Upping My Game

Fifth Overall. How crazy is that? I totally didn't expect it. I also was surprised to see I won my age group. Where did all this happen you ask?

This past Sunday, I decided to do the Ace of Hearts 15K in Clearwater, as a tune-up for Marine Corps Marathon...just to see how my endurance is holding up (or should I say, how it is returning). I'm happy to say that it's almost back to where it should be! I still have a little work to do, as well as some mental confidence training to accomplish. But it's all starting to fall into place again.

For Sunday's run, my goal was to just go out and see how my breathing, heart rate, and endurance stacked up since I've started training harder for running. I wanted to see, also, how CrossFitting like a madman these past couple weeks has affected my muscular endurance. I wrote the following in my BT blog about it.

It was very hot...about 80 degrees and high humidity...at the start. The race started at the bottom of an overpass and went up immediately. After that it was flat with a few false flats for about 4 miles. On the way back there was a 10% climb and the overpass again, which brought the distance to 6 miles. It turned out that Mile 6 was pretty much all uphill.
Another flat out and back for three miles finished the race. My pace was all over the place. I took a gel at Mile 3 and felt good...but REALLY needed one at Mile 6, which you can see by my pace. At Mile 7 I saw a guy gaining on me and didn't wanna lose my top 5 overall placement so I turned it up. I'd noticed he was gaining on me when my pace fell into the 7's...so I figured he must be running about 7 flat. I thought if I just keep my pace under 7, I'd stay ahead of him. I was right. As my pace increased, so did my interval. I managed to stay ahead of him but he wasn't far behind. So I made sure to keep my effort high.
About 8 miles in, I was really feelin' it. I had taken my last gel at Mile 6 and I needed some nutrition. I was at the last aid station so this time I took Gatorade. I'd only taken water up til that point. I was almost done but I was afraid I'd lose my position if I let my effort get any lower.
At Mile 9 I thought I was gonna throw up. My pace was still about 6:40 but my effort was thru the roof. Only 0.3 to go... I came into the park and looked behind me. I was far enough in front of the 6th place guy that I knew I'd just be able to cruise thru the finish chute without a sprint, so I didn't sprint...I most assuredly would have thrown up. 1:03:33 was on the clock when I passed thru. New 15K PR by almost 5 minutes!!

I am attributing all this power/speed return to my focus on running, my giving up pure bodybuilding, and increasing my CrossFit volume. Today I wanted to have a long sweaty workout so I made up my own.

I'm calling this one "The Continuum"...
100 jumprope
Row 400m
21 pullups
15 clean and jerk, 95#
9 burpees
Row 300m
21 pushups
15 snatch, 95#
9 weighted jumping lunges, 2x10# plates
Row 200m
21 situps
15 overhead squat, 70#
9 weighted vertical jumps, 2x10# plates
Row 100m
21 squats
15 KB/DB swing, 1.5pood/55#
9 thrusters, 70#
100 jumprope
19:41 was my total time. It was exactly what I needed. I will continue to do CF right thru my MCM taper but I'll do easier, less taxing workouts. I still wanna sweat though.

The Closer I Come to DEATH, The Better I Feel!

I'm so psyched up today about my CF return that I just had to make ANOTHER post today.

The past few days I've really gone hardcore with my CrossFitting. I am kinda bored with the regular old workouts. I have become a HUGE fan of mashups, chippers, and multi-round workouts. Yes, 99% of CF's workouts are multi-round...but I'm talking about MEGA-multi-round stuff...like 7 rounds...10 rounds...stuff like that.

For example...
Tuesday
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of-
95# hang power clean
Situps
Pushups

Wednesday
"THE RAMSTEIN"
For time...
Row 500m
25 Pullups
20 KB/DB Swings (1.5pood KB/55lb DB)
15 Overhead squats, 65lb barbell
10 Burpees
Run 400m
10 Burpees
15 Overhead squats
20 KB/DB swings
25 PullupsRow
500m

This one was absolute HELL...and I frickin' loved it!!

