What a difference a year can make. At the end of 2009 I was heading into my first marathon battling injuries and lacking confidence in my preparation to be certain I could run 26.2 miles successfully. As I'm starting to understand more and more if you think it enough it will probably come true. After all, if you build it they will come. As I head into 2011, I am a few days away from returning to Orlando, Florida, this time to take on the Goofy Challenge. On Saturday January 8, 2011 in will run the half marathon and on Sunday I will tackle my second Disney Marathon. I haven't done the traditional mega mileage nor have I done any 20+ mile long runs. In fact I probably haven't run more then 20 miles in one week of training since September or October. Instead my training has consisted of things like muscle ups, cleans, dead lifts, squats (front, back & overhead) and everyone's favorite snatches. In addition I have also been doing 2-3 specific interval and time trial efforts. If anything has come from using CrossFit Endurance it's that my confidence is at an all time high and if you're from the "Jersey Shore" you know what happens when your confidence is high. Since my last marathon my strength has improved and my intervals have have gotten faster. Here's a look at my training two weeks out from race date.
Sunday December 26: 60 minute time trial covering as much distance as possible. Finished between 10 - 11 miles (I sure do wish I still had my Garmin).
Monday December 27: 1 RM Overhead Squat 135# - Acacianator 3 rounds for time of: 27 Pull-ups, 12 Power Cleans 115,
27 Over Head Weighted Sit Ups 45, 12 Shoulder to Overheads 115: 32:06
This workout completely smoked me and took a little longer then it should have. I probably should have scaled the weight a little more and went with 110 or 105.
Tuesday December 28: Row 500m then 7 rounds for time of: 3 Back Squats 80% max 165#, 7 Jingle-Jangle Sprints 10 m (shuttle run), Burpee Broad Jump back to bar: 11:45
All in all it was a pretty solid WOD and considering I've only been squatting with weight since September I was pretty pumped with 21 reps @ 165#. There's a saying on one of the lifting platforms at Counter Culture and it says "Stronger than yesterday" it has become one of my mantras.
PM Intervals of 10 x 1:1 - leg were a little sluggish from the squats but I felt pretty smooth considering the WOD I did in the morning. Due to my work schedule I wasn't able to give myself the recommended 3 hours recovery between workouts.
Wednesday December 29: 7-11-21 reps of: Deadlift 185, sots presses 45, between sets of 7 and 11 complete 50 double unders, 50 mt. climbers, 15 parallette pass throughs: 12:14
Today I learned what sots press are and boy are they hard. A sots press is a snatch grip shoulder press from the bottom squat position. The great thing about CrossFit is not only am I doing things I never thought I could do, I'm even doing things I've never heard of!
Thursday December 30: gymnastic warm up consisting of 4 rounds of Handstand Hold 30 seconds, 30 Hollow Rocks , L Sit Hold 30 seconds on rings
Then
5 rounds for time of: 7 Burpee Box Jumps, 30 Double Unders , 7 Overhead Squats (95#)
Unfortunately I didn't log my time on this WOD so I have no idea have long it took to complete. I do remember being very frustrated with my double unders especially because I did them so well in the WOD the day before.
Friday December 31: Early AM did 4 x 1 minute hill repeats with jog down recovery. During the warm up I developed a nasty calf crap that I attribute to dehydration.
WOD: 1 RM Squat Clean in 5 minutes 135# - for time complete 20 shoulder to overhead 115# / 40 lateral burpees followed by max wall ball shot (35)
After today I can be sure that 5 on 2 off is not the training schedule I need to follow. This was the first WOD I've done in a while that I wasn't pleased with my performance and I was because I was beat up and tired. The key to better performance is recovery.
Saturday January 1, 2011: No training - Rest and Recovery. Bring on 2011!
Sunday January 2: Do to my calf issue from Friday's workout I decided to take today's run fairly easy. 45 minute progressive run and although my calf was still noticeable I was able to increase my pace throughout the run even with the hills here in Oceanside.
Monday January 3: 1 RM Dead Lift 275# - For Time: 50 Wall Balls, 5 Rounds Cindy, 40 Wall Balls, 4 Rounds Cindy, 30 Wall Balls , 3 Rounds Cindy, 20 Wall Balls, 2 Rounds Cindy, 10 Wall Balls, 1 Round Cindy: 20:42
What a way to start the week! 150 wall balls in total leaves the legs smoked for sure but after finishing a WOD like this I know i'm ready for the Goofy Challenge!
28 December 2010
14 November 2010
CrossFit Endurance State of the Community Event
It's been almost a month since the AC Marathon and it's been quite a ride since. After my 8 minute PR I decided to send Brian Mackenzie from CrossFit Endurance an email detailing my experience and success with CFE. The response I got was far more then I could have ever imagined. Brain was getting ready to launch his new site and he wanted me to do an interview detailing my experience with CFE and and my back to back endurance weekends of 18 and 26.2 races. I was able to recruit some help and an HD camera and the result was sent off to Brain. When Iamunscared.com launched my interview was the opening post.
Brain had also mentioned the CrossFit Endurance State of the Community Event in Costa Mesa and without hesitation I said I'd be there. The event would be a great opportunity to network and meet many of the California affiliates as well as many of the big guns in the CrossFit community. The event did not disappoint and was well worth the trip.
I started off the day spending some time with Newman from Rx Jump Ropes working on my double under skills or the lack there of. Newman and his crew spent 5 minutes working with me, filming and reviewing my form. I picked up some really good tips and some gnarly bruises. I'm looking forward to getting home and getting more practice on my Rx Rope.
Through out the day WODs were being thrown down and the 1st WOD consisted of 1k row taking 15 pulls, then 10 burpees until the 1k was completed.
It took me a little over 7 minutes to complete and I was completely spent. My lungs were stinging, my back was cramped and my leg were like jello. As I sat down to regroup, Kelly Starrett Aka KStar from CrossFit San Fran and the MobilityWOD gave my some pointers on improving my rowing/burpees technique and reducing some of my Piriformis discomfort. As it turns out not only is Kelly a genius when it come to the human body and mobility but he's pretty funny as well. After a quick exchange I walked to my car to drop off my new Inov-8 and on the way I almost met pukie for the first time. 
Luckly I was able to maintain my composure and pukie left me alone. Better luck next time.
I made my way to the Stronger Faster Healthier to see if I could get a sample of some of their flavored fish oil. I had never dared to try anything other then fish oil in capsule form. The burps alone make me cringe at the thought of gulping down a few ounces a straight fish oil. Patricia Leighton from SFH spent some time explaining the specifics and enlightened me as to why SFH oil is the sickest. SFH offers 5 different flavors; lemon, tangerine, mint, vanilla and chocolate. All surprisingly were realy good and had not one bit a fish taste at all. The best part no fish burps either. I opted for a 10 oz. bottle of tangerine and look forward to no more fish burps.
The panel discussion included Olympic Lifting experts Mike Burgerner and Josh Everett. Fire Breathers like Greg Amundson, Becca Voigt, Kristan Clever and mobility expert Kelly Starrett. Each talked about how they became involved with CrossFit and some stumbled upon it the way I did, through a simple Google search looking better way to enhance their fitness. The family feel of the CrossFit community was something that each touched upon and its that same thing that keeps me coming back day in day out. In high school and college being a part of a team was an amazing experience and left a void in my athletic pursuits once I graduated from College. There’s something about shared suffering that brings people together and every time I step into a box to do a WOD I get the same feeling I used to get when I competed with my teammates when I competed in high school and college.
The second panel, Lisa Lugo, Dave Castro, Jimi Litchford, Brian Mackenzie, Greg Glassman talked about CrossFit in 2011 and beyond. The new partnership with Reebok and potential monetary incentives for the CrossFit Games Champion. The potential of a possible TV deal to air the CrossFit Games. The possibility of a new twist in the works for the 2011 gamse with the hint of swimming being a new skill that will be required in order to claim the title of the worlds fittest human. I was amazed to learn that CrossFit is adding 70 new affiliates each month with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Some of the highlights can be found at SicFit compliments of Jermey Thiel out of CrossFit Central in Austin, Texas. The continued theme was the value of the community within CrossFit and I couldn't agree more. When you enter a CrossFit box you are brought in like you are one of the family even if your're from the other side of the country. It's because of this that the CrossFit community like no other then I've ever been a part of.
Brain had also mentioned the CrossFit Endurance State of the Community Event in Costa Mesa and without hesitation I said I'd be there. The event would be a great opportunity to network and meet many of the California affiliates as well as many of the big guns in the CrossFit community. The event did not disappoint and was well worth the trip.
I started off the day spending some time with Newman from Rx Jump Ropes working on my double under skills or the lack there of. Newman and his crew spent 5 minutes working with me, filming and reviewing my form. I picked up some really good tips and some gnarly bruises. I'm looking forward to getting home and getting more practice on my Rx Rope.
Through out the day WODs were being thrown down and the 1st WOD consisted of 1k row taking 15 pulls, then 10 burpees until the 1k was completed.
It took me a little over 7 minutes to complete and I was completely spent. My lungs were stinging, my back was cramped and my leg were like jello. As I sat down to regroup, Kelly Starrett Aka KStar from CrossFit San Fran and the MobilityWOD gave my some pointers on improving my rowing/burpees technique and reducing some of my Piriformis discomfort. As it turns out not only is Kelly a genius when it come to the human body and mobility but he's pretty funny as well. After a quick exchange I walked to my car to drop off my new Inov-8 and on the way I almost met pukie for the first time. 
