50-50-50

I just got back from the Movie premier of Dean Karnazes' "Ultra Marathon Man" movie.

I was so excited to see this movie as I have been waiting a while to see it.
It covers Dean's impressive 50 Marathon's, 50 States, 50 days.
Dean is an Ultra runner, Motivational Speaker, and Author.
I've never met Dean, but I think he would be such a cool guy to hang out with as he seems to be such a down to earth, and inspiring person.

I remember when my good friend Laura bought me his book for Christmas a few years back.
I took the book home and read nearly the entire thing that night, and finished the last few chapters at work the following day. I could not put it down. I've since then, re-read the book at least 5 times.

The movie took us through all of the marathons Dean set out to run. Some of the marathons were scheduled events, and others were ran on the course where that city's marathon would have taken place.

I don't want to go into great detail about the movie, but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed it, and how inspiring it was to see Dean finish another amazing feat.
I would have to end this entry with the best quote of the movie was made by Dean's daughter Alexandria:
"It's not how many times you fall down, it's how many times you get up"

Isn't that the truth. Simply stated: Never Give Up.

Went out for a 15k as prescribed by Crossfit, and totally wasn't feeling it nearly a mile into the run. I pressed on regardless. My HR was high right off the bat.
I tried to slow down and it seemed that if I slowed down any more I would be walking.
In fact, when I started off the run, I decided to walk the first 1/4 mile. My HR got up to about 120 BPM. Kind of weird since I am not that out of freaking shape, and I was only walking.
Anyway, I turned around when my legs felt dead to the word, and decided to walk back

Taking a few days off. Probably be back to running on Sunday.

Totals: 6 miles

Modified Helen

Today is Helen's day in Crossfit World.

3 rounds for time:

400 meter run
21 Kettlebell swings
12 pullups

Modified: 5 mile run

21 kettlebell Swimgs

12 Jumping pullups

Well, because I am heavier than I want to be, it makes it more challenging to do pull ups without yanking my arms out of their sockets. I improvised with jumping pullups instead. This added greater intensity without having to pop my arms back into their sockets.
I substituted the 400m run with a 5 mile run instead.
I used a 15lb kettlebell which was the right weight needed fr these swings.

Over all, Helen proved herself to be a bad ass among all the other crossfit workouts.

Totals: 5 Miles...48:41
Helen: 5:57

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Today was a good day. Everything started off the way it should. I got good sleep, good breakfast, good everything.
The temps starting off were ideal running. I believe it was in the low to mid 60's, and by the time I finished, it was about 69 degrees.

I have been trying my hardest to dial in my hydration and attempt to keep my heart rate under control. I decided to start the run off very very slow.

It seemed to help a lot. I need to just slow down and hold back even though I feel like I can run a little harder. When I would come to a hill, I would run until my heart rate got up there a little, then I would back off and walk until the HR was back in control.

As far as hydration and supplementation, I took 3- S! Caps with 5 ounces of water before the run, and 3 more Caps with about 20 ounces of Succeed! Ultra about an hour into it, another 20 ounces in the remaining miles, and then a final 3 Caps with another 20 ounces when I was done.
Total fluid intake: 65 ounces before, during, and after the run.

My HR seemed to stay stable, and I never felt fatigued to where I had to stop and walk.
We'll see if this experiment hold true on future outings.

The only thing interesting on my run was I stopped at the Kerr Indian Mound that I have passed a few times while running/cycling. I've lived in this town for over 7 years and never stopped there to see it.
It was kind of weird to see an Adena Indian Mound and then houses built so close to it. Actually, there are Indian Mounds all over Ohio. Kinda cool.

Totals: 9.15 miles....Time: Too slow to register on this Blog

No WOD planned

I wanted to do the Crossfit WOD: "Michael", but have decided to save myself for my long run tomorrow.
I am walking around like a duck today because of my past couple of Crossfit sessions have left me so sore.

If you push yourself hard enough on these workouts, you will see results for sure.

The Quadrathon; It’s Worth the Weight Challenge!

Okay, I have accepted the challenge, that is if SLB doesn't have a lot of people already waiting.
The challenge starts August 3rd, and runs until September 7th.

