Day 22

Did the Burm on the gravel with Red this AM.
rt underfoot little sore this am but after a good warm up and d-rom we left.
Started doing some pace style runs at 170-175 bpm.
Really felt like was able to maintain top speed - well 90% - did 1-1.5 min at steady pace, rest 30 sec or so, then 3-5 reps of that.
Then on way back did 30s on 30 s off x 3-5.
will include this MAP style stuff in some are days coming up in AZ.

One of the most beautiful mornings I have been out running with, honestly!
Saw An owl in flight, roosters at butterfield acres and sheep there as well.
Sun was barely up, not a piece of wind, stopped once and was devoured by mosquitoes!
breathing recovery was superb between sets, felt as if I could hold this for a while and for sure a sub 18 min 5K in store over time coming.

Tried to stay on my mid foot, felt nice to open it up and lengthen it out, might have to do this when alone without Red for a first little while in AZ.

Lunch time:
OHS x 5
(95 x 5 x 2, 115 x 5 x 2, 135 x 5 x 2)
+
4 rds for time:
7 OHS - 135#
20 cals Airdyne
15 L PUll Ups
(14 min)
- fun, could tell a little tired and low on glycogen as burning happened sooner than wanted as well as getting up for wod was low; maybe sleep, girls are sick, however, was OK and all good now to move onward into good running week starting with some hills tomorrow AM in Royal Oak, the old stompin grounds for me in my 5 peaks racing/CF beginner years...yippee

day 19/20/21

writing this on SAt, July 30th, a few days behind...

on thurs (day 19) - i think i will go by headings from now on so i do not have to remember the days in training..or maybe i will keep to that as i think the initial reason why i did that was to see changes over time and days into training...will do (bipolar like the great blue heron)

had a massage on WEd PM with Karyn, that went well; my plantar fascia was tight towards heel, as well as calves, we released them and then the run the next AM (thurs) was great...i did the burm on the cement with Red and all was good...i think we went for 30 min, something like that and no issues

at noon on the 19th day i did back squat x 5 - 95,115,135,155,175,199,221,245; rest 1-2 min b/t sets
+
1-10/10-1
110# FS
CTB chin Ups
(6:39) - good power, good workout

day 20 - AM
did a thorough warm up - DROM + roll + stretch + squat as usual, then did a 30 min run with Red over the burm on the cement trail, then came back, went past house and 5 min up Aspen, then back, total was 30 min - 31 min total...all good with calves, feet, etc...kept effort easy

day 21
AM
Airdyne 43 min @ 115-125 bpm - 190-220 watts avg over time, just an easy spin for some easy aerobic work
Noon
Clean grip DL x 1
Power Clean x 1
Press x 1
PP x 1
PJ x 1
(2 sets of each of 95,115,135) as warm up
+
Clean Grip DL x 5
Dips x 10
(3 sets - no weight on dips, DL - build up to 330# x 5, felt heavy for upper back and lats, not too bad for hammies and legs/low back)
+
30 sec amrap DU's (58/57/60)
30 sec rest
30 sec amrap GHD sit ups (14/14/14)
30 sec rest
30 sec amrap KBS - 2pd (15/15/15)
30 sec rest
30 sec row for avg watts (403/413/420)
rest 3:30 x 3

did not feel like a circuit for time today so went with this, all good

day 22 (today)
this AM Red and I ran the Meadows Drive route - 6.6 K, with 2 stops i believe and a little warm up, did it in 34:30 (avg HR was 165, towards end was 170-175 as i pushed last 800 m or so)
felt great for stance, breathing was solid..on July 10 with more stops on purpose i did this route in 36:29...might do this route one more time opposite direction before I go...looking forward to some new routes when in AZ...rest of day is rest and work and thingy at Geoff's place tonight for his new home..