Luckly I was able to maintain my composure and pukie left me alone. Better luck next time.I made my way to the Stronger Faster Healthier to see if I could get a sample of some of their flavored fish oil. I had never dared to try anything other then fish oil in capsule form. The burps alone make me cringe at the thought of gulping down a few ounces a straight fish oil. Patricia Leighton from SFH spent some time explaining the specifics and enlightened me as to why SFH oil is the sickest. SFH offers 5 different flavors; lemon, tangerine, mint, vanilla and chocolate. All surprisingly were realy good and had not one bit a fish taste at all. The best part no fish burps either. I opted for a 10 oz. bottle of tangerine and look forward to no more fish burps.
The panel discussion included Olympic Lifting experts Mike Burgerner and Josh Everett. Fire Breathers like Greg Amundson, Becca Voigt, Kristan Clever and mobility expert Kelly Starrett. Each talked about how they became involved with CrossFit and some stumbled upon it the way I did, through a simple Google search looking better way to enhance their fitness. The family feel of the CrossFit community was something that each touched upon and its that same thing that keeps me coming back day in day out. In high school and college being a part of a team was an amazing experience and left a void in my athletic pursuits once I graduated from College. There’s something about shared suffering that brings people together and every time I step into a box to do a WOD I get the same feeling I used to get when I competed with my teammates when I competed in high school and college.
The second panel, Lisa Lugo, Dave Castro, Jimi Litchford, Brian Mackenzie, Greg Glassman talked about CrossFit in 2011 and beyond. The new partnership with Reebok and potential monetary incentives for the CrossFit Games Champion. The potential of a possible TV deal to air the CrossFit Games. The possibility of a new twist in the works for the 2011 gamse with the hint of swimming being a new skill that will be required in order to claim the title of the worlds fittest human. I was amazed to learn that CrossFit is adding 70 new affiliates each month with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Some of the highlights can be found at SicFit compliments of Jermey Thiel out of CrossFit Central in Austin, Texas. The continued theme was the value of the community within CrossFit and I couldn't agree more. When you enter a CrossFit box you are brought in like you are one of the family even if your're from the other side of the country. It's because of this that the CrossFit community like no other then I've ever been a part of.
24 October 2010
The 52nd Atlantic City Marathon
Some time in September I got the crazy idea that I wanted to run the Atlantic City Marathon the week after the LBI 18 Mile Run. Even though LBI didn't really go as well as I would have liked I told myself if the weather forecast looked good, go for it. The first thing I did the Monday morning after LBI was get the weekly weather forecast. The second thing I did was register for the 52nd Atlantic City Marathon, the third oldest running marathon in the country. "America's First Festival of Running." Who knew? 
I limped away from LBI disappointed in my performance but was confident that it wasn't my best effort. The early changes in pace as well as poor nutrition did me in yet again. Would AC offer me redemption? The plan was to go and run a PR and considering my PR was 2:59, I felt confident it could be done. I took the Monday after LBI relatively easy running just a few miles and strides in the evening to shake my legs out. I was surprised at how good I felt with no real soreness that one would expect the day after an 18 mile race. As was the case of my two previous marathon outings, I was completely wrecked right after the race but the next day I felt fine. I attributed this to poor nutrition during the race and was determined not to let that be the reason for poor performance again. With that in mind I tried to pick a few different flavor gels that I thought I could stomach on race day and opted to go with GU; strawberry banana, Roctane pineapple and tri-berry w/caffeine. Would they work on race day would be another story... Here's a look at my training the week before the marathon.
October 12, 2010
Snatch Grip Push Press 4,4,3,2,2 with 90 seconds rest between sets followed by Back Squats 3,3,2,1,1 also with 90 seconds rest between sets.
October 13, 2010
AM. WOD: 10 x 1:1, one minute on, one minute off x 10. The main focus when I do a 1:1 is form and technique. I felt like my form held together pretty well during the LBI race with no hot spot issues with my feet.
PM. WOD: 20 minute row on the C2 (no info because the computer is broken) followed up with 60 walking lunge and 60 air squats.
October 14, 2010
12 x 100 Hills Sprints with 10 squat jumps at the top of the hill after the last 6 repeats. The workout called for 30 second hill sprint but the hill I used didn't quite cut it so in order to get a little more out of the workout I decided to throw in some squat jumps to add a little more effort to the workout.
October 15, 2010
Speed development and technique work on the track, 6 x 150 with 150 walking recovery, 5 x 30 and 6 x 120. I tried to keep everything comfortably fast and focused on keeping my feet under my general center of mass.
October 16, 2010
Not your normal typical pre-race shake out. 30 Muscle Ups in 12:55. Did the first 7 unbroken and continued to do 3 - 4 unbroken until I got to 25. From 25 to 30 it was one at a time. After my muscle up WOD I did some light running with my XC team as they warmed up for their hill workout. After practice I headed over to the Power Center in Red Bank for some yoga with Lauren Brunelli
When my alarm went of at 4 a.m. I asked myself am I really going to run a marathon in a few hours?!? The answer was yes but I will admit I was a little nervous after last weeks 18 mile implosion. After a quick shower and WAWA stop I headed south for Atlantic City AKA the "City of Broken Dreams." As I drove down the parkway I reminded myself to relax, have fun and enjoy the experience. I knew if I could do those things I would walk away from a positive experience. An hour later I was rolling into AC still nervous but confident it was going to be a good day.
Packet pick was at Boardwalk Hall and when I opened my packet and saw that my race number was 7, I knew for sure it was going to be a good day to run a marathon. With my packet and shirt in hand I headed back to my car to relax and eat a little before it was time to warm up.
A little before 7 I left the parking garage to head over to the start to warm up. At the 18 miler my warm up was lacking and half-assed. I wasted time talking to friends and didn't warm up the way I knew I should have. Regardless of what pace you are running or how far you are running I still feel going through some range of motion is the key to a good performance. So, one hour before the start I started moving my body and didn't stop until 10 minutes to gun time. After some easy running on the boardwalk I found a place away from the start but near a bathroom to do my drills. As I did my drills I saw a few of my Running Works friends warming up and we wished each other good luck on the days endeavors. One thing I happened to notice as I continued to warm up and this I believe was a first for sure, was another runner smoking a cigarette. Yes I'm sure he was a runner, he had a number on. Two things instantly popped into my head when I saw this; 1. I thought I had done some crazy shit before some of my races and 2. I have to remember to put this in my blog. When it was all said on done I had put in a good hour of active movement and I felt much better about my warm up then I did the week before.
Race time had come and I was about to find out if it was really possible to run an 18 mile race and then a week later run a marathon all on less then 30 miles a week. It took me 45 seconds to get to the starting line and another mile to weave my way in and out the traffic of three races starting at once. At 5 miles I took my first GU (strawberry bananna) and surprisingly I had no problem getting it down. I also made sure that I grabbed water/Gatorade at every aide station in order to avoid the cramping issue that did me in at LBI. I rolled through 5 at sub 3 hr pace feeling relaxed and comfortable, 5 down 21 to go. Some where around 6 miles I found myself running with a gentleman who was running the half-marathon, unfortunately I neglected to catch his name. I was reluctant to strike up a conversation because I was so focused on sticking to my plan and I didn't want to be distracted or end up running faster then I wanted. After a mile of one word answers I gave in, figuring it would help pass time. We talked about the marathons that we had run, injuries, nutrition, training and coaching. At 10 miles I downed my Roctane Pineapple and again had no problems getting it down and almost instantly it seemed like I could feel it take effect. I passed the 10 mile mark still under my goal pace still feeling comfortable and relaxed but I noticed that my quads weren't feeling great. Was I coming unglued already or was I just sore from the hills and squat jumps?
At 12 miles my new running buddy pealed of to finish the Half and I pressed on southbound towards Ventnor and Margate on Atlantic Avenue. From miles 8 to the 15.5 the race ran into a head wind and around 14 it started to get a little annoying. At this point I started to talk to myself, coaching myself to stay positive and not let things I had no control over bother me. At 15, I downed another strawberry banana GU and again didn't have much of an issue getting it down. At the turn around at 15.5, I was reminded that I should have looked more closely at the course map. I can't even begin to stress how important it is to know the course you are running. I assumed that after the turn I was headed back to the boardwalk to finish and in a way I was. Just not directly. When I was directed inland it dawned on me the I still had some running left to do and heading straight back to Boardwalk Hall would have left me a few miles short of 26.2 miles.
By the time I got to 18 miles I was still feeling strong but knew a lot could go wrong if I tried to force. Although I had been doing it the entire race from 18 on I really did a lot a self coaching and I began to get tunnel vision. Not the type you get when you're about to fall out but the type you get when you're in the zone. I repeated over and over to myself "don't force", "don't chase", "keep it up", "you've got a good one going." At 20 miles I took my last gel, GU tri-berry with caffeine and I felt great. Mentally I was dialed into my mantra and physically although my quads were sore I new I wasn't about to let another one slip away. I knew I was feeling great because I was still thanking the people on the course who where telling me that I looked great. At LBI I had stopped thanking people at mile 10.
