
These runners or should I say endurance runners, inspired me to take my training to a different level. This week is not going to be easy, I'm going to push my body until it gives me nothing. I don't know what I have in store but, if my hard ass 100 mile running friends can dedicate their heart, mind and body to running the ultimate endurance race. I could up the ante and push my body to see where it can take me.
Meet up at the Rockwall Running Club (RRC) for 5@5 (that's 5 miles at 0500) for an easy run to start the week. To my surprise, one of my trainees Elizabeth (Owner of Poppy Locks, she makes the best cakes and low carb treats around) was there who just popped off a 22 miler on Sunday. Her plan had her running easy or taking a rest day. She was feeling good and opt'd for a simple shake out run. We ran together, talked training, talked about treats and food she makes and really had a great easy run. This was a great way to start my day. Ran in my Saucony Kinvara 3's.
Later that day, had a shoulder/bicep circuit workout. Jumped rope for 10 minutes, punched with dumbbells (5x1min, w/ 1min recovery) then Military seated dumbbell (DB) press, lateral raise, DB front raise, Arnold Press, Full DB lateral raise, incline rear DB delt fly, DB bicep curl, incline DB curl and standing DB hammer curls. Each exercise 1x50reps w/ 1min recovery between sets.
Finished off with 4x25 crunches with knees up, 3x15 hanging knee ups.
Tuesday -
Had a rough night sleeping due to my body was ready to wake up at 1200! Had a hard time going back to sleep so I tossed and turned, felt sorry for my poor wife as I tried not to wake her. Well, after several attempts of suffocating myself to sleep throughout the early morning hours. Woke up for track and met with my RRC peeps. WOW, there were a lot of people out this morning! I think Coach Barrett counted 17 individuals. Ran in my Skechers GoSpeed and felt pretty good during 15 minute warm-up. I performed a few extra drills as I was not completely warmed up (the nice weather and lack of sleep probably had something to do with it). Ran 4x600m w/ 600m recovery and performed well. Avg 2:08 time.
I was feeling really good after my morning track session that I was pumped for an afternoon HIIT session. Warmed up on the Jump rope then It was time to hit it!
Workout #1:
(4sets all for time, goal...improve every set)
10xpullups (Neutral Grip)
100xmountain climbers
.25mile on hand bike
Workout #2:
(4sets all for time, goal...improve every set)
100 revolution jump rope
10xburpees
25xpushups
Workout #3:
(4sets all for time, goal...improve every set)
15xShoulder Press (Neutral Grip) 25lbs
100 revolution Jump Rope
15xleg lift
15xtoetouches

Doing the workouts for time and trying to improve each set was tough. I had a hard time catching my breath but kept pushing though to compete against me. Before I moved to workout #4, I took this wonderful pic of my efforts :)
(4sets all for time, goal...improve every set)
Farmer Walk - 45lb plate 400feet
Frog Jumps 100feet
20x plyo lunge jumps
15xpushupsFinished it out with 4x25 ab wheel.That evening when I arrived home, I went out for an easy run. Legs were heavy but that's the point of these easy runs. To shake out from your previous hard workouts. Ran in my Pure Cadence and got a little over 5 miles in. After that, I headed over to my in-laws and unloaded and stacked 60 bales of hay. Sounds like a lot but we had 25 bales still left to unload...but we will leave that for another day.Wednesday -
Needles to say or assume, I slept pretty good! Today was an off day but I did hit some core work at lunch.
Thursday -
Had another pretty good night of sleep. Woke up with some tight hip flexors but expected with the week of training I have had. Headed over to the RRC in the wee hours of the morning for a tempo run. Today we headed out for a 2x2 mile tempo with a 1 mile recovery in between. We took off on our run about 0450 and I immediately thought to myself that this was going to be tough because of my hip flexors. After our 2 mile warm up we took off on our 1st of 2 mile tempos. The group I ran with was my running buddy Tiffany and Big O! We avg a 6:45 for both miles. After our mile recovery, Tiff and I stayed together with our other running bud Vanessa and Big O right on our tails. This section of road we ran plays with my mind because it's up and down and usually a head wind. Today, the wind was light but it still sucked :-). The last time I ran this route with the group, we performed the same workout and I sputtered out on the 3rd mile. So today, it was all about pushing the pain tolerance and not leaving Tiff solo like I did last time. My hip flexors were loosened up by this point but the quads were slightly heavy because of the ups and downs. The 3rd mile felt fairly long and I wasn't sure if I had it in me to continue but then our watches hit our mile split and it was like a load had been lifted off my shoulders. I focused in on the runner in front of us (our other running bud Billy) and charged ahead. Tiff was running strong right there with me as he headed towards the miles marker. As we made out last turn, I attempted to pick up my speed and catch Billy but of course he picked up the pace as well (smh). Once my watch hit it's mile marker, I couldn't take a deep enough breath to recover. I sat down on the curb and waited for the other runners to come in. Finished the last two mile 6:50, 6:43 respectively. Ran in my Saucony A5's.
Afternoon workout I hit heavy shoulders and focused on some hamstring exercises. 3x6reps of seated dumbell (DB) press, 1min jump rope, 3x6reps ofDB Arnold Press/ 1min - Hamstring Curl on swiss ball (Superset), 1min jump rope, 3x6reps DB Lateral raise/1min - Hamstring single leg Curl (30secs each leg) (Superset), 1min jump rope, 3x6reps front raise (back against wall), 1min jump rope with some double unders, 3x6reps rear delt machine/30sec - Jump and tuck (SuperSet), 3x10reps Body Weight Leg Curl, 3x10reps Single Leg Straight leg deadlift, 1min - Jump Rope, 30sec Jump and Tuck.
Friday -
Met up with the RRC at 0500 and headed out for an easy run. Unfortunately, the easy run turned into a moderate effort run with some hills. My legs were pretty tired due to the tempo run yesterday, so I just focused on good form and keeping the effort as easy as allowable. Ran in my Mizuno Levitas (you can read my review here).
Afternoon workout, did some speed agility work with plyometric hurdles, agility ladder and of course my favorite...jump rope. I also incorporated some heavy chest just to shock the body a bit. 3x6reps dumbbell (DB) flat bench press, DB incline press, DB incline flys, dips to failure x 3 superset with 40m shuttle sprints.
Saturday -
Woke up pretty tired and well...really didn't want to run :-) Headed to the RRC for an out and back run. The goal today was to go 15 miles with the group but my legs were telling me something different. I figured that the legs would "wake up" like they did on Thursday's run once I got going, so I threw caution to the wind. Well, after 2 miles I knew 15 was not in the cards so I set my mind for 10 miles and kept moving forward. At the 5 mile turn-around I was done. D-O-N-E, done!!! My body felt good but my legs had nothing. It was a very warm and humid morning so this could have played a role in the way I was feeling , who knows. I turned around at made it back to the RRC at a "snail-ish" pace. As my buddy Tiffany said, "You are so over that run"! I couldn't have agreed with her more.
That afternoon, I performed a little core work just to finish out my day. 100 bicycle crunches, 100 mountain climbers, 100 leg lifts, 100 toe touches and 100 ab wheel.
Sunday -
Slept for 11 hours! I obviously needed it so, I took another Sunday off and just hung out with the family.This was an awesome week of training! I felt great everyday for the exception of Saturday when my legs had nothing in the tank. I can't wait to see what week 3 brings me especially with school starting for the kids. *GULP*
Kyle
Train Hard = Race Easy, Train Smart = Race Fast ™