point at 9:50, which was right where I wanted to be, the hard part was the slight hill on the way back. I knew I had to keep up the pace in order to beat my last 5k time.

Before the run, I took about 15 minutes to warm-up. i was able to do some squat cleans with a medicine ball, so I wanna be able to use that in my next workout. This will start the process of me getting back into lifting techniques.

I really pushed myself today, and now I am headed out for a weekend at the Boy Scout Camporee here on school grounds. Should be fun, I hope the weather holds up.

Tire Dragging

Workout:
8 Rounds for Time:
100m Tire Drag
20 Lunges

The weather turned out to be great today. A little windy, but the sun was out and not a cloud around. I spent some of the morning getting some work done, and then decided to get my workout out of the way before lunch.

I was feeling a little sluggish from yesterdays workout, but eager to get outside again. I pulled the tire with a rope, allowing my forearms and arms to continue to get back into the weigh-bearing game. It felt a little awkward while pulling, but I was definitely feeling it in my forearms, the tendons arent used to holding on to things too tightly recently. It took me 14:48 to complete.

I stopped quite a few times in this workout while pulling the tire backwards. The friction of the grass definitely makes the tire seem heavier than it is. Overall, it was a great workout, I am still feeling a little tired.

Triplet

Workout:
6 Rounds for Time:
10 GHD Situps
15 Back Extensions
~300m gym loop

After classes, I spent the early afternoon in the gym. I first did about 40 minutes of physical therapy exercises for my shoulder. And then decided on what events to do for my metcon workout. It has been a while since I was inside, and the GHD is a good lower body exercise. I paired it with a run that first goes up two floors, goes the length of a hallway, down to floors and then another hallway. This adds up to be about 300m by my best estimate.

The gym was crowded because of a PE class going on at the time, so I was a little weary about losing posession of the GHD while I was running the gym loops, but luckily I had no problems. Physically however, I have a type of bruise on the bottom of my foot from when I stepped on a sharp rock during the run yesterday. It was pretty painfull walking around on it all day, but as the workout started, my adrenaline kind of cancelled out the pain. It took me 17:25 to complete the workout. I felt stronger than usual on the stair climbs for this workout, and by the end I was pretty gassed endurance-wise. However, I really miss the ability to lift some heavier weights. Lifting heaving during a metabolic conditioning workout really adds another factor of fatigue, and I feel like I need it to get past mental barriers in a workout. It will just take patience I guess.

Hopefully I can get in a workout outside, maybe some video too.

Running the Tracks

Yesterday I didn't get the time to get a workout in, plus the weather wasn't pretty. So after two rest days I wanted to get in a longer workout. I headed down to the train tracks that run along the Hudson river. In warming up I noticed that my forearms are still sore from Saturday's tire workout. This is proof that I am really weak in the upper body, it has been so long since I stressed my arms in that way. It will be a long time before I have my strength back, and even the little things such as my grip.

I ran along the tracks for 10 minutes, and at the ten minute mark, I turned around and gave myself a 10-minute time limit to get back to the start. I would estimate the course at about 1.5 miles. Half of the route was on and uneven dirt road with sharp rocks that slowed my progress, but no excuses right? I was able to keep under the 10-minute limit on the way back, sprinting out the last few hundred yards.

I dont feel like I challenged myself enough today. Perhaps it is for the better so that I have the energy to get my assignments done for tomorrow. I will probably do a triplet tomorrow to really get the blood flowing.

Rest Day

Tire Flips

Workout:
As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:
10 tire flips
20 tire jumps

The goal of today was to lift some weight. The most weight I have lifted after surgery was maybe a 45lb bar for a few reps. I wanted to test my left arm to see where it is now at in terms of weight bearing. I was very pleased that throughout this workout my shoulder did not give me any problems. During the tire flips I put most of the weight on my stronger arm so that my left arm could get used to the movement again. I sacrificed my intensity for the functional movement. I was able to complete 8 rounds, plus 10 tire flips and 8 tire jumps. The hardest part of this workout was the tire jumps because I lack the ability to consitantly jump without taking a step toward the tire, it is something I need to work on so that I can increase my reps. Its always fun to play with tires. Rest day tomorrow...ahhhh.

Bag o Rocks

Workout:
5 Rounds for time:
25 jump lunges
20 situps with bag of rocks
200m run with bag of rocks

10 minute rest, then
6 300m sprints, with one minute for each sprint, including rest time.

I was thinking about resting today, but I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather. I headed down to the river courts and on the way I found a bag filled with small rocks that weighed about 25-30 lbs and figured it would make for an interesting workout. I didnt want to go too hard today because my legs are still recovering from the long run yesterday, my knees arent used to the pounding of a long run and I could feel the tendons in my knee acting a little inflamed.

I decided to wear my vibram 5-fingers for this workout to continue to build up to longer runs while wearing them, plus it was low impact on the feet and knees seeing as it was on the grass. After a short warmup I got into it. The first round felt good, and I was thinking maybe I should have included more reps, but I quickly dismissed that after the second round. It wasnt an extremely intense workout, but the extra weight added a stimulus that I havnt felt in a while. Most of my workouts after surgery have been just bodyweight, so the extra 25 pounds was a shock to my system.

I finished the workout in 12:12. After a 10-minute rest, I was feeling strong, so I did a few sprints on the road in my Vibrams. It felt amazing running in them, I feel like I have more control in each step and I feel like I am getting more power output as I am forced to land more so on the balls of my feet with each step. Each 300m sprint ended up being under 30 seconds each, allowing me 30 seconds to rest in between each of the 6. I am glad I was able to keep consistent while maintaining the intensity.

video Quality still isnt the best, bear with me