Ruck >90 min.

Finally did it.  I was given a medium sized ruck pack and frame after I mentioned my desire to start rucking on the weekends to one of they gym members as a "gift."  It sure is a "gift" alright.  Rucking sucks.  I loaded up with 30# of sand and headed out for a little road march.  The plan was 2 hours and hour one went by fine, hour two on the other hand was pretty shitty.  I understand now much better why it's used in selection processes.  It was only 30# and it was terrible!

I really felt great the first hour, seriously good; then like a switch went off and all I could think about was getting this damn pack off my shoulders.  My feet are NOT conditioned for the poundage either.  Gonna be interesting to build up the ruck skill.

Why am I rucking?  Good question.  I have no idea.  I think it goes back to my post yesterday.  "Prove you're tough."  Delta selection, SAS selection, SF selection, all have a ruck test as the final test...prove you are tough.  Can you motivate yourself to do it?  Delta and SAS final test is 40 miles in 20 hours!!  SAS guys got compromised behind enemy lines and rucked 80 miles before stopping!  That is tough, those guys are tough.

Then there is the what if scenario.  What if a disaster hits Orange County?  Any disaster really, natural, domestic enemy, foreign enemy; how we I get out of the greater LA basin?  Probably on foot.  There are only 4 ways out of the basin I live in, north on the 5 through LA Forest, north on the 1/101 around the Tejon Pass, East on the 10 through the desert, or south on the 5 through SD to Mexico.  Those are choke points.  Cars will be useless with the amount of traffic we already experience, I mean 5pm is ridiculous as it is can you imagine EVERYONE trying to get out?  To pack the necessities is going to probably be around 50# or so and the distance from Costa Mesa to Palm Desert is 132 miles, not to mention the serious elevation changes over that route.  To Bakersfield to the north it's 180 miles...none of the available option are very good.  Just take a quick peek at the fault lines in Southern California to get an idea.  Regardless though, I feel that as long as I am able, I will prepare myself.   

Strength

Strength day! 
Warm Up:
40 Pull Ups - 17 unbroken (first 12 strict, then I started to kip)
60 Push Ups - 35 unbroken
Then:
Front Squat 4x4 @ 200#
Dip 4x4 @ 30#
Chins 4x4 @ 53# KB
Then:
60' run

My knee hurts every time I run.  Something is wrong with this.  I'm lifting more weight than ever before and running further, faster than ever so now the work is consistency.

It's taken me a long time to come from aquatics and balance out my strength on land.  My balance was off, my coordination, stability, and above all else, leg strength.  It's been 3 years to get here and yet I feel this huge weight that it's not good enough.  That I "should" be better and everything else is an excuse. 

I keep trying to remind myself to stay focused on the small goals.  Just add 2.5#, just a little further each time, that is measurable progress, everything else will follow.  One more day.  I think that by the end of this year I will have hit my macro goals which is exciting.  My wife tells me that I feel behind because every time I achieve a goal I cross it off and replace it with something else on the list so there is a never ending list in front of me with nothing crossed off...maybe that's why. 

I read a line in Assault on Lake Casitas and I keep thinking about it..."PROVE YOU'RE TOUGH."  Brad used the saying to motivate himself and now it's my turn.  Maybe everything has been my attempt to prove to myself that I am tough.  That I am capable and worthy.  Trying to find the center.

Then the watch beeps and I'm done running.  Walk for another 20 min to the gym and get some fluid in me.  I feel totally spent after 60' and it takes me 2-3 days to recover from it.  I miss the feeling sometimes, but most of all, I miss being one of the best at something. 

Endurance

Steady State Endurance
Swimming (everything in yrds)

Warm up:
200 easy

Stroke drills - catch-up, finger tip drag, etc in 25's
then:
10x 50's on 45"
then:
5x 100's on 1:30
then:
200 kicking (various)
then:
easy 200 cool down

My goal is to continue to increase the 100's up to 10x 100 at 1:10-1:15 or so.  That would be interesting to see happen.  It's been so long since I did workouts at that split.  Build up to 50's on the 30, 100's on the 1:10, 200's on the 2:30...

Scheduled for strength session afterward, but didn't happen.  "sad clown face."  

Power

Litvi-sleds

General Warm up

then:
Light OHS

Then:
OHS @ 115 5x
Imediatly chased by 5 sec. sled drag with 55# on sled and 25# vest
Rest 3 min.
3 Rounds

Then:
60 min. run easy pace

Endurance

I was scheduled to do some polymetrics today...I decided to just go for a recovery run.

45 min. easy pace.

Power

Warm Up:
Ladder 2x
1-5
Pull Ups
Push Ups

WOW!  That was embarassing.  Glad no one was here to see that!  Obviously I need to channel Dan Gable "if it's important do it everyday" attitude here. 

Workout:
Litvi-Sleds

8 reps OHS
30 ft. sled drag with 45#
rest 3 min.

3 Rounds.

Ok so that was also pretty weak.  Although I was pretty gassed by the third one.  I'm going to try and increase the weight on the OHS next time and increase the distance on the drag.  I tried to do it like Dan John talked about in his book Never Let Go. 

Then:

45 min run easy pace.  

Power

Cardio-Power
6x 100m sprints with 5 minute rest between efforts.

1. 14.8
2. 14.8
3. 13.7
4. 13.7
5. 14.7
6. 14.6

The 13's I think I left early.  I have no idea where these "should" be.  Which might make this workout pointless? 

Then - SMMF,  Endurance <90:
45 min Sled drag in the gym.

This really borders on a few different categories.  Power-Endurance, SMMF (Single Movement Mind F*@!) and Endurance <90.