day 18

AM run with Red on old 5K road route over Aspen, Rt on 12 mile coulee into Churches Ranch; went about 2K over; then back; stopped every 2-4 min for 20 sec or so; pace i kept was 160-165 bpm avg and felt GREAT.
Key i think was a D-ROM, then crap, then rolling on feet, then squatting, then Garry Gray ankle/calf mobility work with ankle stretched and opposite leg is pumping the knee up high and forward, then side to side, then rotations, little bit of water as well...but anyhow, it felt great, light, on mid foot whole way, kept POSE most of the time.
Rt hamstring little twingy at certain parts and downhill still sore (as it was on the ankle walking yesterday as well) so i think it was the row + the massage that did it, massage today as well, will do things up as well as training at lunch...more to come

day 17

AM Run with Red on burm
160 avg HR, kept pace a little lower due to working out the kinks on the plantar fascia/underfoot

I now think it was irritated by the massage and the tendons that hurt like a bitch on the inside and under the ankle that she was working on; felt like they have not been touched before - seems less like PF and more like some issues there; will go day by day on that one...

Total time - 29 min on the nose with a few walk breaks to get HR to 120, took 10-20 sec each time...maybe a total of 4-5 stops total; wonderful. little darker morning, seems like the sun is coming up later and later now - off to AZ in 1 week!

day 16

woke up last night with H at 12:30 AM, i was saying to myself at the time that i need some unbroken quality sleeps for a bit to get sleep caught up again, i am in bed long enough but the wakenings at night by H is making it tough to recover...onward...

so this AM, foot not 100% yet, almost there though so did:
40 min Airdyne @ 200-220 avg watts - not sure of HR, no monitor, will need to wear that each time
starting lactate last time on Sat AM was 0.8 and finished with 2.4, no lactate measures this time
workout at lunch coming; stooping and pushing upper body....

Noon:
A. PC x 3/PP x 3; 90,135,155,175; rest 1 min
B. BP x 3; 95/145/195; rest 2 min
+ 5 rds for time:
15 Push Press - 110#
17 KBS - 1.5 pd
(10:10) - felt easy for breathing, hard on OH muscle endurance...otherwise all good, was fun, good push; will throw in more of these on conditioning days after some weight training work from now on...got to look into schedule for AZ right now as well for training; runs will be easy in AM, training not so much...will "maybe" test foot tomorrow AM; almost 100% i think...

day 15

Sunday at 11am-Noon

had thoughts last night about doing a time trial as this weekend was supposed to be a hard 5K run in the notes so decided to do a tester:
60 min row for meters
Did - 14, 682 meters
Avg speed - 2:02.6
Avg watts - 189.9
Score - 1.13 (BWT - 168 # weighed in AM)

will test this one every 2 weekends i think on the longer Sunday workout after the harder Saturday 5K that is scheduled each time...was suprised that breathing was not an issue but muscle endurance was...abs at last 10 min were done, where i stroked and on end of stroke to tighten them to start again, they were done, almost on the point of being so fatigued that they were strained...so shortened stroke every now and then without leaning back and still avergaged 1:56 at that time but got tired fast

avg HR was 150 ish for first little while, then 160-165 for a while then creeped and held steady at 175 ish for most of the last 20-30 min...finished at 181 and within 1 min HR was at 120 again...so just muscle endurance was issue; not overall fatigue...interesting...will do 15K next time!

day 14

Saturday AM:
did Airdyne for 35 min this AM @ avg 140-150 bpm HR i think (writing this on Monday AM)...was a good sweat session, Rt PF still a little sore towards Rt heel just where it attaches, walking on floor fine, in berks a little harder and rolling on it a little painful, more rolling and resting needed

Noon:
A1. Squat Snatch x 1/OHS x 5; rest 15 sec (95,95,115,115,135,135,135)
A2. 10 chin ups x 5-7 sets; rest 2-3 min
B. 30 wall balls, rest 2 min x 3
C. 8 toes to bar; rest 1 min x 5

will try from Monday onward to keep on track and report a little more

day 13

woke up this AM and from a lingering Rt foot plantar fascia sting from massage 2 days ago and aggressive run yesterday, decided to hold off for day...rested instead...
not sure if it was:
- speed work with the 9 x 400 too soon, then the run thurs AM in the lunars?
- massage aggravated the fascia or tendons around there as she was working on them harder time time than normal?
- wore the lunars the next AM - more calf work as they are softer?

anyhow, rested and will rest for a few more days

the 12th day of...

