Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!

Like previous posts I've written after a long absence, I have to comment about how long it has been since the last post.  Well, that's done.

In the last year, I had started doing the workouts on a Crossfit-affiliated website operated by a former member of the SpecOps community.  On many occasions, I've had to modify and scale down some of the workouts to fit some constraints, like time and safety reasons.  Looking back on the past year, I have to say that I've made some progress.

Today's workout centered around the bench press.  After a warmup on the C2, I worked my way up to my one-rep max (1RM).  For this workout, I increased the load by five pound increments after one rep.  My 1RM is still 205.  Somehow, even after I finally managed to press my bodyweight (170 lb) for 10 clean reps, my 1RM is still the same.  The last five sets consisted of one set at 95% of 1RM and four sets at 90% of 1RM.  The next portion of the workout was pressing 35% of 1RM for 50 reps and renegade rows (25 lb) for 65 reps.  The last portion consisted of thrusters (50 lb) for 10 reps, three rounds of pushups (30 reps) and dumbbell swings (20 reps), and thrusters (50 lb) for 10 reps.  After a brief break, I ran 3 miles for 23 minutes 9.66 seconds. 

It's Independence Day

I noticed my legs were slightly sore from yesterday's run. The weight room was in its normal disarray from the previous day's meatheads. Despite the soreness and 15 minutes racking up weights, I managed to do the following for this morning's workout:

• Chinup (40 lb)
• Dumbbell Bench Press (65 lb)
• Front Squatt (120 lb)
• Dips (40 lb)

I'm beginning to noticed that it's getting easier to do the chinups and dips with 40 Ib.

After finishing the above, I did supersets of chest presses and rows using the Hammer Strength machines. For the bench press sets, I used the following scheme:

• Set #1 - 3 rep of 170 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 150 lb
• Set #3 - 3 rep of 180 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 120 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 200 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 100 lb

For the machine row sets, a similar scheme was used:

• Set #1 - 3 rep of 230 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 180 lb
• Set #3 - 3 rep of 240 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 160 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 250 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 140 lb

I finished everything with a 50 minute run on the treadmill (2% incline) for a distance of 6.6 miles. Although this morning was would have been great for outdoor running, I've found that the treadmill is a useful tool for running at faster paces that I might not be able to reach out on the road.

Chasing and Escaping

This morning, I managed to do my 13.6 mile route to Old Town via Custis Trail East and Mt. Vernon Trail. By the time I reached the Mt. Vernon Trail, I noticed a fair number of running groups out and crowding trail. In righteous indignation, I picked up the pace to pass a fair number of runners. At point where one can take Four Mile Run or Mt. Vernon Trail, I followed one runner who broke off from his group and managed to pass him near the marina.

Because I picked up the pace, I managed to finish my run in 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 30 seconds.

Breakout with Orange Popsicles and Cake

After waking an hour later than planned, I managed to do the following for this morning's workout:

• Chinup (40 lb)
• Dumbbell Bench Press (65 lb)
• Front Squatt (120 lb)
• Dips (40 lb)

After finishing the above, I did supersets of chest presses and rows using the Hammer Strength machines. For the bench press sets, I used the following scheme:

• Set #1 - 1 rep of 160 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 150 lb
• Set #3 - 1 rep of 180 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 120 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 200 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 100 lb

For the machine row sets, a similar scheme was used:

• Set #1 - 1 rep of 230 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 180 lb
• Set #3 - 1 rep of 240 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 160 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 250 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 140 lb

I finished everything with a 45 minute run on the treadmill (1% incline) for a distance of 5.4 miles. I choose the treadmill this morning so I can catch the start of the Slovakia vs. Paraguay match.