When I hit the boardwalk to head to the finish I was 11th and I had number 10 in my sights. Even though I only had a little over 3 miles to go, I still didn't want to force the issue "don't force, don't chase" I repeated over and over. Sure enough around 25 miles I moved into 10th and with a little over a mile to go the fear of blowing up no longer existed. I ran my last mile in 6:08 to finish with a chip time of 2:51.11 over and 8 minute PR on less then a weeks notice and off of less then 30 miles.
I limped away from LBI disappointed in my performance but was confident that it wasn't my best effort. The early changes in pace as well as poor nutrition did me in yet again. Would AC offer me redemption? The plan was to go and run a PR and considering my PR was 2:59, I felt confident it could be done. I took the Monday after LBI relatively easy running just a few miles and strides in the evening to shake my legs out. I was surprised at how good I felt with no real soreness that one would expect the day after an 18 mile race. As was the case of my two previous marathon outings, I was completely wrecked right after the race but the next day I felt fine. I attributed this to poor nutrition during the race and was determined not to let that be the reason for poor performance again. With that in mind I tried to pick a few different flavor gels that I thought I could stomach on race day and opted to go with GU; strawberry banana, Roctane pineapple and tri-berry w/caffeine. Would they work on race day would be another story... Here's a look at my training the week before the marathon.
October 12, 2010
Snatch Grip Push Press 4,4,3,2,2 with 90 seconds rest between sets followed by Back Squats 3,3,2,1,1 also with 90 seconds rest between sets.
October 13, 2010
AM. WOD: 10 x 1:1, one minute on, one minute off x 10. The main focus when I do a 1:1 is form and technique. I felt like my form held together pretty well during the LBI race with no hot spot issues with my feet.
PM. WOD: 20 minute row on the C2 (no info because the computer is broken) followed up with 60 walking lunge and 60 air squats.
October 14, 2010
12 x 100 Hills Sprints with 10 squat jumps at the top of the hill after the last 6 repeats. The workout called for 30 second hill sprint but the hill I used didn't quite cut it so in order to get a little more out of the workout I decided to throw in some squat jumps to add a little more effort to the workout.
October 15, 2010
Speed development and technique work on the track, 6 x 150 with 150 walking recovery, 5 x 30 and 6 x 120. I tried to keep everything comfortably fast and focused on keeping my feet under my general center of mass.
October 16, 2010
Not your normal typical pre-race shake out. 30 Muscle Ups in 12:55. Did the first 7 unbroken and continued to do 3 - 4 unbroken until I got to 25. From 25 to 30 it was one at a time. After my muscle up WOD I did some light running with my XC team as they warmed up for their hill workout. After practice I headed over to the Power Center in Red Bank for some yoga with Lauren Brunelli
When my alarm went of at 4 a.m. I asked myself am I really going to run a marathon in a few hours?!? The answer was yes but I will admit I was a little nervous after last weeks 18 mile implosion. After a quick shower and WAWA stop I headed south for Atlantic City AKA the "City of Broken Dreams." As I drove down the parkway I reminded myself to relax, have fun and enjoy the experience. I knew if I could do those things I would walk away from a positive experience. An hour later I was rolling into AC still nervous but confident it was going to be a good day.
Packet pick was at Boardwalk Hall and when I opened my packet and saw that my race number was 7, I knew for sure it was going to be a good day to run a marathon. With my packet and shirt in hand I headed back to my car to relax and eat a little before it was time to warm up.
A little before 7 I left the parking garage to head over to the start to warm up. At the 18 miler my warm up was lacking and half-assed. I wasted time talking to friends and didn't warm up the way I knew I should have. Regardless of what pace you are running or how far you are running I still feel going through some range of motion is the key to a good performance. So, one hour before the start I started moving my body and didn't stop until 10 minutes to gun time. After some easy running on the boardwalk I found a place away from the start but near a bathroom to do my drills. As I did my drills I saw a few of my Running Works friends warming up and we wished each other good luck on the days endeavors. One thing I happened to notice as I continued to warm up and this I believe was a first for sure, was another runner smoking a cigarette. Yes I'm sure he was a runner, he had a number on. Two things instantly popped into my head when I saw this; 1. I thought I had done some crazy shit before some of my races and 2. I have to remember to put this in my blog. When it was all said on done I had put in a good hour of active movement and I felt much better about my warm up then I did the week before.
Race time had come and I was about to find out if it was really possible to run an 18 mile race and then a week later run a marathon all on less then 30 miles a week. It took me 45 seconds to get to the starting line and another mile to weave my way in and out the traffic of three races starting at once. At 5 miles I took my first GU (strawberry bananna) and surprisingly I had no problem getting it down. I also made sure that I grabbed water/Gatorade at every aide station in order to avoid the cramping issue that did me in at LBI. I rolled through 5 at sub 3 hr pace feeling relaxed and comfortable, 5 down 21 to go. Some where around 6 miles I found myself running with a gentleman who was running the half-marathon, unfortunately I neglected to catch his name. I was reluctant to strike up a conversation because I was so focused on sticking to my plan and I didn't want to be distracted or end up running faster then I wanted. After a mile of one word answers I gave in, figuring it would help pass time. We talked about the marathons that we had run, injuries, nutrition, training and coaching. At 10 miles I downed my Roctane Pineapple and again had no problems getting it down and almost instantly it seemed like I could feel it take effect. I passed the 10 mile mark still under my goal pace still feeling comfortable and relaxed but I noticed that my quads weren't feeling great. Was I coming unglued already or was I just sore from the hills and squat jumps?
At 12 miles my new running buddy pealed of to finish the Half and I pressed on southbound towards Ventnor and Margate on Atlantic Avenue. From miles 8 to the 15.5 the race ran into a head wind and around 14 it started to get a little annoying. At this point I started to talk to myself, coaching myself to stay positive and not let things I had no control over bother me. At 15, I downed another strawberry banana GU and again didn't have much of an issue getting it down. At the turn around at 15.5, I was reminded that I should have looked more closely at the course map. I can't even begin to stress how important it is to know the course you are running. I assumed that after the turn I was headed back to the boardwalk to finish and in a way I was. Just not directly. When I was directed inland it dawned on me the I still had some running left to do and heading straight back to Boardwalk Hall would have left me a few miles short of 26.2 miles.
By the time I got to 18 miles I was still feeling strong but knew a lot could go wrong if I tried to force. Although I had been doing it the entire race from 18 on I really did a lot a self coaching and I began to get tunnel vision. Not the type you get when you're about to fall out but the type you get when you're in the zone. I repeated over and over to myself "don't force", "don't chase", "keep it up", "you've got a good one going." At 20 miles I took my last gel, GU tri-berry with caffeine and I felt great. Mentally I was dialed into my mantra and physically although my quads were sore I new I wasn't about to let another one slip away. I knew I was feeling great because I was still thanking the people on the course who where telling me that I looked great. At LBI I had stopped thanking people at mile 10.
When I hit the boardwalk to head to the finish I was 11th and I had number 10 in my sights. Even though I only had a little over 3 miles to go, I still didn't want to force the issue "don't force, don't chase" I repeated over and over. Sure enough around 25 miles I moved into 10th and with a little over a mile to go the fear of blowing up no longer existed. I ran my last mile in 6:08 to finish with a chip time of 2:51.11 over and 8 minute PR on less then a weeks notice and off of less then 30 miles.
11 October 2010
Jersey Shore
CABS HERE!!!
IT'S T-SHIRT TIME!!!
The Real Jersey Shore, the One and Only LBI 18 Mile Run. October 10, 2010, the 38th Memorial and my third attempt in as many years. But, before I get in to the gory details of the race, here's what my training has looked liked since the 4th.
October 5, 2010
I headed up to CrossFit Morristown for a 6 a.m. WOD. Yup Pt. Pleasant to Morristown for a 6 a.m. workout. As crazy as it sounds I don't mind the alarm or the commute because it's a great BOX with great coaches and athletes. The original WOD called for 4 rounds of row 500, 9 ring dips, 12 shoulder to overhead Rx #135 (my weight #85), 15 box jumps. Unfortunately there are only 4 rowers and 15 athletes. Mike D, staggered us and alternatively planned to do a 400 (more like 300) run if the rowers got backed up. I started in the first wave and was 3rd off the rower. Which means I need to add that to my list of skills that needs improvement. I was also planing on not running but as it turns out after the first round I was out the garage door hammering a 300. Interesting who's on the streets in Morristown at 6 a.m. I was only able to get on a rower for the first round and I'm pretty sure a row, ring dip transition would have sucked way more. I finished in 18:38, rowing and lifts need improvement. In the afternoon I headed up to RBR to do a CF Mainsite WOD : 10 x 2 Bench Press w. 60 seconds rest. I was really sure where to start off but I know I haven't really bench pressed in a long time. So I opted on the lighter side; #115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160. With a spot I'm pretty sure I could have gotten #175.
October 6, 2010
10.5 mile run with Craig Segal, ran 10 x 1 minute on w. 2 minutes recovery over the last 30 minutes. Feeling a bit run down in the afternoon I opted to bypass the afternoon strength and conditioning session.