Why do I want to lose weight? Because carrying around extra weight sucks.
And I want a pair of those Dirty Girl Gaiters ! and possibly any other stuff. I am near willing to do anything to win something in my life.

Anyway, my starting weight is: 211.4 lbs. -I think it was all that sand I had in my shorts from the beach the other day.
What weight do I want to get down to? -Not sure yet.

The challenge for me is when I am on vacation at the end of August. All that North Carolina Fried Seafood: Shrimp, Scallops, Fish, Hush Puppies. Maybe I'll just eat once a day. Or, if I eat all day and don't stop, does that count as once a day?

Now, don't get me wrong. I typically don't eat this type of food as I am fairly conscience of what I eat. But man, the last time I had North Carolina Seafood was about 8 years ago. -Hold me back.

Talking Smack:

Now, hear this. I will still go to North Carolina, eat all the seafood I want, and still win or place in this challenge.
I am incredibly motivated right now.
I will update daily on this challenge to inform others that they are being smoked.
Now, if I were you, I wouldn't check this Blog everyday, I wouldn't want to discourage anyone.

50 minute run and WOD: "Jeremy"

I decided tonight was going to be a really relaxing run, and it turned out to be such a nice one.

This run in particular got me to think back when I was training for my second marathon.
It would take me about a 1/2 mile to get into my "Zone".

The Zone for me was never achieved if I started out too fast. Tonight, I started out super slow and stayed that way until I felt that familiar "Zone" I believe that didn't come until about 1 1/2 miles into my run. My heart rate didn't climb much until the end of my run. I think it maxed out at 172. -I'll take that. Toward the end of the run, I felt good enough to go another 10 minutes, but decided to save myself for my WOD.
After my run, I took a minute to re-hydrate, and off to my garage for another round of sweat and near-tears.
The WOD was modified "Jeremy" :

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
45 pound Overhead squats
Burpees ----Burpees suck ass by the way.

I kept the intensity up on this workout, and thought I was going to die and/or power puke.

The Filthy 50 I did the other day took me actually a lot longer than I originally stated. -Okay, I busted myself out. I stopped the clock every time I took a water break or a near-puke break.

Totals:
50 minute run at easy pace
WOD: "Jeremy" time: 9:57 (no stopping the clock)

Buxton and Fran

Tonight consisted of a quick run with my pup Buxton, followed by a quick run on the treadmill, then a modified "WOD" : Fran.

As always, the running I do with my dog always ends up being a fartlek run, followed by a lot of walking, stopping, and eventually laying down in some ones yard to cool off.
The evening was really nice with temps in the mid 70's. Of course every tree, every anomaly had to be sniffed and investigated. By about 1 mile in, we came to a wooded trail area, and I was no longer allowed to take the lead. It went on this way pretty much the rest of the run.

When we got back home, and the dog sacked out on the floor, I decided to hit the treadmill.
I felt pretty good the entire time. Heart rate was good at about 165 max.
I decided this was to be a warm up for Fran.

Fran consists of 3 rounds (21-15-9 reps ) for time of:
Barbell Thrusters @ 95lbs
Pull-ups
My modifications:
Barbell Thrusters@ 45 lbs
Jumping pull-ups.

Once I was done with this, my heart rate was about 183, and my hammies were screamin.

After I caught my breath, I hopped back on the treadmill for a 1/2 mile cool down.
I wanted to go further, but my hamstrings were toast.

2 miles with dog
2 miles on treadmill
Fran WOD: 4:32
1/2 mile cool down

Wednesday Ride

Sorry forgot to post. I know you all have been waiting anxiously. It was a nice, fun filled ride of dodging; cars, trucks and angry soccer moms in SUV's through hellacious traffic. -I need to get a helmet.

About 10 miles finished in 50:32. No time to run.

Who Pee'd in this guys' coffee?

Regardless of who did, there is no Crossfit WOD scheduled. I think I will plan a Run and/or a Ride. Will post it later tonight.
You know what they say about guys with big tires don't you? -I don't know either, but this guy looks nuts.
I think I want to scare people too, and shave my head and angrily carry a giant tire around over my head....and possibly grow a mustache.