Today's workout was a mostly biceps and back exercises. The first portion consisted of the following biceps exercises:

• Dumbbell Hammer Curl (25, 35, 40, 45, 50 Ibs)
• Dumbbell Curl (2 sets of 30 Ib)
• Reverse Curl (2 sets of 20 Ib)

The second portion consisted of the following back exercises:

• Bentover Row (110, 130, 170, 180, 190 Ibs)
• Reverse Grip Bentover Row (2 sets of 140 Ib)
• Wide Grip Bentover Row (2 sets of 70 Ib)

The third portion consisted of hanging back exercises:

• Chinup (20, 30, 40, 45, 50 Ibs)
• Pullup (2 sets of 25 Ib)
• Wide Pullup (2 sets of 15 reps)

I concluded the workout with a 5 mile run in 40 minutes.

I didn't get a chance to do anything in the morning. The following exercises comprise one circuit from the afternoon workout:

• Goblet Squat (40 Ib)
• Mountain Climber
• Single arm dumbbell swing (30 Ib)
• T-pushup (10 Ib)
• Snatch (40 Ib)
• Dumbbell Row (30 Ib)
• Dumbbell Side Lunge (10 Ib)
• Renegade Row (25 Ib)
• Dumbbell Lunge and Twist (25 Ib)
• Dumbbell Push Press (30 Ib)

I did each exercise for 1 minute of work and rested 15 seconds between exercises. I did a total of 3 circuits. To keep track of time, I used the Tabata timer from http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata/. As cheesy as it may sound, this is the Spartacus Workout from Men's Health. I've been doing for the past couple of weeks and it's tough.

It's been a long time posting or something like that.

Since the last post, I have been using the RunWell tool from the New York Times to keep track of my runs. Week 5 was a bit a rough because of final exams and projects. Yesterday, I managed to run my Custis Trail East to Mt. Vernon Trail to the corner of King Street under 2 hours. At this point, the 'formal' portion of the marathon training begins this week.

This morning's workout consisted of the Sunday staple of the following:

• Chinup (40 lb)
• Dumbbell Bench Press (65 lb)
• Front Squatt (120 lb)
• Dips (40 lb)

For vanity's sake, I also did supersets of bench presses (using the Smith machine) and machine rows. For the bench press sets, I used the following scheme:

• Set #1 - 1 rep of 160 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 150 lb
• Set #3 - 1 rep of 170 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 120 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 170 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 130 lb

For the machine row sets, a similar scheme was used:

• Set #1 - 1 rep of 230 lb
  
• Set #2 - 10 reps of 160 lb
• Set #3 - 1 rep of 240 lb
• Set #4 - 20 reps of 140 lb
• Set #5 - 1 rep of 250 lb
• Set #6 - 30 reps of 90 lb

I finished everything with a 45 minute run on the treadmill (1.5% incline) for a distance of 5.3 miles. I choose the treadmill this morning so I can catch the start of the Algeria vs. Slovenia match.

Last Cargo Cult

The past couple of weeks have been intense. I've been going to lab to complete a modeling project that's now behind schedule. Although I haven't been posting, I've been keeping with my workouts. Because I have to go to the lab in the morning, I've been rising at 5 AM to get to the gym.

This morning's workout was doing as many sets in 10 minutes of the following:

• Deadlift at 175 lb (5 reps)
• Push Press with 2 35 lb dumbbells (10 reps)

I managed to do only 10 sets. It's been quite some time since I've done a timed workout involving deadlifts. Afterward, I finished the lifting portion with some upright rows and front raises. I concluded with a 4.5 mile run, which took about 40 minutes.

While I would prefer to run outside, the treadmill has proven to be a useful training tool. This week, I have run a total of 19 miles so far. Last week, I managed to hit 24 miles. By the time I register for the Marine Corps Marathon, I should be in sufficient conditioning for the real marathon training.

It gets squirrely with higher flows

Today's workout included superset between bench press to lower chest and bicep curls. After three warm-up sets, I progressively increased weight for both exercises alternating number of reps between sets (moderate loads with 5 reps, heavier loads with 1 rep). I finished off with five sets of bench press (at 145 lb) and pull-ups to failure.

For today's run, I did 5 miles in about 42 minutes, 5 seconds. The first three miles were completed in about 25:30.