AM Run with Red, we did the square loop, 31:03, avg 140-145 1st 1-2K, then 150-160 downhill, 160-165 uphill and 155-165 for home, wore the Nike Yellows, lunar livestrong ones, not sure the style or name as feet were a little sore from massage yesterday and wanted to ensure no more pounding for this one this AM.
Red actually was being pulled by me this AM on last 1/4, was surprising but i knew that i was going faster than previous times...and i just checked and yes it was 32:31 last time 10 days ago...Red stopped once this time to poop, i think last time we stopped a few times for pees and coyotes and all...
anyhow, another beauty of a morning Run, will strength train at lunch, just some basics...more to come..

at lunch did:
A. bench press - 95,135,155,175,195 x 5
B. PC x 3 - 95,135,155,175,195,195,195
C. 155# PC and PJ - 3 x 3 @ 80%
D. KBS practice

day 11

these are the scores from i think 2 months ago and today; noticeable difference in lactate after set 6, seems the power endurance is not there yet for that speed, for 6 sets it was fine, averaging 10 sec faster and same lactate, although i am approximately 10# lighter today...will make a difference.

will get Mike to do body comp soon and report that in as well as metrics like grip strength, FEV and BP for lying to standing for late scores

this above tells me that i'm getting there for the 400m on our track is tough - uphill, little flat then finish downhill, harder and more muscular than flat 400's...i should bring the lactate meter and HR to the track some day soon as well.

the HR was tough to read for some reason today, it only showed the chrono and not the HR when i finished and i was so concentrated on the time that i forgot it; this also shows me that i need to warm up a little more before hand and pre load so that the lactate does not come up as high at the beginning...anyhow, good learning, good insight as usual, now a massage for 90 min - YAY!

day 9/10..

woke up to severe thunderstorm and hail yesterday AM at the cabin (it is now day 10 in the AM in my office at OPT HQ)...it was crazy, hence the AM run was kaiboshed so did at 10 AM:
A. Muscle Snatch x 5 x 5; rest short - 90# x 5
B. Power Clean x 1/FS x 5; rest 1-2 min - 90#,133#,155#,175#,199#
C. Power CLean x 1/Press x 5; 90#,95#,100#,105#,110#

- it was HOT at this time in the AM, nice day overall, after this we packed up to drive home, took the back road and was quicker again, by only 5 min due to some hold ups around Sylvan Lake, drive is always nicer that way, thinking I should check into another version as well by cremona, cochrane turnoff, as the highway is BORING...

day 10:
5 AM, awaken by alarm, then Hannah who was scared and needed a pee and then back to bed, stretched a little, felt good, then did the full burm with Red, wonderful day, unbelieveable sunrise!
it was 38 min total- 39, avg 150-165 bpm...nice pace, wore the frees, all good

then at 1 pm before dentist appt:
8-12 rounds of :
3 HSPU
8 lunges
3 strict chin ups
8 lunges
+
6/6 GHD sit up/ext
+
woodchopper x 8/side x 3

saw a sweet looking OWL for the first time this year over by the pond across from Butterfield Acres; kind of like this one..

Red did not notice her, not that she cared, i saw her careening over the pond and see lots of birds but was thinking due to the flight and wing size thought it was a hawk, but then it landed on a middle to low branch and was more white than a hawk, i ran closer to see the head turning like an owl; funny thing was, as i got closer, the owl was more interested (or more aggravated)...anyhow, she jumped up on a better perch in the tree to get a good look at me, the more i stared, the more interested it became and did not move the closer i got, cool shit.
i then turned and ran the opposite direction, owl over great blue heron i guess

another sidenote, the things i miss about running, is when you get those hot and cold patches of air; i really miss that and hit some again this AM, that was really nice!