Could you imagine driving down the street and run across this guy? WTF? That is enough to make my Cherokee turn around by itself and drive the other way.

Run, Bike, Filthy 50

Filthy 50 you say? What is that? You did what?

I started the day off with a run on the road through housing developments and rural country roads. The run was a little uneventful. Probably because it was 7:00AM and everyone was sleeping in.
When I started out the temperature was about 75 degrees, and when I made it back home it had gotten up to about 83 degrees.
I had decided that while I was running that I should take the bike out for a quick ride.
I ended up with 7.5 miles for a run, and grabbed a Zone bar, and off I went on a bike ride.
This is when I saw all the activity. I think I counted 4 runners, and 3 cyclists. Kinda rare to see that many on the roads around here. They actaully looked like people who were training for something.
Anyway, I ended up with 11.5 miles for the ride.

Well, by the time I got back home from the ride, the temp had jumped up to about 88 degrees.
I had taken in a lot of water, and still ended up dropping about 3 lbs.
The heat made it hard to do anything the rest of the day. We peaked at about 92 degrees or something like that.

Now, WTF is a Filthy 50? -Your worst nightmare I would bet.
(It was actually my worst nightmare).

I've been wanting to stick with the WOD or (work out of the day) with Crossfit (see links off to the side).
I looked at the Crossfit website this morning to see what the WOD was, and thought man, how the hell was I going to do that? Let me tell you, if there was a time in my life that I wanted die, it would have been at the start of the workout.
First of all it starts out with box jumps on a 24" box. I didn't have one, so I used an 18" instead.
I can typically do 20 of them with no problem, but 50 really got me good.
The rest of the workout is below. I am already really sore from this, and will pay dearly come Tuesday and Wednesday.

Filthy 50:
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
50 Walking Lunge, (50 steps)
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders


Totals:
Run - 7.5 miles
Bike - 11.5
Crossfit WOD: Time: 47:32 - Not bad considering I used all my energy on the first part of the workout.

Tempo Run and WOD

Tonight I ran on my treadmill since I had some yard work to do, and couldn't venture out to the track or trail.
The run went really well. My heart rate got up there a little bit as I approached my peak on the tempo run. Ended up maxing out at 178. I think my average HR was 168.
My hydration has been pretty good lately. I had consistent amounts of water throughout the past few days , about 130 ounces of pure water per day, and about 32 ounces Succeed Ultra during my run. I've been adding an S!Cap before I go to bead, and one before I run.
We'll see if this helps.
Oh, I did have a Sam Adams Light after my yard work was done. -Does this count as hydration?
A man doesn't feel like a man without a beer while doing yard work.

Once I was done, I decided to do at least a non-standard Crossfit Work Out of the Day or WOD

I decided on 3 rounds, 12 reps each of 18" box jumps, Cinder block deadlifts, and Ball Slams

I never kept track of the time. I really didn't care since I was spent after those three rounds, and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

Totals: Easy tempo run......3 miles......Time: 29:16
Quick Crossfit WOD

Crossfit tools:

Quick visit to the Track

Not much time for a full workout, but at least I made it out.

1 mile warm up: 8:33
400m : jog
800m: 3:53
400m: jog
800m: 3:50
----------------------------
3 Rounds:

50 Air squats
20 push ups

Badwater 135

Yes, it is that hot in Death Valley albeit, I have never been there, and yes, people do run a race starting at Badwater and ending up at Whitney Portals -135 miles away.

I was reading Kim's blog tonight, and felt bad for not keeping up to date on the Ultra world. I forgot all about Badwater taking place, and I felt bad for not following a fellow runner that I have had the privilege of running with many times: Rita Barnes.

Rita is a great person to run with as she always has a great story to tell.
I remember one night we had a group run planned with other Columbus Road Runner Club members.
Along with Rita, I was the only one that showed up. I thought to myself, okay maybe it won't be so bad. Who cares, I was running.
We started off at a pace that was way too fast. I specifically remember Rita saying "this is a good slow pace, we'll stay here for a while". I remember specifically saying to myself: "WTF"?
Now, I am one of those people that need to start off slow in order to get properly warmed up. If I don't, I am toast.