October 7, 2010
A.M. WOD: I headed up to Morristown again and the WOD consisted of; 10 rounds for time: 10 MB clean #20, 5 HSPU (handstand push ups), 10 pistols (5 each leg). I completed the WOD in 14:33 and walked away pumped about the ease in which I did the HSPU. I also noted that I need to work more on my weakness and I added pistols to the list.
P.M. WOD : 5 x 40 : 20. This was a complete burner consisting of 40 seconds of all out sprint with 20 seconds rest. I warmed up with and easy mile of running followed up with 15 minutes worth form drills and active warm up. I finished up my warm up with 4 x 100 progressive sprints with full recovery. 5:40:20 was another WOD that appeared on paper to much easier then it actually was. Each 40 second interval I covered around 275 meters. I'm not sure if it was the wind or the workout or both but this one had my lungs burning.
October 8, 2010
Rest day : Spent some time working on the Snatch and did some easy running with the team during practice.
October 9, 2010
A.M. WOD : 7 muscle ups, 6 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats), 5 muscle ups, 4 rounds of Cindy, 3 muscle ups, 2 rounds of Cindy, 1 muscle up. Still a relative novice on the ring I moved through the first round of muscle ups dropping down to the ground to re grip each time. When I jumped back up on the rings a light bulb went off and I suddenly knew how to do a kip on the ring. Just like that I did 4 unbroken muscle ups and I almost got the last one too. I finished the WOD in 15:32. At practice with the team I ran 9 x 300 uphill. Probably not the best idea with an 18 mile race the next day but I figured why not. I made sure I ran at least one hill with each group or individual. After we finished practice I received some praise from the RBR Maintenance Staff. They were very impressed with how hard my team works day in, day out, rain or shine. It's moments like this, that make it all worth it and it's moments like this that reassure you that what your doing is the right thing. I had a similar feeling after I left Running Works in August.
Since I forgot to pick up my chip last year, I decided I would make the trip down to LBI to pre register so I wouldn't have to stress about it in the morning. In 2009 I signed up early, had my number but decided to bypass the t-shirt pick up to avoid the hassle at St Francis the morning of the race. As I was changing my shoes for the race my brother asked me if I had my timing chip. At that point it was to late to do anything to correct my stupidity and I ran without a chip. I ended up running a huge PR and finished 5th but the results of the 2009 race will never show that. Lesson learned, always pick up your t-shirt!
October 10, 2010
Race day was here and questions would finally be answered. How would my new training program translate to race results? The goal was to run 6:30 pace and be as comfortable as possible. Fellow MUXCTF alum Pat Dalessandro was also running as he preps for his first marathon in December. We talked a few days before and we both had a similar race plan so we agree to meet up and give it a go together. I didn't really warm up as well as I would have like and Pat was even surprised that I mentioned warming up. I usually spend the hour leading up to a race going through range of motion and form drills but only managed to squeeze in 20 minutes before the race. This was by no means my downfall.
We headed out at the start and I felt pretty comfortable and even though I was faster then I wanted to be through the early miles I still thought I was going to be able to maintain my pace the entire race. Through the early miles Pat and I clicked off splits in the low 6:20's.
At some point Pat and I gained a third member of our group and this is when things took a turn for the worse for me. It started to bother me that mile after mile this guy was content to sit in and let Pat and I do all the work. Eventually I moved behind him and forced him to the front to to some work and with that he took off and Pat followed. The next mile split ended up being 5:22!?! I knew that paced had picked up but 5:22 was ridiculous. The mile mark must be off but even if it was, it wasn't that off. So, because I stopped racing myself and started racing people around me my race was completely shot and we hadn't even hit the half was mark.
At that point I realized I need to get back to my game plan which was to run 6:30's and be comfortable. I settled back into a rhythm and I tried to not think about the fact that I still had 9 miles to run. I had been taking Accelerade every 3 miles but looking back I probably needed another fuel source because somewhere around mile 13 my calfs began to severely cramp. At this point Pat and I had moved into the top 10. Unfortunately, I had started to do damage control and suggested to Pat to go for it. Pat continued on and ended up running a great race finishing in 6th. I on the other hand went in the other direction going from 7th to 11th finishing in 1:56.50.
Of the 3 races I've run on LBI this was the slowest and I felt absolutely wrecked. I was flat backed for at least 10 minutes and was shoveling anything I could get my hands on into my mouth (oranges, potato chips, birch beer, gatorade) On top of it all I had to get in my car and drive to Toms River to train a client. Luckily I snapped out of it pretty quickly and by the time I arrived in Toms River I was feeling pretty good. My stomach was hurting but that was because of all the crap I ate when I finished.
The next day when I woke up I decided to enter the Atlantic City Marathon. The question many asked was why and the answers are to follow in my next update coming shortly.
IT'S T-SHIRT TIME!!!
The Real Jersey Shore, the One and Only LBI 18 Mile Run. October 10, 2010, the 38th Memorial and my third attempt in as many years. But, before I get in to the gory details of the race, here's what my training has looked liked since the 4th.
October 5, 2010
I headed up to CrossFit Morristown for a 6 a.m. WOD. Yup Pt. Pleasant to Morristown for a 6 a.m. workout. As crazy as it sounds I don't mind the alarm or the commute because it's a great BOX with great coaches and athletes. The original WOD called for 4 rounds of row 500, 9 ring dips, 12 shoulder to overhead Rx #135 (my weight #85), 15 box jumps. Unfortunately there are only 4 rowers and 15 athletes. Mike D, staggered us and alternatively planned to do a 400 (more like 300) run if the rowers got backed up. I started in the first wave and was 3rd off the rower. Which means I need to add that to my list of skills that needs improvement. I was also planing on not running but as it turns out after the first round I was out the garage door hammering a 300. Interesting who's on the streets in Morristown at 6 a.m. I was only able to get on a rower for the first round and I'm pretty sure a row, ring dip transition would have sucked way more. I finished in 18:38, rowing and lifts need improvement. In the afternoon I headed up to RBR to do a CF Mainsite WOD : 10 x 2 Bench Press w. 60 seconds rest. I was really sure where to start off but I know I haven't really bench pressed in a long time. So I opted on the lighter side; #115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160. With a spot I'm pretty sure I could have gotten #175.
October 6, 2010
10.5 mile run with Craig Segal, ran 10 x 1 minute on w. 2 minutes recovery over the last 30 minutes. Feeling a bit run down in the afternoon I opted to bypass the afternoon strength and conditioning session.
October 7, 2010
A.M. WOD: I headed up to Morristown again and the WOD consisted of; 10 rounds for time: 10 MB clean #20, 5 HSPU (handstand push ups), 10 pistols (5 each leg). I completed the WOD in 14:33 and walked away pumped about the ease in which I did the HSPU. I also noted that I need to work more on my weakness and I added pistols to the list.
P.M. WOD : 5 x 40 : 20. This was a complete burner consisting of 40 seconds of all out sprint with 20 seconds rest. I warmed up with and easy mile of running followed up with 15 minutes worth form drills and active warm up. I finished up my warm up with 4 x 100 progressive sprints with full recovery. 5:40:20 was another WOD that appeared on paper to much easier then it actually was. Each 40 second interval I covered around 275 meters. I'm not sure if it was the wind or the workout or both but this one had my lungs burning.
October 8, 2010
Rest day : Spent some time working on the Snatch and did some easy running with the team during practice.
October 9, 2010
A.M. WOD : 7 muscle ups, 6 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats), 5 muscle ups, 4 rounds of Cindy, 3 muscle ups, 2 rounds of Cindy, 1 muscle up. Still a relative novice on the ring I moved through the first round of muscle ups dropping down to the ground to re grip each time. When I jumped back up on the rings a light bulb went off and I suddenly knew how to do a kip on the ring. Just like that I did 4 unbroken muscle ups and I almost got the last one too. I finished the WOD in 15:32. At practice with the team I ran 9 x 300 uphill. Probably not the best idea with an 18 mile race the next day but I figured why not. I made sure I ran at least one hill with each group or individual. After we finished practice I received some praise from the RBR Maintenance Staff. They were very impressed with how hard my team works day in, day out, rain or shine. It's moments like this, that make it all worth it and it's moments like this that reassure you that what your doing is the right thing. I had a similar feeling after I left Running Works in August.
Since I forgot to pick up my chip last year, I decided I would make the trip down to LBI to pre register so I wouldn't have to stress about it in the morning. In 2009 I signed up early, had my number but decided to bypass the t-shirt pick up to avoid the hassle at St Francis the morning of the race. As I was changing my shoes for the race my brother asked me if I had my timing chip. At that point it was to late to do anything to correct my stupidity and I ran without a chip. I ended up running a huge PR and finished 5th but the results of the 2009 race will never show that. Lesson learned, always pick up your t-shirt!
October 10, 2010
Race day was here and questions would finally be answered. How would my new training program translate to race results? The goal was to run 6:30 pace and be as comfortable as possible. Fellow MUXCTF alum Pat Dalessandro was also running as he preps for his first marathon in December. We talked a few days before and we both had a similar race plan so we agree to meet up and give it a go together. I didn't really warm up as well as I would have like and Pat was even surprised that I mentioned warming up. I usually spend the hour leading up to a race going through range of motion and form drills but only managed to squeeze in 20 minutes before the race. This was by no means my downfall.