day 8

solid run this mid AM - 40 min, varied starts and stops, avg 165-180 bpm, mainly uphill from Grandview in pic here to far left side of pic, forget the RR #...anyhow, 3-4 constant climb hills, then back down hill on the way back, 19:30 ish to get up, 40 min and change on the clock when i got back

again, with a higher pace and HR, my efficiency for stride and fatigue is lessened, when i slow and run at 60-70%, my calves and quads work up to tightness...when i pace it out and chest high, knees up and pulling leg up off ground, seems to be great; at one point, resp rate was high and maintained, looked down and was at 175 bpm...felt like i could do that for a long while...of course over time with some more run conditioning

ran at 10 AM, was 20-23 deg, sunny and perfect temp, on a gravel road, straight, no turns...just lovely

this starts week 2, will up the volume a bit and run a little harder on wed and sat - 3-5 K ish when back home; tracked approx 180 min of volume last week as mentioned, 40 min today starts the process...onward

and on the 7th day...

we didn't break bread but instead I ran without Red in the early AM at Pigeon Lake.
the scene was gorgeous, pic attached looking out over the lake at 5:30 AM.

 

did 6-8 min easy to warm up, did a pretty thorough d-rom before hand; then did moderate hill repeats to make up for no hills this week and today was supposed to be "hilly" under aerobic conditions...so did the "triangle loop" up here and on the back hill I ran up 1/5, ran down, ranup 2/5, ran down..etc...hill pace was like 90-95% Max VO2...ad down was easy recovery, then did 8-10 min on back hand towards home.

at lunch I worked out with Hannah and Leighanne and Chloe slept; did some KB play (alt'ing SA squat snatch, alt'ing clean and press) then some OHS practice - 95#, then a little circuit of pistols x 8, knees to elbows x 8, and HSPU x 3-4 - did 5-8 rounds at 80%.

runs up here at the lake have always been good to great.

my fave memories are:

1. 18:15 5K after a tough wod in the AM on a Friday afternoon - no wind, just shoes and shorts

2. HOT repeats prior to Games 2010, did 800's x 5-6 i think, it was SHIT HOT!

3. 400 m repeats on AM of triple header one AM a few years back, just felt like I kept getting faster per round, one of those AM's you never forget

4. provincial park runs, beautiful, not the best runs, i remember my calves lighting up, but it was spectacular in there, X-country ski trail and all, sweet!

update:

- feel like its coming, pretty good; when lower legs are managed and warmed up and cooled down thoroughly all things are good, did approx 180 min of work last week, goal is 210-220 min of work this week for runs only...maybe when i can get to 360 min of work (approx 72K) we'll get after the higher speed work "within" the aerobic work, i.e. run, few repeats of some speed work, run again to finish, feels like that is the next step now..

onward!

day 6

this was only a small glimpse into the AM sky today..was thinking on my way back with the full moon still in sight and red sky from AM sun upcoming how beautiful it is...i actually stopped a few times to take a look and just "notice". i am so grateful.

took 3mg melatonin last night, i take that on and off and Doc recommended i take it consistently for a while; results came back from recent tests yesterday and all things are great, androgens are solid, gut is in check and doing really good but estradiol is a little high for our liking so will supplement with some Fem Pro for a while and hammer that easily and PM melatonin was low just off so 3mg 2-3 hours before bed each night for a while will help that...

woke in a little fog, as usual with the melatonin, will get used to it easily I'm sure...and did some more specific stretching prior to an easy jog with Red; we went over to the burm and stayed on the path, wore the Nike frees and felt light and good at jog pace on ankles and lower legs...all good, goal over time i think is to get into a lighter less stable shoe with a minimalist feel to it; will have to do a bunch of volume to get there though...onward

going to Cabin today for weekend, will do a PM session today and report in, looking forward to runs up there at provincial park and the triangle loop we have there...

day 5

Its 6:04 AM, Chloe is sitting on the floor playing with the Strawberry Shortcake; no watching Curious George on the IPad.
Red and I just finished a 25 min run on the "burm", a path that was made for the residents over here in Bearspaw due to the pit that was going up beyond it, works for us, we have used it a lot!
These guys have a convention here this week at OPT HQ...

they are on the door waiting for us as we go outside, actually prevents us from going out there and just hanging without pumping ourselves with Deet and eventually cancer...

