Football Field Conditioning - Tapering before BattleFrog Race

I really don't have much experience with preparing for a race so I am experimenting with race week prep. After a full upper body session on Tuesday, I took Wednesday off and then got some conditioning work in today. I made sure that it involved running since I have not had an endurance run day in three weeks. 

Usually I do this workout with the speed sack, a weight vest and a weight belt. Today I left the weights at home. 

Food wise, I had a terrible day yesterday by eating two pieces of pizza, three margaritas, two beers, spinach avocado dip with chips and half of a double cheeseburger. Everything will be okay as long as today and tomorrow I eat sensibly. This morning was oatmeal, lunch will be split with two halves of a tuna fish sandwich, and dinner will be a salad with salmon along with hummus with baby carrots. Tomorrow will be chicken with rice and vegetables for lunch and a sensible dinner. Saturday race breakfast will be oatmeal and maybe a hard boiled egg. Post race lunch will be the other half of the double cheeseburger. 

My left leg is still nagging at me so I hope that today's session did a little bit to loosen it up and that resting tomorrow will have it ready for Saturday. I don't expect it to be 100% but also don't expect it to hold me back. 

Actually, tomorrow won't be a total rest day as I plan to stretch in the morning. This will be an addition to the workout schedule and something that I am adding now that I am entering the maintenance period of my training. From now through October I will not be pushing for new gains but rather maintain what I have gained for this competition season and throw in some stretching to keep limber and gain mobility. 

Now to the workout:

Ran about a mile to the football field and around the track

Repeated circuit 3x with minimal or no rest:

• 50 yard sprint
• 20 sit ups
• 20 box jumps onto bench
• 20 Russian twists 
• Shuttle Runs - 10 yards and back, 20 yards and back, 10 yards and back
• 10 Burpees
• 50 yards lunges
• 5 pull ups
• 10 TRX (they have chains with handles hanging from bars at the park) rows
• 5 dips then cross the parallel bar
• 5 chin ups with 10 second hag (arms at 90 degrees) at end

Ran home

Total time: 1 hour and 25 minutes including warm up and cool down walk. 

I am now studying the course map to plan my race strategy including where and when to bring it and when to pace. This helps me visualize my success. 

- Upper Body Day / Pre Race Strategy

Not a good day today. I got everything in and felt good going into the gym but I was not able to put up the numbers that I wanted to. Strange.

Looking forward to racing this weekend and the thought for the workouts leading up to Saturday is to rest tomorrow (Wednesday), do a football field conditioning day without weights on Thursday, rest Friday and kill it on Saturday. I was thinking of using weights or the football field conditioning but my leg is aching this morning (after an upper body workout) so I am not going to push it.

Warm Up:

• 50 Jumping Jacks (http://youtu.be/dmYwZH_BNd0)
• 40 Squats w/12 kg bar (http://youtu.be/QKKZ9AGYTi4)
• 30 Sit Ups
• 20 Judo Pushups (http://youtu.be/sqiV1mbqbtA)
• 10 Burpees (http://youtu.be/O7_TBHno0Os)

Chest/Back Routine - 5 sets increasing in weight and decreasing in reps 20/15/10/5/3.

• Bench Press (http://youtu.be/gRVjAtPip0Y)
• Barbell Row (http://youtu.be/Xglwz5hwRYs) ** I start from the floor every rep and bring barbell to my chest. Purpose is to exactly replicate the bench press in reverse.
• Barbell Shoulder Press (http://youtu.be/8gVEdhS5AEs)
• Pull Ups (P) / Dips (D) / Chin Ups © / Monkey Bars (M) / Toes-To-Bar Leg Ups (L) / Rope Pull Ups (R)

Notes / Results:

• Time: 70 minutes
• Weight: 195
• Bench Press
• Previous high: 3@155
• Sets: 20@110, 12@115, 10@115, 5@135, 2@145
• Pull Ups(P)/Dips(D)/Chin Ups(C)/Rope Pull Ups(R)/Monkey Bars(M)/Leg Ups(L)
• 5P/3C/5D/M/1R/5L/5D/4C/M/1P/4D
• Press
• Previous High: 3@100 or 1@105
• Sets: 17@65, 12@70, 9@75, 5@85, 3@90
• Barbell Row
• Previous High: 4@170
• Sets: 20@110, 15@115, 10@135, 4@155, 1@165
• Finisher: 30 Burpees

Killer Leg Day

The focus today was on squats but also want to highlight that I made a change to the step ups. Instead of holding dumbbells, I switched to placing a barbell on my shoulder and doing as many reps without resting as possible. The purpose is to try and better simulate the sandbag carry up the mountain on the Spartan Beast. They have 60 pound sandbags, I used a 75 pound barbell. After a killer deadlift session I could only do 17 reps (1 rep = both legs up & down). My goal is to get to 100. By when? I don’t know.