We headed out at the start and I felt pretty comfortable and even though I was faster then I wanted to be through the early miles I still thought I was going to be able to maintain my pace the entire race. Through the early miles Pat and I clicked off splits in the low 6:20's.
At some point Pat and I gained a third member of our group and this is when things took a turn for the worse for me. It started to bother me that mile after mile this guy was content to sit in and let Pat and I do all the work. Eventually I moved behind him and forced him to the front to to some work and with that he took off and Pat followed. The next mile split ended up being 5:22!?! I knew that paced had picked up but 5:22 was ridiculous. The mile mark must be off but even if it was, it wasn't that off. So, because I stopped racing myself and started racing people around me my race was completely shot and we hadn't even hit the half was mark. At that point I realized I need to get back to my game plan which was to run 6:30's and be comfortable. I settled back into a rhythm and I tried to not think about the fact that I still had 9 miles to run. I had been taking Accelerade every 3 miles but looking back I probably needed another fuel source because somewhere around mile 13 my calfs began to severely cramp. At this point Pat and I had moved into the top 10. Unfortunately, I had started to do damage control and suggested to Pat to go for it. Pat continued on and ended up running a great race finishing in 6th. I on the other hand went in the other direction going from 7th to 11th finishing in 1:56.50.
Of the 3 races I've run on LBI this was the slowest and I felt absolutely wrecked. I was flat backed for at least 10 minutes and was shoveling anything I could get my hands on into my mouth (oranges, potato chips, birch beer, gatorade) On top of it all I had to get in my car and drive to Toms River to train a client. Luckily I snapped out of it pretty quickly and by the time I arrived in Toms River I was feeling pretty good. My stomach was hurting but that was because of all the crap I ate when I finished.The next day when I woke up I decided to enter the Atlantic City Marathon. The question many asked was why and the answers are to follow in my next update coming shortly.
03 October 2010
LBI 18 Mile Run
It's almost time to run the LBI 18 Mile run and this years build up has taken a completely different path then the previous two years. The first year, the goal was to finish and see if I'd be interested in running a marathon (I think I finished 9th in 2008). In 2009, I new a was running a marathon and used the race as a check point in my build up. I finished 5th but neglected to pick up my chip the morning of because I already had my number. My last mile was in 5:30, one minute faster than what I started at. Two days later I couldn't run without being in pain and had to take a month and a half off. All of which led to a sub par 2:59 debut 26.2. This year's build up has been filled with lots of strength training, improved nutrition, faster more intense running and more efficient running mechanics. Since June I have been adding more and more CrossFit and CrossFit Endurance programing to my training to see if my racing would improve. In june I ran a 5k in 17:30 last week I closed out a 90 minute run with Craig Segal in 5:47, 5:37, 5:31. Yesterday I ran a 2.6 mile TT and averaged 5:20. What will this all mean on Sunday October 10, 2010? Beats me, I'm still not sure if I'm going to try to go out and kill it as I may have another surprise planned for the following Sunday. Regardless I'm going to go out and enjoy it. Here's a look at what I'll been doing since the CFE certification at CrossFit Morristown There are a few days missing here and there. Some of the days missing have either been Tabata Sprints or 2 x 1200 hill runs @ Hartshorne.
September 13, 2010
A.M. WOD : 10 x 1:1 @ Boro Track, light jog, active warm up, form drills followed with 4 x 100 meter sprint w. full recovery.
P.M. Overhead Squat work. 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6, warm up sets starting very light. 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 maxing out at 105.
September 14, 2010
10 : 30 second hill sprint w. 90 second recovery @ Hartshorne Woods w. 90 seconds recovery. Tried to run as fast as possible while maintaining proper running mechanics. Easy mile cool down, 4 x 30 walking lunge
September 15, 2010
A.M. WOD : 1:1, :45, 1:00, 1:30, 3:00, 6:00, 3:00, 1:30, 1:00, 45
P.M. S&C WOD : Every minute on the minute for 8 minutes 3 : push press. Rest 3 minutes, then every minute on the minute for 8 minutes, 5 x DB swing (no KB) #50, 5 x squat w DB, 5 clapping push ups.
September 16, 2010
A.M. WOD : 2 x 5:00 w. 2:00 rest, 5 x 1:00 w. :30 rest. Ran on the roads and had no problem with my feet. Focused on keeping my feet under my general center of mass.
P.M. S&C WOD : 5 x 5, Squat Clean #95, Bench 135
September 17, 2010
Awesome trip to the dentist for 3 fillings!!! No training
September 18, 2010
6 x 800 w. 90 seconds recovery : 2:28, 2:25, 2:26, 2:29, 2:32, 2:29 - Warm up easy mile jog, active movements, 4 x 100 meter sprint w. full recovery. Cool down easy mile.
September 19, 2010
40 minute TT
September 20, 2010
7 Rounds
7 Squat Clean Thruster #95
7 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
rest 5 minutes
12 minutes AMRAP - 6 rounds 3 Power Cleans
8 Hang Power Cleans
8 Wall Ball Shots
8 Knee to Elbow
September 24, 2010
100 Pull ups
100 Lunges
100 Burpees
100 Squats
100 Push ups
100 Sit ups
100 Double Unders
30:31
September 25, 2010
Rest Day - Six Flags!!!
September 27, 2010
WOD : CrossFit/USAW Triplet
10 Minutes AMRAP
6 x Squat Clean #80
12 x Chest to bar pull ups
24 Double Unders
5 rounds 12 pull ups
September 28, 2010
A.M. S&C WOD @ CF Morristown
7 rounds for time
14 x roll outs
5 x thruster
finished in 8 minutes give or take, didn't have my glasses on and never bothered to check the clock.
P.M. 1 :1 - 3 : 3, Covered 970 meters on each 3 minute interval.
September 29, 2010
A.M. WOD : 90 minute run in Holmdel closed the last three miles in 5:47, 5:37.5:31
P.M. Oly seminar @ CF Morristown. First ever Snatch with weight! Also, spent most of the day in the dentist chair having my implants put in finally!
September 30, 2010
2 x 1200 hill run with full recovery @ Hartshorne Woods. Mouth was sore from yesterday's 4 hour dentist ordeal but at least I can smile now!
October 1, 2010
5 x 2 Shoulder Press w. 2:00 rest
5 x 3 Front Squat w. 2:00 rest
10 Rounds for time
Dead Lift #135 x 15
Push ups/hands up x 15
20:31
October 2, 2010
A.M. WOD: Muscle up and Double Under practice. Double Unders are harder with RX Rope.
P.M. WOD 1:1 - 12 x 1:00 w. 1:00 rest @ Holmdel Park, felt good running fast on the hills.
October 4, 2010
A.M. WOD : 4 x 5 minutes w. 3 minutes rest in the wind and rain. Felt pretty good considering the conditions. I hate running in the rain.
P.M. WOD: Tried to complete the Rx CFE WOD but after 5 x 15 knees to elbows w. :20 rest the 5 x 20 chest to bar pull ups was all but impossible. Bagged the pull ups rested a bit then did 5 x 25 med ball slams w. :20 rest. I almost knocked out my new grill when I grabbed the wrong MB to slam and took the first slam in the face.
September 13, 2010
A.M. WOD : 10 x 1:1 @ Boro Track, light jog, active warm up, form drills followed with 4 x 100 meter sprint w. full recovery.
P.M. Overhead Squat work. 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6, warm up sets starting very light. 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 maxing out at 105.
September 14, 2010
10 : 30 second hill sprint w. 90 second recovery @ Hartshorne Woods w. 90 seconds recovery. Tried to run as fast as possible while maintaining proper running mechanics. Easy mile cool down, 4 x 30 walking lunge
September 15, 2010
A.M. WOD : 1:1, :45, 1:00, 1:30, 3:00, 6:00, 3:00, 1:30, 1:00, 45
P.M. S&C WOD : Every minute on the minute for 8 minutes 3 : push press. Rest 3 minutes, then every minute on the minute for 8 minutes, 5 x DB swing (no KB) #50, 5 x squat w DB, 5 clapping push ups.
September 16, 2010
A.M. WOD : 2 x 5:00 w. 2:00 rest, 5 x 1:00 w. :30 rest. Ran on the roads and had no problem with my feet. Focused on keeping my feet under my general center of mass.
P.M. S&C WOD : 5 x 5, Squat Clean #95, Bench 135
September 17, 2010
Awesome trip to the dentist for 3 fillings!!! No training
September 18, 2010
6 x 800 w. 90 seconds recovery : 2:28, 2:25, 2:26, 2:29, 2:32, 2:29 - Warm up easy mile jog, active movements, 4 x 100 meter sprint w. full recovery. Cool down easy mile.
September 19, 2010
40 minute TT
September 20, 2010
7 Rounds
7 Squat Clean Thruster #95
7 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
rest 5 minutes
12 minutes AMRAP - 6 rounds 3 Power Cleans
8 Hang Power Cleans
8 Wall Ball Shots
8 Knee to Elbow
September 24, 2010
100 Pull ups
100 Lunges
100 Burpees
100 Squats
100 Push ups
100 Sit ups
100 Double Unders
30:31
September 25, 2010
Rest Day - Six Flags!!!