About 3 miles into our 6 miler, I was wondering where the hell my car was because I needed it just to keep up with her. I think my thoughts made it to my mouth because Rita started laughing at me.
At the time of this run, I was really out of shape because I had taken a lot of time off after running the New York City Marathon.

Anyway, I am sitting here supposed to be working but instead, I am typing up this blog entry.
I will follow Rita's progress throughout the night. Best of luck to her and all the other runner's out there.

UPDATE: Rita finished in 42:21:13

Great Job Rita!!!!

Bike Ride

The evening was just too nice to sit around. Wasn't sure if I wanted go for a run or a ride on the bike.

Since Monday's are typically cross training/rest days, I decided on a bike ride. Nothing too eventful. A lot of people were out in the various hood's I rode through.

I decided that a future investment would be to buy a road bike. I am not looking to do any triathlons, but, still would be nice to have a smoother ride. I am riding on a mountain bike that is heavy and cumbersome.

Totals: 10 miles......47:13

Sunday run

It was amazing I was able to wake up this morning and actually get out early enough before traffic started to get bad.
When I started out, I had no plans on which was I was going to go. I decided that I would figure it out when I got to my first intersection as to which was I was going to go.
My route was decided within 40 seconds after I started: Pickerington Ponds.

I really like running in this area in the morning time before any cars have spooked off all the wildlife. The main road I would be running on which by the way, is called Schoolhouse Road.
Appropriately named after a school house that sits at the beginning or the end of the road (which ever way you look at it). The old schoolhouse was remodeled some years ago and now people are living in it.
Anyway, at this point in the run, I was real disappointed as I did not see any wildlife yet. Just a cyclist who was just as surprised to see me. More over, I was real disappointed in the fact that I have had to stop and walk a little bit because my heart rate was near max. I have no idea WTF is going on.
I ended up walking/stopping many times after this because I was just so g-dammed fatigued.
After about 5 miles, I decided it was useless to keep trying to put effort into a run that I wasn't benefiting from. I ended up walking back to my house instead. If I had ran any slower, I might as well have walked the entire time.
Will try again another day.

Totals: 5.17 miles 9:07 pace

Heart Rate: low: 169, Average: 183.5, Max: 192

Just a 40 minute run tonight on the treadmill. Nothing major to report.
Run felt great.

Totals: 40 Minute run 4.09 miles

As my High School Football Coach always said.....

"Get the Old soreness out so you can put New soreness back in".

I still shiver at this memory as he always yelled this at the start of two-a-day practice. I would have to say, I was a lot more sore then, than I am today.
Today I woke up a little on the sore side. I think it was from my kettle bell swings from the previous nights' workout.
I was so eager to get a run in despite being on calls all night and being a little more sore than normal.
I was only able to get in a quick run, but it was one of the best I've had in a while.
Let's hope the trend continues.

Total: 3 Miles 29:22

A night of 20

Quick 2 miles followed by three rounds of station work for time. Thought I was gonna say 20 miles huh?

I started out with wanting to put in a few miles. That obviously never happened.
I decided on a quick work consisting of 18" box jumps, dumbbell curls, kettle bell swings and then crunches. Each set was 20 reps, 3 rounds for time.

Totals: 2 miles 19:10
Workout: 8:37 3 rounds of 20.

Quick run and workout tonight

I had a goal of running about 5 miles tonight but ended up a little short on time. Since I am on call this week, I needed to be ready for any issues the showed up.
I started off running on my treadmill since I cannot go anywhere, and about 30 minutes into my run, I had to stop to answer a page.
I was never able to start running again and had to call it an evening with the running. I decided to instead do a quick workout of box jumps, pull ups, kettle bell swings, and abs. I did 3 rounds for time, which only took me a little over 8 minutes. Needless to say, I was spent.

Totals: 3 miles, plus workout.

Sunday Long Run

Today was just a quick run around the hood. Did my usual 5 mile loop with a little diversion to make it 6 miles.
Felt great, no issues at all. Had to walk a little bit until I got my bottle open to drink from it.

Hope everyone had a great "4th" weekend.

Total: 6 miles