Warm Up:

• 50 Jumping Jacks (http://youtu.be/dmYwZH_BNd0)
• 40 Body Weight Squats (http://youtu.be/QKKZ9AGYTi4)
• 30 Sit Ups
• 20 Judo Push Ups
• 10 Burpees (http://youtu.be/O7_TBHno0Os)

Leg Routine - Switched to a reps per set of 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 / 3

• Barbell Squats (http://youtu.be/b_uAOqA-pxY)
• Barbell Deadlift (http://youtu.be/nFw69zIssgQ)
• Step Ups (http://youtu.be/Jyb_oHDHJZo)

Notes / Results:

• Time: 60 minutes
• Weight: 193

• Squats
• Previous High:3@165
• Sets: 20@70*, 15@95*, 10@105*, 5@145*, 3@155
• Deadlift
• Previous High: 5@275
• Sets: 20@155, 15@185, 10@215, 5@235, 3@245
• Step Ups
• Previous high: (Dumbbells: 3@60)
• 17 @ 75 barbell
• Finisher: 30 Burpees

Back in the Groove Kettlebell Session

This past week has been hectic with visitors and a business trip so I took it off from working out. I let my body rest and overate to give it the opportunity to catch up. This is my prep week for my first race. Since I am extremely confident that I can complete a 15k obstacle race on flat terrain, I am going to go all out and try and win my age group in the Open heat. This will be my baseline for racing and help me determine if I want to start racing in the elite heats going forward.

Due to my week off I could have started with any workout but decided on Kettlebells since they will get my total body into the exercise groove again while kickstarting my metabolism.

This Kettlebell workout came from http://kettlebellsworkouts.com/ I pulled all of the videos from this trainer’s YouTube Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/GBpersonaltraining

He has several different types of workouts on his site along with downloadable programs. Please visit his site. This is listed as his “Best Kettlebell Workouts” so I thought that would be fine for me but he has other ones including strength, beginner, etc. I have adjusted the number of reps and set to fit me but are using his exercises.

Warm Up:

• 50 Jumping Jacks (http://youtu.be/dmYwZH_BNd0)
• 40 Body Weight Squats (http://youtu.be/QKKZ9AGYTi4)
• 30 Sit ups
• 20 Judo Pushups
• 10 Burpees (http://youtu.be/O7_TBHno0Os)

Circuit with sets of 10. At the end of each circuit did 10 burpees.

• Turkish Get Ups (http://youtu.be/NeJLk-PsIsg)  x 5 each side
• One Arm Kettlebell Swings (http://youtu.be/zjnRj5SRNF0)  x 10 each side
• Reverse Lunges (http://youtu.be/y2jz7ot6r2I)  x 10 each
• High Pulls (http://youtu.be/MyxVI-s-738)  x 10 each
• Kettlebell Squats (http://youtu.be/MeIiIdhvXT4)  x 20
• 10 Burpees (my addition to the workout)

Notes / Results:

• Time: 70 minutes.
• Weight: 192 pounds

** All weight in KGs**

• Turkish Get Ups: Sets: 8, 10, 12, 10, 10
• 1 Arm Kettlebell Swings: 12, 16, 18, 24, 24
• Reverse Lunges: 12, 16, 16, 18, 16
• High Pulls: 12, 16, 18, 16, 18
• Squats: 12, 16, 18, 16, 18

Eating & Sunday Spartan Training

Most important note is that I have been trying to watch what I eat and also trying to limit my carb intake in order to be at a peak weight for upcoming races. Yesterday I was walking all around New York carrying my daughter and by the end of the day I was ready to pass out. Literally. I actually got dizzy. This was on a rest day and after eating a full lunch of Moo Goo Gai Pan - which is chicken and vegetables. 

The take away is that I need to continue to eat carbs and eat more in general to fuel my workouts and strength growth. I have to stop listening to bloggers and listen to my body while keeping an eye on the scale since I can't use this as an excuse and let myself go.

This morning I took advantage of my time opportunity and went to the Spartan training in Jersey City. Good workout but nothing that is a lot greater than what I am already doing. 

After a good warm up we did:

• 50 TRX Rows (hang from the handles and pull yourself up)  and everytime you stopped to rest you had to do ten pushups
• 100 squats - could be body weight but could also add load. Everytime you rested you had to to ten bell slams (worthless exercise)
• Lunges down the street and back. Not sure how far on this but it was long. 
• 30 burpees with ten sit ups every time you rested.
• In between each exercise you had to run down the street and back. 