September 27, 2010
WOD : CrossFit/USAW Triplet
10 Minutes AMRAP
6 x Squat Clean #80
12 x Chest to bar pull ups
24 Double Unders
5 rounds 12 pull ups
September 28, 2010
A.M. S&C WOD @ CF Morristown
7 rounds for time
14 x roll outs
5 x thruster
finished in 8 minutes give or take, didn't have my glasses on and never bothered to check the clock.
P.M. 1 :1 - 3 : 3, Covered 970 meters on each 3 minute interval.
September 29, 2010
A.M. WOD : 90 minute run in Holmdel closed the last three miles in 5:47, 5:37.5:31
P.M. Oly seminar @ CF Morristown. First ever Snatch with weight! Also, spent most of the day in the dentist chair having my implants put in finally!
September 30, 2010
2 x 1200 hill run with full recovery @ Hartshorne Woods. Mouth was sore from yesterday's 4 hour dentist ordeal but at least I can smile now!
October 1, 2010
5 x 2 Shoulder Press w. 2:00 rest
5 x 3 Front Squat w. 2:00 rest
10 Rounds for time
Dead Lift #135 x 15
Push ups/hands up x 15
20:31
October 2, 2010
A.M. WOD: Muscle up and Double Under practice. Double Unders are harder with RX Rope.
P.M. WOD 1:1 - 12 x 1:00 w. 1:00 rest @ Holmdel Park, felt good running fast on the hills.
October 4, 2010
A.M. WOD : 4 x 5 minutes w. 3 minutes rest in the wind and rain. Felt pretty good considering the conditions. I hate running in the rain.
P.M. WOD: Tried to complete the Rx CFE WOD but after 5 x 15 knees to elbows w. :20 rest the 5 x 20 chest to bar pull ups was all but impossible. Bagged the pull ups rested a bit then did 5 x 25 med ball slams w. :20 rest. I almost knocked out my new grill when I grabbed the wrong MB to slam and took the first slam in the face.
21 September 2010
CFE Certification
On Saturday September 11, I traveled up to CrossFit Morristown, to attend a two day CrossFit Endurance certification course. Before the weekend started I had a few specific goals that I wanted to accomplish in order consider the weekend a success. First and foremost I wanted fix my form and the form of my clients and athlete. The other was to gain a better understanding of the CFE programing. CrossFit Morristown is a great box with a great team of coaches and immediately I felt welcome and at home. 
At 9:00 we started our course and we met our instructor Max Wunderle and he informed us that Brian Harkins would be joining us the following day to help with the certification. Right off the bat we got right into running mechanics and started with our initial form analysis. As I suspected, over striding was the root of all my running problems. We spent the next few hour working on drills to fix our form. At first I had a difficult time getting some of the drills as many of them go against many of the concepts I've been practicing for years. The more I relaxed the more the drills starting to click and now after a week of practice I seemed to have fixed my foot problems. I certainly have to concentrate a lot more now while running but a least it keeps my mind off the discomfort I'm feeling from the workout. Finally at the end of the first day we did the WOD(Workout of the Day) "Death by 10 meters." What that meant was every minute on the minute we would run 10 meters and the remainder of the minute would be your rest period. Each additional minute we were to add 10 meters. Each round that you add 10 meters you lose a few ticks off your rest period. In the end you eventually run out time before you complete the round. Max had suggested that we not kill the early rounds, in order to make it through as long as possible. Early on the rounds were pretty easy and I was able to focus on my new and improved running form. After the 10th round I started to realize why this workout was called "death by 10 meters" and the death part started to kick in. Max had informed us before we started the longest he had ever seen anyone go was 23 minutes and that was by Austin Malleolo , how close am I to a CF games competitor, I wondered. Lungs and legs were burning like never before but thinking I was in the lead I backed off the gas and and didn't make it to the 19th minute. When I realized there was still one guy going I was pissed that I hadn't given it everything that I had. Note to self never let up!!! Although it only lasted 18 minutes it was one hell of a WOD. After day 1 I stuck around for a bit and chatted with some of the other athletes and trainers who were attending the certification. I also noticed that they were having an Olympic Lifting seminar at CrossFit Morristown and decided to sign up. I'm looking forward the 29th.
On Day 2 I headed up early to CF Morristown and was lucky enough to get in a WOD, my third ever WOD in an Affiliate. My first two coming at CrossFit Reston, when I did my Level I certification. The majority of my WOD's taking place in my backyard or at RBR. It's my hope to one day open my own Affiliate so it's great to see how top notch facilities look and operate. With that being said I decided to stick with the CFE strength and conditioning WOD of 16 minutes AMRAP, 8 Dead Lifts @ #155, 8 chest to bar pull ups, 8 burpees. When I read the Rx I figured I'd have no problem doing 8 DL @ 155 but as usual I was wrong. After 6 rounds I looked at my timer and I still had almost 10 minutes to go I knew the DL's were going to kill me. Pull ups and burpees I have all day, throw a little weight lifting in a watch me squirm. Some where after 10 rounds I stopped counting and just focused keeping my body in motion.
Karianne Dickson, head coach of CF Morristown gave me some help on my DL form mid workout as she cued me to move my feet closer and to stick my chest out more. Having coaches around is a big help and especially when it comes to weight lifting, where poor technique can lead to injury. As I finished up, Max and Brian were starting to set up for day 2 so I cleaned up and got ready for more CFE goodness. As we headed outside for drills and filming it started to rain and within 10 minutes of being outside it was pouring out. In order to avoid the rain we headed to the parking garage next store. Unfortunately the parking garage didn't offer much room to really accomplish what we needed to do. In any case we made the best of it, got our filming down and headed back inside. After a quick lunch break we spent some time talking about the programing of workouts. Max even got into programing for high school cross country and track & field teams. My biggest concern when it comes to programing is when to know enough is enough. I will continue to use myself as a guinea pig and look forward to some up coming races to test my fitness under these new training methods.
All in all it was a great weekend of learning and I've already started to notice an improvement in my form as well as drops in times during my interval training.
10 September 2010
9/8 - 9/10 Workouts
9/8 : Hills, hills and more hills. Wednesday's workout called for 2 x 1200 uphill then 2 x 300 uphill and that means Hartshorne Woods. The one bright spot was that I didn't have to run hills weighted. I was a little pressed for time and cheated the warm up at little and left out the form drills. In retrospect I had plenty of time, I really just didn't feel like running back to the parking lot and the footing at the base of the hill isn't the place I want to be working on my form. The 1200's are only hard the last 300 and the 300 are hard because your running at least a 12-13% grade. After each interval I gave myself 1 minute recovery before a made my way back down the hill. After the hills and cool down I spent some time in the parking lot doing some general strength (air squats, walking lunges and lateral squat walks). From Hartshorne I headed over to Thompson Park to meet with one of my clients and then off to practice with my xc team. After practice I did my strength workout at RBR, 40 x squat clean thrusters w. 95 lbs. Tough strength work but I'm committed to improving my lifts even if that means being extremely uncomfortable. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
9/9's workout only called for strength training, consisting of 3 x 3 front squat w. 2 minutes recovery between set. After my third set I took 5 minutes recovery before I started 4 rounds for time of 10 x 55 lb dumb bell swings, 25 double unders. My double unders are getting better but still need to work on my technique in order to do them unbroken. It was a solid effort and I feel like I'm making gains in strength.
9/10's focus was on long intervals of 4 x 10 minutes w. 2 minutes recovery. I've never been a fan of long interval, mainly because they hurt and hurt for a long time. Before I started I knew there was a good chance I was going to have some problems and sure enough my foot was smoking half way through the first interval. My foot problem is definitely caused by my over striding, good news is with a little work and a little concentration I can fix this problem. Unfortunately my foot wasn't the only discomfort I experienced during the workout. It's definitely a gut check for me when I do long interval but I've come a long way since my early running days but at the same time if you're not thinking about quitting you're probably not going hard enough.
9/9's workout only called for strength training, consisting of 3 x 3 front squat w. 2 minutes recovery between set. After my third set I took 5 minutes recovery before I started 4 rounds for time of 10 x 55 lb dumb bell swings, 25 double unders. My double unders are getting better but still need to work on my technique in order to do them unbroken. It was a solid effort and I feel like I'm making gains in strength.
9/10's focus was on long intervals of 4 x 10 minutes w. 2 minutes recovery. I've never been a fan of long interval, mainly because they hurt and hurt for a long time. Before I started I knew there was a good chance I was going to have some problems and sure enough my foot was smoking half way through the first interval. My foot problem is definitely caused by my over striding, good news is with a little work and a little concentration I can fix this problem. Unfortunately my foot wasn't the only discomfort I experienced during the workout. It's definitely a gut check for me when I do long interval but I've come a long way since my early running days but at the same time if you're not thinking about quitting you're probably not going hard enough.
08 September 2010
Weekend Workouts
Here's what my training has looked like for the last few days. Again I've been trying to stick to the prescribed workouts of Crossfit and Crossfit Endurance as much as possible. On Friday I did one of the bench mark Crossfit WOD's called "Linda" aka three bars of death. The workout calls for dead lift, bench press, and squat cleans completing sets of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 with no rest between sets. The prescribed weight is 1.5 body weight for the DL, body weight for bench and .75 body weight for the squat cleans. Since I'm still a relative newcomer to many of these lifts moving the prescribed weight can be a little difficult so I scaled the weight to 185 DL, 125 Bench, and 80 SC. Even with the scaled weights this WOD presented a challenge and took 27:47 to complete.