Anyhow, on the run this AM I was thinking about the pace - 160-175 bpm avg HR, the breathing was a little higher for this and the lower legs and calves feel good relative to the massage yesterday and the running this week.
5 days in, learnings so far:
- do spirotiger 3x/week- 4x/week from now on
- spend more time in day doing mobility work for calves, ankles, feel, ITband
- add more volume per week
- search out various routes and hills/paths...might need to go elsewhere for it...maybe track at noon or somewhere else at noon...
- warm up a little more at front end and include drills of warming up in the 1st part of the run, start slow, then build for end,,,as the time for the AM warm up out of bed if limited before Chloe gets up at 6AM

Ciao

FOUR!!!!

5AM - woke up from great sleep and weird ass dreams!
(i mean really weird dreams, not actually dreams about weird asses...although they might have been in there)
felt good, lower legs not 100% recovered from the current volume changes (i.e. no running for...ummm...a few years consistently, and now 25-35 min per day for 3 AM's in a row)
was supposed to do some hills but instead chose this beauty...
thought about hills and the impact of the HR when on there and how things feel, gotta figure something out for hill days as i LOVE the AM in the runs but to get to a hill at that time s tough...hmmmm...might just need to go back to old faithful down in rocky ridge around the Mormon church, yup, that's it

did 25-30 min of varying work

yesterday at noon used the Spirotiger for the 1st time - the volume of running to build the nerve and muscle endurance is needed before i do some CNS work and speed work (that is how i feel anyhow, everyone is different) so i'm giving my lungs a treadmill workout by using it, 3-4 times/week)
yesterday i did 5 x 2 minutes @ 30 breaths/minute, was hard at first but was OK over time
FEV was 5.86 on testing yesterday before hand so used a 3L bag

anyhow, this AM was the airdyne and at lunch was...
100m @ 70,80,80%, walk rest to warm up the hammies - felt tight and good
+
A. Power CLean - build to a fast and good 3 - 199#
B. DL - build to a good 3 - 329 x 3 i think, anyhow, felt good
C1. 10 chin ups; rest 20 sec
C2. 5 HSPU; rest 90 sec x 3

was good, felt strong, mentally acute and good to go forward on aer run tomorrow!
back at it

day 3

Red and I just got back, 25 min and some change, did the "path", over to the last pond which partly covers the path and back, real easy pace - 145 avg bpm, calves little tight so kept POSE style and pulled those lower legs up fast.
Only went to last part of path b/c I did not want Red to jump in...5 min opposite way, what does she do? jump head first into 1st pond she sees, gawd she's funny.
I was speaking to her a little more on this run, she loves that, and cannot wait to play with her a little more in Scottsdale in AM's when we search out some routes to take, hope we can find some off asphalt as she'll need booties, it is 31 deg there at 6:10 AM right now with 41% humidity, and its 11 deg and rainy/misty here with 94% humidity.
The birds were in full force today everywhere, these kind of birds i posted above are always around small ponds in the area, seems like they are VERY protective of their site as I always see them "guarding" from crows, ravens, even dogs and humans, funny stuff. Rest of today is rest, will work on some mobility on the lower legs as the day goes on.
INFO:

Red-winged Blackbird. The male has a black body and bright red wing patches edged with yellow on the bottom. You can find them near any body of water with cattails. Just listen for their distinct call, “kon-ka-reeee”

day deux

tongue in cheek for the Tour happening right now.

this AM again with Red we did the so aptly named "square root" - over aspen, down 12 mile coulee, across country hills and back up rocky ridge to aspen again for a square, total time - 32:31, avg HR - 155-165

little higher pace this AM it seemed, at first 800 m was thinking it was going to be shortened as calves were tight, then started a higher rate of touches to ground and used ass and kept on truckin'; all good after that...HR jumped on country hills hill, then stable till home, again last 800 m sore on calves and shins
(Red and I saw horses waking up, 4 coyotes, 2 deer...the AM was wet and mild, hardly any wind and just a nice AM for a run)