Thursday
For time:
50 situps
Then, with a 65lb barbell...
5 rounds of-
5 burpee cleans
4 split jerks
3 overhead squats
2 split snatches
1 hang power snatch
1 shuttle run (50m)
Then...
50 pushups

During the pushups, I actually fell on my face because I was just completely exhausted...I could not even hold myself up. The last 15 out of the 50 pushups were in sets of 5, I just couldn't get any more out. After it was over I couldn't move...I just lay on my back trying to breathe.

Tomorrow, I wanna do this...
(Thanks Wayne!)

“THE MAXIMUS”
For time:
800m Run
15 Clean & Jerks 115 lbs
50 Pullups
50 Dips
30 Burpees
75 DU’s
15 Snatches 115 lbs
30 Toes to Bar
30 KB Thrusters 35’s
75m Backwards Bench Drag

I.
FREAKING.
LOVE.
CROSSFIT.

The Insane VO2 Max is BACK!!!!

CrossFit has done it again I tell you.

About two weeks ago, I was genuinely nervous about Marine Corps Marathon. My running, because of my insistence (earlier in the year) on bodybuilding, had become slower and less efficient. It was when I had trouble keeping a previously "slow" pace for three miles that I realized I was going in the wrong direction. The last "nail in the coffin" was when I realized I'd stopped PR'ing in everything I did. I don't expect to PR in every race, but there were certain races I should have been faster in (case in point, the bike at Crystal River...I averaged 23.8mph last year and only 23.4 this year...it should have been well over 24).

I'm STRONG...but I'm not efficient. The good news is, the efficiency is returning. I've returned to CrossFit and have been doing more and more difficult workouts. I've stopped bodybuilding altogether in the last month and have been concentrating more on power, speed, and endurance. Sure I can still get stronger doing these things (clean and jerk requires strength as well as power), and I can still push up heavy weight doing bench presses...it IS a CrossFit move.

Last night my 5 mile run was supposed to be run at 7:30 pace...but my effort level was almost too low at that pace and I wound up running faster. 7:13 was my overall pace for the run and I felt great. In true CrossFitQ fashion, I immediately dropped and did 50 pushups, all in one set, after I finished running.

Not only is my efficiency, VO2max, and endurance returning...so is my confidence. This is big since I've been worried about my ability to reach my overall marathon season goal...run a BQ-worthy time (that's 3:15:59 or better) at every ROAD marathon I do this season. It doesn't count for trail marathons which will obviously be slower but road marathons need to be fast and efficient. Plus, I'd like to better my marathon PR at Gasparilla in 2010, since this year I ran 5 minutes shy of it (3:11 in '09...3:06 in '08). So, my training needs to be focused and goal-oriented. For this reason, I've shut down my idea for my "three-day Ironman" that I was gonna do at the end of November. Too much swimming and biking will reorient my focus in a direction I don't need to go in right now. My efficiency still isn't at 100%...but I'm confident that by the end of this month...by Marine Corps Marathon day...it will be pretty damn close to it.

It's time for CrossFit and running. That's what October thru February is all about. So THAT is what I'm gonna concentrate on. Or I'll kick myself in the ass come Gaspy day.

What? All of a sudden a marathon is making me nervous???

I've been pretty arrogant. Maybe not outwardly, but in my own mind, I've been of the mindset that a marathon is a pretty easy run. Moreover, I've been of the mindset that qualifying for Boston has become easy. When I ran at Boston, I went with no goal. But I came away with another qualifying time for 2010, which I'd already done three times over in 2009.

Suddenly, in the past few weeks, I've been shown (by my own body) that training matters!! I've seen some diminution in my performances over the past few months and my endurance has abated lately as well. I'm frustrated by this. I have never really had to work at my run speed before.