When I got up Saturday morning I could barely move from my Friday evening date with "Linda" and I found out that I had muscles in places I never knew. Shaking off the morning stiffness I headed up to Monmouth University to get in a workout before meeting with one of my athletes for their training session. 10 x 100 w. 90 seconds rest was the workout. The main goal was to run as fast as possible while staying as efficient as possible. Even with the focus on my mechanics I still managed to beat up my foot pretty good. I'm starting to think my foot problem comes from over striding. I'm going to figure this running stuff out some day. After I finished up my workout I headed out for my training session with on of my athletes, Craig Segal as he makes his final preparations for the Chicago Marathon in early October. Craig ran an 18 mile marathon simulation while I rode my bike to hand off, water, gatorade, & gels along the way. All I can say is Craig is fit and ready to run a great race in just about a months time.
Sunday workout out called for 4 DL's @ 70% of my 1 max rep, every minute on the minute for 8 minutes. Since I'm not really sure what my 1 max rep is I figured I could pull 250 from the floor once and decided to go with 175. After 8 minutes I took 5 minutes recovery then hit the C2 rower for 10 minutes. Unfortunately the rower I have access to has a broken computer so I just set my watch and pull. after the row I took 3 minutes recovery then did 2 minutes max rep push ups. All in all it was a great session considering I was still sore from "Linda" on Friday.
Is there any better way to start off your Labor Day then with a workout with your cross country team at Holmdel Park!?! Knowing that I have such a young group with the majority having never run at HP, I decided to keep the workout short and manageable. After 20 minutes of active warm up, I split the guys up into small groups and sent them on their way. 1 on 1 off, through 5k was their workout and the guys killed it. After our run we did a mini body weight circuit consisting of push ups, squats and burpees in sets of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 with 60 seconds rest through 6 and 30 seconds rest from 5 - 1 . from Holmdel I headed of to meet with a few of my clients for their Monday sessions. I love when people don't let the holidays interfere with their training schedules!!!
After I finished with my clients I headed home to do some overhead squat work. Still only able to move small amounts of weight overhead I focused on stabilization and moving the bar up and down as comfortably as possible. 10 x 10
Tuesday intervals of 5 x 800 with 90 seconds rest and amazingly I had no foot problems. I started the session with a light 5 minute run then followed up with a 1600 m, active warm up and 3 x 100 meter progressive runs. I averaged 2:35 per 800 and not once did I feel like I was over extending myself. Each interval was faster then the previous finishing up at 2:32. After walking a lap I cooled down with an easy 1600 m run.
When I got up Saturday morning I could barely move from my Friday evening date with "Linda" and I found out that I had muscles in places I never knew. Shaking off the morning stiffness I headed up to Monmouth University to get in a workout before meeting with one of my athletes for their training session. 10 x 100 w. 90 seconds rest was the workout. The main goal was to run as fast as possible while staying as efficient as possible. Even with the focus on my mechanics I still managed to beat up my foot pretty good. I'm starting to think my foot problem comes from over striding. I'm going to figure this running stuff out some day. After I finished up my workout I headed out for my training session with on of my athletes, Craig Segal as he makes his final preparations for the Chicago Marathon in early October. Craig ran an 18 mile marathon simulation while I rode my bike to hand off, water, gatorade, & gels along the way. All I can say is Craig is fit and ready to run a great race in just about a months time.
Sunday workout out called for 4 DL's @ 70% of my 1 max rep, every minute on the minute for 8 minutes. Since I'm not really sure what my 1 max rep is I figured I could pull 250 from the floor once and decided to go with 175. After 8 minutes I took 5 minutes recovery then hit the C2 rower for 10 minutes. Unfortunately the rower I have access to has a broken computer so I just set my watch and pull. after the row I took 3 minutes recovery then did 2 minutes max rep push ups. All in all it was a great session considering I was still sore from "Linda" on Friday.
Is there any better way to start off your Labor Day then with a workout with your cross country team at Holmdel Park!?! Knowing that I have such a young group with the majority having never run at HP, I decided to keep the workout short and manageable. After 20 minutes of active warm up, I split the guys up into small groups and sent them on their way. 1 on 1 off, through 5k was their workout and the guys killed it. After our run we did a mini body weight circuit consisting of push ups, squats and burpees in sets of 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 with 60 seconds rest through 6 and 30 seconds rest from 5 - 1 . from Holmdel I headed of to meet with a few of my clients for their Monday sessions. I love when people don't let the holidays interfere with their training schedules!!!
After I finished with my clients I headed home to do some overhead squat work. Still only able to move small amounts of weight overhead I focused on stabilization and moving the bar up and down as comfortably as possible. 10 x 10
Tuesday intervals of 5 x 800 with 90 seconds rest and amazingly I had no foot problems. I started the session with a light 5 minute run then followed up with a 1600 m, active warm up and 3 x 100 meter progressive runs. I averaged 2:35 per 800 and not once did I feel like I was over extending myself. Each interval was faster then the previous finishing up at 2:32. After walking a lap I cooled down with an easy 1600 m run.
03 September 2010
9/2 : Workout
When will the heat end?!?! I think at this point I may be over it. No I know I'm over it. At 6:30 am. I headed over to the Brick Reservoir for my interval work. Today's plan was to run timed segment intervals of 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes all with 2 minutes recovery and the goal was to cover as much distance as possible. I started off with a light jog of 5 minutes and from the first step I could immediately feel the effect of yesterday's heavy lifts. Having heavy legs is no way to start a workout but you have to do what you have to do, so that's what I did. After about 10 minutes of form drills and strides I set out on my first interval. The first interval was a little faster then I would have liked it to be but a little nervous energy will do that. As the pace picked up so did the discomfort of the hot spot on my right foot which is usually an indicator that I'm pushing to hard and over striding. After the first interval I reigned it in a bit and tried to run as comfortably fast as possible. For me the key to long time interval is not looking at my watch to soon. There's nothing worse then running a 6 minute time segment and checking your watch every 30 seconds. For each interval I was able to make it to the last minute before I checked my watch. I'm amazed at how much will power it takes to resist the temptation of checking your watch to early but for me it really makes a huge difference. After getting over the hump of the 6 minute segment I reminded myself that I only had 9 minutes of hard running remanning and that I've done that plenty of times before. Fatigue started to set in a bit toward the end but I managed to run a consistent workout and left the reservoir pleased with the work I had just completed. Unfortunately due to some time constraints I was unable to get my strength session in today.
01 September 2010
Olympic Lift : 9/1
I can't believe it's September already!?! One of my main goals this year was to start incorporating more olympic lifting into my training. Little by little since obtaining my Crossfit Level I certification I've become more and more comfortable with the movements of the olympic lifts. My main concern first and foremost is the movements, the weight is secondary. Today's plan was to focus on the clean and jerk. The workout today called for 6 C&J every minute on the minute for 10 minutes. Unfortunately because I'm still a novice at these lifts, it took me almost 1 minute to complete a set of 6 reps. After my first set I decided to scale the workout down a bit to allow me to still focus on the technique and I took 1 minute recovery after each set of 6 and went for a total of 25 minutes. I ended up completing 13 sets of 6 reps of the clean and Jerk. All in all it was a great training session and I walked away from todays session much more confident in my ability to clean and jerk. Next olympic lift that I need to work on is my snatch, and the snatch is a lift and movement the scares the hell out of me. I once read that in order to feel alive you should try to do something every day that scares you, does it count if you try to snatch everyday?
After my last set I cleaned up my mess and headed out to meet with the RBR boys XC team for their last summer practice. School starts tomorrow and my work and training schedule will change again now that practice will move from the mornings to the afternoons. We had another great session as a team and I think things are finally starting to come together. The guys are buying into the system and it's starting to show in all aspects of their training. The goal everyday is to improve by 1% from the previous day. I love it when a plan come together! After our run we headed into the weight room to do some general strength work (bench press, push offs and dips 3 x 15) and then the guys were off to enjoy their final hours of summer vacation.
After practice I hit my second strength session focusing on the squat. I warmed up with three light sets of 10 rep back squats. After my warm up I threw some weight on the bar for 5 x 5. My recovery after each set was the time it took to add more weight to the bar. Squatting with weight is another skill set that I hope to improve on in the next few months. The up side to this is that it is all so new, that there is only one way to go and that's up. Up in weight that is...
After my last set I cleaned up my mess and headed out to meet with the RBR boys XC team for their last summer practice. School starts tomorrow and my work and training schedule will change again now that practice will move from the mornings to the afternoons. We had another great session as a team and I think things are finally starting to come together. The guys are buying into the system and it's starting to show in all aspects of their training. The goal everyday is to improve by 1% from the previous day. I love it when a plan come together! After our run we headed into the weight room to do some general strength work (bench press, push offs and dips 3 x 15) and then the guys were off to enjoy their final hours of summer vacation.
After practice I hit my second strength session focusing on the squat. I warmed up with three light sets of 10 rep back squats. After my warm up I threw some weight on the bar for 5 x 5. My recovery after each set was the time it took to add more weight to the bar. Squatting with weight is another skill set that I hope to improve on in the next few months. The up side to this is that it is all so new, that there is only one way to go and that's up. Up in weight that is...