At noon did:
A. FS - 4s x 3r; rest - 95/145/189/211/233
B. PS - 3 x 3 @ 133#; rest 90 sec
C. SA Db Press - 45# x 8/arm x 3; rest 1 min
D. GH Raises- 3 x 8; rest 1 min

good day all in all, Michael's b-day today, Hannah was at the dentist, Chloe is cuter every minute, and Leighanne and I went to Joey's for dinner/date...always fun spending time alone/together.
watched some Seb Coe videos last night, a coach, Cam, sent me some stuff on him today without asking, weird stuff?
Anyhow, really loved the tidbits in here on his view why his Dad as coach was a good thing, loved it.

Will have a great sleep tonight, i know it, and will be back at it in AM, bright and early.
Also found out that the Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale with 60 miles of trails is 1 mile from my place, looks like i have some running grounds to hit, good stuff.

and here is the prelims from Sac town today for the 800.
Sub 2 it is then...onward!

Preliminaries
1 Schroer, Michael M37 United States 1:58.16Q
2 Chevaux, Christophe M36 France 1:58.59Q
3 Boross, Gabor M36 Hungary 1:58.77Q
4 Milde, Nils M36 Germany 1:59.39Q
5 Aust, Martin M37 Czech Republic 1:58.83q
6 Weeks, Scott M39 United States 1:59.59q
7 Marc, Sebastien M36 France 1:59.69q
8 Weaver, Richard M36 Great Britain 1:59.89q
9 Roquelaure, Ruddy M36 France 2:00.57q
10 Brecher, Jay M37 Canada 2:00.71q
11 Chermoshentcev, Aleksand M39 Russia 2:01.74q
12 Colletti, Jon M38 United States 2:02.82q
13 Rojas, Jorge Isaac M38 Costa Rica 2:03.10
14 Rhodes, Jason M39 United States 2:03.57
15 Wittig, Jens M35 Germany 2:04.78
16 Pedersen, Michael M38 Denmark 2:05.92
17 Mangiapane, Stephen M39 United States 2:07.80
18 Stanley, Craig M36 United States 2:13.97
19 Kumaraswamy, Balu M38 India 2:27.42

Day 1

Started the journey this AM after a long thought process yesterday; from which came a plan up until Apr 3-12, 2012; and sub 2 minutes for the 800 m at the World Masters T & F championships in Jyvaskyla, Finland. Every day is accounted for, done this a thousand times before in terms of a skeleton from which to work from; now i'll allow it to evlove over time and blossom into some fun.
The idea was to get back into the enjoyment of sport again; alongside using a template that will work with my schedule.
Some goals so far in basics:
- run every day
- lift 3 times per week, fast and effective
- be specific on the goal- run fast
- recover the lower body every day

From the start, an adjustment for at least a few months will be just in running every AM with or without my running partner Red, we're doing this together. This AM she was a little sluggish as i walked into her bedroom, our old garage and discovered she had shit in 3 places throughout on the concrete floor luckily...left that for after the run and clean up.

Needs so far:
- new shoes, racing, training, spikes (might have them already)
- more carbs daily, bringing back in rice and little looser on the meal plan throughout; this has worked well for me in the past on running schedules/plans
- set the AM alarm for 5 AM every day, in bed by 9:30 pm max every night

TRAINING:
36:29 - 150-160 bpm throughout - Meadows Loop - 6.6 K - 5-6 stops with Red, some to lower HR, others to catch breathing rate, others just cause i could - beautiful AM, looking forward to just breathing and working again - felt surprisingly light and good - at 168 # right now - 6.08% BF and 71.3 kg lean mass as of July 10, 2011.
Body - calves tired a little in last 500-800 m, so walked a little and jogged a little, gotta keep on those guys to do this over and over, will come - good times for first report, excited and focused right now.