I realize that bodybuilding like a maniac for the past six months has given me strength and power, but I also realize that I am an endurance athlete, not a powerlifter or bodybuilder...and that power is replacing my endurance...so this is not acceptable. My goals are performance-oriented, not aesthetic. So, as a result of this realization, I've quit bodybuilding altogether. My strength workouts will involve CrossFit/intervals/Olympic lifting only. No more big puffy muscles. Just strong, dense, and tight. Size does matter...or the lack of it in this case. Big = slow...for me. I need to be small, light, and fast.

On my long run last weekend, which was supposed to be 15 miles but only wound up being 9 because of Achilles pain, I realized that I cannot just "wing it" anymore. I'm 35 now. My feeling is that, this year, my body has really turned on the reality check for my brain. My cavalier attitude towards my running is becoming guarded...vigilant. I don't feel that it's easy to just go run a marathon with no training anymore. I know that I can still finish a marathon at any time (for now) by just doing it. But doing WELL...that's another question now. It used to be no problem. I could just run forever. I hardly trained for the Umstead 100 and blew away my expectations and goals. But now, I feel as though without careful, diligent, purposeful, and most importantly, focused training, I will not see 2009's successes in 2010.

I am not used to feeling this way. I am discouraged by the fact that I now have to put REAL effort into my running career. I have VERY high hopes for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2010, but I will not reap the benefits of my fitness if I don't train correctly. The same goes for any of my running races this coming season. I was in the shower the other day, and I don't know why I thought of it just then, but I became nervous about trying to win the Bartram Forest Ultra. Last year, I was almost arrogant about my chances. I knew upon getting there that I'd leave with a first place overall. This year, I'm a little nervous that I'm gonna bonk or run out of steam.

I know I'm getting way ahead of myself. These races are all over a month away and I'm already getting faster. But I just need to stay aware that it takes work, and I'm not just building and retaining this fitness with no effort. Every year it will take more and more effort for me to stay competitive. I cannot simply outlive my competition, I need to outDO them as well.

Marine Corps Marathon will be a test of how fast I can get from injured to qualified. I'd like to be able to run a Boston-qualifying time at every marathon I race this season. For me this year, that's 3:15:59 or better.

Musings of A Paranoid Mind...at least, it is paranoid today...

I don't know what it is...but I just feel like people are erasing me from their lives. I'm probably totally paranoid about this, but this is the way I'm feeling. It just seems like all the friends I have here in Tampa always have something better to do than even have a quick dinner with me. I've been forced out of a few people's lives in the past, and it really hurts, especially when one of those persons forced me out for doing something I never even did.

Today a few things occurred that made me realize all my friends were doing things with each other, and not with me. Now, I'm not saying that my friends always have to include me. Not at all. I'm usually pretty adamant about the fact that I like to do some things with some of my friends and not with others. But what it seems like to me lately is that my friends are canceling plans with me and then going and making other plans with each other, and leaving me out of them. Sounds crazy right? Maybe so...and maybe I'm just reading into things...but I can't help the way I'm feeling about it.

When it comes down to it, I feel like my closest friends are the ones that live furthest away from me. Nashville, DC, NYC, California. Why is it that I feel like the further away someone is, the more they care about me?

I think what I need to do is stop chasing my friends around and asking for their time. They need to come to me. I am gonna just stop calling everyone and asking everyone to hang out and just wait for them to come to me...or not come. In which case, it is time to let the friendship fade away.

When Terri died, we all agreed that no matter how busy we were, we'd all stick together and be like a family...like we used to be. But the only person who's really kept that idea going is me. I know we all have busy lives. I have three jobs. THREE. But I still want to make time for my friends. I'm tired of the "oh I'm busy every day for the next five years" type excuses I get. So...I will stand my ground and just let my friends miss me...or at least hope they miss me. If they don't then I guess they weren't really my friends anyway, were they?

Random Thoughts on a Random Friday

Do you believe I'm writing this from my old computer in my old office at my old job that I left to become a personal trainer? My how things have changed in such a short time.

