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!