One of the main reasons I made it a point to attend was to practice the rope climb. As many YouTube videos as I watch I still can't get the foot placement and technique down so it looks like I will be muscling up the rope. This puts an emphasis on pull ups through September. 

Football Field Conditioning

Had a good day but cut it a little short due to the back of my knee and what I believe is my hamstring acting up. Still got three circuits in, increased the weight vest to 12 pounds from 10 and did 12 reps on the second and third circuits as opposed to ten.

I read today that consistency is the key for making gains. For every five workouts someone in training will usually have one bad day, three okay days and one awesome day. Yesterday was an awesome upper body day. Today was a not so great conditioning day.

Another thought is that for my next leg day I will do AMAP barbell step ups with an 80 pound bar. This will be after my squats & deadlifts and will be for time. I will round out the remainder of my workout time with this exercise. The first time doing it will establish a base line to improve upon. The purpose is to prepare myself for the 60 pound sandbag carry up the mountain during the VT Spartan Beast.

Warm Up:

• 50 Jumping Jacks (http://youtu.be/dmYwZH_BNd0)
• 40 Body Weight Squats (http://youtu.be/QKKZ9AGYTi4)
• 30 Sit Ups
• 20 Pushups (http://youtu.be/Eh00_rniF8E)
• 10 Burpees (http://youtu.be/O7_TBHno0Os)

Workout Circuit all done while wearing 12 pound weight vest:

• Run around the track to make sure legs are warmed up
• 50 yard sprint with 40 pound speed sack
• 12 Sit Ups with 20 pound rip:60
• 12 Box jumps (onto bench on side of field)
• 12 Russian Twists with 20 pound rip:60
• Shuttle Runs: 10 yards & back, 20 yards & back, 10 yards & back
• 20 Straight leg deadlift to push press with 30 pound rip:60
• 50 yard lunges with 30 pound speed sack & 10 pound weight vest on my shoulders

Repeated Circuit 3 times

• Time: 60 minutes - including walk to and from car.

Upper Body - Killed it

Really did awesome this morning. I was surprised at the gains I made on the rows, the press (especially killed it) and the bench. And I had fun playing on the monkey bars and doing pull ups. I did towel pull ups for the first time instead of using the rope with the balls on the end from the ab machine.

Rows were my lift of focus today and I was going to omit the bench but I was able to do it. I may have put more work into the monkey bar routine but it was occupied. Thinking that maybe the pull ups/monkey bar stuff can be extras although I will always still do them. We shall see.

Warm Up:

• 50 Jumping Jacks (http://youtu.be/dmYwZH_BNd0)
• 40 Squats w/12 kg bar (http://youtu.be/QKKZ9AGYTi4)
• 30 Sit Ups
• 20 Judo Pushups (http://youtu.be/sqiV1mbqbtA)
• 10 Burpees (http://youtu.be/O7_TBHno0Os)

Chest/Back Routine - 5 sets increasing in weight and decreasing in reps 20/15/10/5/3. To compensate for lighter weights keep a good pace.

• Bench Press (http://youtu.be/gRVjAtPip0Y)
• Barbell Row (http://youtu.be/Xglwz5hwRYs) ** I start from the floor every rep and bring barbell to my chest. Purpose is to exactly replicate the bench press in reverse.
• Barbell Shoulder Press (http://youtu.be/8gVEdhS5AEs)
• Pull Ups (P) / Dips (D) / Chin Ups © / Monkey Bars (M) / Toes-To-Bar Leg Ups (L) / Rope Pull Ups (R)

Notes / Results:

• Time: 65 minutes
• Weight: 193
• Barbell Row
• Previous High: 4@170
• Sets: 20@105, 15@115*, 10@135*, 4@155, 3@165, 3@175
• Press
• Previous High: 3@100 or 1@105
• Sets: 20@60*, 15@70*, 10@80, 5@90*, 3@95*
• Bench Press
• Previous high: 3@155
• Sets: 20@105*, 15@110, 10@115, 5@135*, 2@145
• Pull Ups(P)/Dips(D)/Chin Ups(C)/Rope Pull Ups(R)/Monkey Bars(M)/Leg Ups(L)
• M/D/P/L/R/D/M/P
• Doing my best to cross monkey bars with one arm swing and going side to side to avoid the TRX ropes hanging from it. This makes it more challenging and fun.
• Finisher: 30 Burpees