31 August 2010
Tuesday 8/31 workout
6:30 am. I headed over to the local track to attack my schedule workout for the day. Today's workout again came from the Crossfit Endurance site but today I decided to combine both WOD's into one session. Again like yesterday my handy Suples Bag was used as a substitute, today it took the place of a 1.5 pood kettle bell. I also upped the bag size from 26 lbs. to 36 lbs. Push offs were subbed in for the pull ups because there is no pull up, set up at the track. I started with 15 minutes of active warm up that included various form drills mixed in with 100 meter strides picking up speed as the warm up progressed. After 15 minutes my sweat was rolling and the heart was pumping time to get after it. The first part of the workout consisted of 3 rounds of run 400 meters, 21 power snatches w/ 36 lb. Suples Bag, 12 push offs, continuos and as fast as possible. Total time for 3 rounds was 8:57, the hardest part being the 21 power snatches . I took equal time on my recovery before I started the second part of the workout, which was a Tabata sprint. Without getting to off track, Tabata intervals are 20 second periods of intense work (in my case today it happened to be a run some days it can be body squats) followed by 10 second periods of rest, done eight times. Its the most intense 4 minutes of exercise you'll ever experience. The CFE site recommend 3+ hours of recovery in between these session but because of my time constraints today I decided to do them both in one session. I am now fully aware as to why they recommend this practice. Right from the first 20 second interval I could feel how taxed my legs and knew it was going to be a painful 4 minutes. The great thing about a Tabata session is that it only takes 4 minutes and I know I can suffer for 4 minutes. After I completed my last 20 second sprint I walked 400 meters and followed that up with an easy 1600 meter jog to complete my cool down. Feeling good I headed off to meet my morning clients.
After finishing up with my clients I had some free time so I decided I hit another quick workout. The workout consisted of 3 round of 10 burpees, 20 box jumps, 40 double unders. When the smoke had cleared and the clock was stopped, it read 9:16. All in all it was a solid day of training and I'm looking to what tomorrow has in store.
After finishing up with my clients I had some free time so I decided I hit another quick workout. The workout consisted of 3 round of 10 burpees, 20 box jumps, 40 double unders. When the smoke had cleared and the clock was stopped, it read 9:16. All in all it was a solid day of training and I'm looking to what tomorrow has in store.
30 August 2010
Monday, Fun-day: 8/30 workout
Just like every Monday this summer I headed up to Red Bank Regional to workout with the boy cross country team. I usually try to get there early so I can get my training in before they arrive. I found over the years of coaching that training with the kids although fun and convenient is not always what's in the best interest of the kids or the program. I've also found the less you run with them the more they appreciate it when you do. With the team having their time trial today I wanted to get in some light strength work before practice and then I planned to head over to Hartshorne Woods to run some hills with a little bit of a twist. My morning strength work consisted of three super sets of bench (15), dips (10) and push offs (5) moving from exercise to exercise with as little rest as possible then taking two minutes between sets. Since I don't have access to a GHD machine I did 3 x 25 sit ups on the roman chair set up.
At 7:30 I briefed the team on how the time trial would be run and what my expectations were. At 7:35 they got their game faces on and got ready to bring their A-game. Although we had some promising things happen this morning it's very clear that we have our work cut out for us this fall if we intend to turn some heads. Win, lose or draw if the kids can work their butts off, give 100% everyday and understand the value of hard work, I will be a very happy individual at the end of the season.
After practice I headed over to Hartshorne Woods for a little hill training. Today's main workout came from the Crossfit Endurance site and consisted of a 1 mile weighted uphill run. If you've ever run at Hartshorne you know exactly where this run is headed!
Since I know longer have a Garmin 305 I decided I would run for 10 minutes just to be on the safe side and not miss any distance in the workout. Since I don't own a weight vest I decided to use my 26 lb. Suples Bulgarian Training Bag. I figured I can use it for everything else I might as well use it for my weighted hill run.
I did my normal 8-10 minute easy jog just to get a sweat going and then completed the warm up with a few form drills. Today's drills consisted of; skips, a-skips, b-skips, high knees and a few body squat with some stride outs after each set of squats. From there I grabbed my bag and headed to the start. Running on the hills at Hartshorne can be brutal enough but when you add 26 lbs. on top of that you're dealing with an entirely different animal. As I made my way up the climb I passed a few runners going in the opposite direction and the looks they gave my were priceless. Towards the end of the run all I could think about was the fact that I would have to run back to my car with the extra 26 lbs. on my shoulders. I knew the way back down would be easy running so I tried to focus on the discomfort and pushed through until my timer went off. I took 5 minutes dropped the bag and gathered my marbles for the run back down to the parking lot. After I dropped of the bag I continued on for another 10 minutes of easy running to cool down. After my cool down I did some light kb swings (25) and SDLHP (25) to finish up the days training.
At 7:30 I briefed the team on how the time trial would be run and what my expectations were. At 7:35 they got their game faces on and got ready to bring their A-game. Although we had some promising things happen this morning it's very clear that we have our work cut out for us this fall if we intend to turn some heads. Win, lose or draw if the kids can work their butts off, give 100% everyday and understand the value of hard work, I will be a very happy individual at the end of the season.
After practice I headed over to Hartshorne Woods for a little hill training. Today's main workout came from the Crossfit Endurance site and consisted of a 1 mile weighted uphill run. If you've ever run at Hartshorne you know exactly where this run is headed!
Since I know longer have a Garmin 305 I decided I would run for 10 minutes just to be on the safe side and not miss any distance in the workout. Since I don't own a weight vest I decided to use my 26 lb. Suples Bulgarian Training Bag. I figured I can use it for everything else I might as well use it for my weighted hill run.
I did my normal 8-10 minute easy jog just to get a sweat going and then completed the warm up with a few form drills. Today's drills consisted of; skips, a-skips, b-skips, high knees and a few body squat with some stride outs after each set of squats. From there I grabbed my bag and headed to the start. Running on the hills at Hartshorne can be brutal enough but when you add 26 lbs. on top of that you're dealing with an entirely different animal. As I made my way up the climb I passed a few runners going in the opposite direction and the looks they gave my were priceless. Towards the end of the run all I could think about was the fact that I would have to run back to my car with the extra 26 lbs. on my shoulders. I knew the way back down would be easy running so I tried to focus on the discomfort and pushed through until my timer went off. I took 5 minutes dropped the bag and gathered my marbles for the run back down to the parking lot. After I dropped of the bag I continued on for another 10 minutes of easy running to cool down. After my cool down I did some light kb swings (25) and SDLHP (25) to finish up the days training.
29 August 2010
8/29 workout
This morning I attended a free hour yoga class at lululemon athletica this am. That's right I said FREE! If you are into yoga and into things that are free I would highly recommend you check it out. You may also want to check out some of their gear. Clothes made for working out but also functional as lifestyle wear.
After yoga I headed over to Holmdel Park to do my run. Today's workout consisted of 12 x 1 minute hard running w. 30 seconds recovery. The goal was to consistently cover the same distance during each and every interval. I would say I was successful in reaching my goal, 11-12 stung but I got through it. Most of the time when I run fast I try to focus on my form and my mechanics, it helps take my mind off how crummy I feel. The only thing I can't seem to get a hold of is the way my right foot strikes the ground. No matter what shoes I have on. The second I start to move the pace along I get the worst hot spot on the outside of my forefoot. I've gotten a few new shoe suggestions to try so hopefully one of those will help my problem. I warmed up with a light 8 minute jog followed by a few form drills to help activate my hamstrings and finished with an easy 2 mile cool down. After my cool down I completed a few of the Mobility WOD I picked up from Kelly Starrett's blog.
Feeling a little beat I decided to postpone this afternoons strength session until tomorrow morning before practice.
After yoga I headed over to Holmdel Park to do my run. Today's workout consisted of 12 x 1 minute hard running w. 30 seconds recovery. The goal was to consistently cover the same distance during each and every interval. I would say I was successful in reaching my goal, 11-12 stung but I got through it. Most of the time when I run fast I try to focus on my form and my mechanics, it helps take my mind off how crummy I feel. The only thing I can't seem to get a hold of is the way my right foot strikes the ground. No matter what shoes I have on. The second I start to move the pace along I get the worst hot spot on the outside of my forefoot. I've gotten a few new shoe suggestions to try so hopefully one of those will help my problem. I warmed up with a light 8 minute jog followed by a few form drills to help activate my hamstrings and finished with an easy 2 mile cool down. After my cool down I completed a few of the Mobility WOD I picked up from Kelly Starrett's blog.
Feeling a little beat I decided to postpone this afternoons strength session until tomorrow morning before practice.
28 August 2010
8/28 PM. Workout
Easy 6 mile run at Holmdel Park w. 25 push-ups and 25 squats every mile and 10 burpees at 1.5 and the finish. Nice easy recovery workout. Did not time, just enjoyed the park!
8-28-10, AM. workout
Death by pull-ups: 15 pull-ups every minute on the minute until failure. Failure is taking the entire minute to complete 15 pull-ups. Once failure is reached take one minute rest and start the next minute with 10 pull-ups. Hit failure today at the 7 minute mark. This type of workout is way harder then it appears.
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