I regretted the decision to drag a sled for 45 min almost as soon as I started.  The walls are about 56 ft. (I had time to do the math based on how big the rubber matts are).  For the first 10 min I was just pulling it forwards and backwards.  Then I strapped on a belt and attached the sled to it, grabbed the 40# sand-bag and started carrying the bag in various ways while dragging the sled, back and forth, for 35 min.

Interesting thing was that a run this long and my mind would go into a bit of a meditative place, kind of numb to what's happening physically.  Not so when you shorten the distance before turning.  I have no idea how many laps I did, but I can say this, it was mentally trying. 

It reminded me of guy I heard about and met, Josh over at Gym Jones, doing 1 mile sled drag in the gym - and his gym is smaller than mine!  That would very very tough mentally.  Might have to try that one. 

>90' Endurance

120 min run.

I found some cool trails and possible future runs/bike rides.  I started out with the plan to run for 60, but that turned into 120 when I realized it had taken me 60 on the way out...not cool, at minute 45 it was all I could think about to just get back to "home."

 

Power

I love to procrastinate and these long runs are golden opportunities for procrastination.  In the end I ran about 6 miles in 60 min.  So a 10 min mile pace for 60 min.  I actually felt like I could go faster and still keep it "easy."  To me this means that my effeciency has improved.  My phsyiche tells me that my body is starting to prefer fat for fuel but I still eat too many carbs too often.  I am fully aware that the presence of insulin, even in the smallest amounts will cause the cells to prefer glucose over fats, but I'm an adict.

Then, later:
Shock - Polymetrics
5x10 Tuck Jumps
5x10 Split cycle lunge Jumps off 18" box
5x10 Box Jumps 36" box

Power-Endurance

Today was a memorable one.  I swam again for the first time in a long time.  Ironic part is that I have no idea how to program a swim workout for myself.  After all those years swimming, I just did what I was told and have no idea why or how to design my own.

I wanted to do something pretty close to steady state for 60 min. but what ended up happening was at best a fartlek style swim.  I warmed up with about 50 yards, which in the world of swimming is not even close to a warm up.  Then I decided to swim some 50's.  I did about 10x 50's on the 45.  I ended up resting about 10 seconds and had to get back on my horse.  I was totally spent, arms anyway.  Then I decided to do a couple 400's...haha, no chance.  I swam one and can only imagine how long that took.  Some stroke drills, some kick drills, some easy IM stuff, fly down, breast back, just random BS in the pool.  After about an hour of this useless floating and splashing I got out.  I forgot how it feels to be in the water and what that insasiable hunger is like aftwarwards.  Gotta be careful with that!

Then, later:
Power-Endurance:
Deadlift 10x at 115%BW
Row 500m
4 Rounds for time

I finished in 10:50

I assumed my body weight was about 200lbs so I threw on 230 for a go.  I ended up doing the deadlifts non-stop and rowing at 1:51 slip.  It felt pretty good, but in terms of strength-to-weight ratios I have a long road.  I might name this one and revisit it, it seems like a good test.

Power

Earlier today:
Run 90 min. at easy pace.

I did not think that a warm up was completely necessary.  The first 10 min at easy pace would suffice, then finish that off with another 70 min at an easy pace, followed up by 10 min cool down run at easy pace.  Get my drift.

That sucked, but only because it's so damn boring.

Then, tonight:

5x10 1 leg alt, push off a box.
5x10 tuck jumps
5x10 2 leg bounding

Strength

This morning I was very resistant to what I know needed to be done.  Sitting on the erg for 60 min, rowing at 70% heart rate.  I kept thinking about how much my legs and back are going to hurt.

After about 30 min. of talking myself into it, I sat down and just started pulling.  I had procrastinated earlier by doing some "research" into heart rate training.  I've yet to buy Phil Mafatone's book, which I'm sure will pretty much answer all the questions I have at this stage, maybe the next steady state row I'll finally buy it.  What I found was some useful information for the present workout actually.  There are lots of ways to calculate heart rate based training intensities;


"In 2007, researchers at the Oakland University analysed maximum heart rates of 132 individuals recorded yearly over 25 years, and produced a linear equation very similar to the Tanaka formula—HR_max = 206.9 − (0.67 × age)—and a nonlinear equation—HR_max = 191.5 − (0.007 × age²). The linear equation had a confidence interval of ±5-8 bpm and the nonlinear equation had a tighter range of ±2-5 bpm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate

I used the nonliner equation to estimate the MHR, then used the Karvonen method to estimate the ranges.  The equation is

THR = ((HR_max − HR_rest) × %Intensity) + HR_rest

Here is an interesting article on Mark Allen's take on HR training.

For today's session I estimated a range of 140-150 for 65%-70%.  I used this range because it's right on the boarder of recovery and endurance.

Today's row session produced the following results:

Then after a few hours:

4x3 Snatch @ 133
4x2 OHS @ 165
3x3 Bench @ 202

I ended up doing Power Snatch.  Which at this stage is easier for me to do than a full snatch.  Meaning I am still a novice.

The OHS still feel very heavy.  The bench press I feel stronger, so I did set's of 3 reps.

Endurance

This morning I only did my 60 min on the erg.  My splits and what not are as follows:

 

Avg 2:21 at 133bpm.

Very, very slow.  Although, it wasn't that long ago that I tested a 60 min. and at the time I could only muster a 2:13 avg pace for 13,565 meters.  I think I can do a little better now.

I didn't do my normal strength training session this evening as I didn't feel recovered from this even though it was so slow and low HR.  I'm just not used to the volume yet I think.