Sometime during the last few weeks I've realized that I'm really falling behind in bills. I'm even facing late fees on one of my credit cards...something that I haven't experienced in over five years. It became very clear to me at that time that I needed to have a second job. How, I asked myself, do I get a second job when I'm already working 60-65 hours a week at LA Fitness? How, I asked myself, do I even dare to add more hours to my schedule when I can't catch up on rest or sleep? I mentioned this need to my chiropractor and he said, "Whaaaaaat?!?! You are already working yourself sick!!". I needed a solution fast.

The idea hit me. I had to go back to civil engineering if I was gonna get out of this rut. The question was...would they take me back? I figured if I could do some part time engineering work, I'd be able to actually CUT my hours at the gym and still make loads more money. The engineering job would become Job 1, and LA Fitness would become Job 2.

Unfortunately, at first (it seemed), this would not work. My old boss told me there just wasn't enough work for me to come back to. All hope seemed lost. But the very next day, something happened. A project dropped into his hands and it was time-sensitive. He called me and asked me to work the next two days.

Originally I said that I couldn't because I had two full days of work at the gym, but on further exam, I cancelled my next two days at LA Fitness and came here to SCI instead. I made more money on Thursday, just working 9 hours at SCI than I would have made in 3 days at LA Fitness.

They have me scheduled for THREE days next week and at least two days the following week so I will not only catch up on bills, but even get ahead again!! The money is tax-free right now, but once I get caught up, I will need to start putting 20% of my checks away for taxes at the end of the year. For the first few weeks though, I will be fine using my entire check for bills and getting caught up on my finances. I will have plenty of time to save money for the taxes at the end of the year.

This is a HUGE monkey off my back...at least for a little while. I am hoping that this becomes regular for me. Sharon, one of my old co-workers who came back for temp work as well, said that now, since she doesn't have to work, would rather give up her hours so that I could have some. That's awesome of her to say, since it almost guarantees me work here at least one day a week. An extra 200 bux a week is PLENTY for me to stay afloat, nevermind an extra 600. This is good. It's about time things started looking up!!

I can tell by being here, and being sedentary for the day, that I will definitely need to UP my protein intake next week while I'm here working. I will do my "DIET FROM HELL" next Wed, Thur, Fri...while I'm here at Sprinkle, so I can stay lean. I can feel my six pack leaving me as I type!!

A "LONG" Run Early in the Journey

It's been a while since I've gone out and done a nice long slow distance. I've kept my longer runs for the week down to 6 or 7 miles lately because I really don't need to go any further, doing sprints and Oly's this year. But, I really do miss my longer runs. The ones where I leave the condo, go all the way down past Channelside, down to Bayshore, down and back ON Bayshore, and then back home. When I was training for Umstead, that's what I'd do every weekend, and I really miss it.

Why am I doing longer runs now when CdA isn't til next year? Well, I'm thinking...maybe I should do a 70.3 this year...at the end of the year...just to get myself ready for the big training starting in January. I'll explain...

In 2008, to get ready for CdA, I started training in January for a sprint distance race in March (Moss Park)...then an Olympic in April (St. A's)...then a 70.3 in May (IM 70.3 FL)...and finally CdA in June. I trained "for the task at hand" each time...only ramping up to IM distance training for the last 6 weeks or so. This time, it will be different. I'm already training at the 70.3 level right now, and I don't even HAVE a 70.3 race in my schedule. My longest triathlon this year, so far, is an Olympic...and it's in a month. I'm already doing 50 and 60 mile bike rides (literally WAY overtraining for an Olympic) and 10 mile runs (and longer in the coming weeks). I need to do a 70.3 some time before the end of the year. I think I could do really well at Miami Man if it's not closed. It's WAY expensive for what it is (it's really not a 70.3, the bike course is 3 miles short)...and it's a long drive. But I've always had a good time doing it. I don't know what other 70.3 I could do towards the end of the year (Miami Man is in November) that would fit into my schedule. I have Marine Corps Marathon to PR at, and I'd like to win both of the ultras I won last year in December. Not sure where a 70.3 would fit right now, but I am determined to figure it out.