10 6 3 EDI; 2009 races

I went up to work out with Will today (I love these days and the workouts they involve) and learned that I'm only about half-way there on all these manual hold exercises. Perhaps because I don't always do them with a partner? Anyway, I do really well on the up part of each exercise but poorly on the down part--the part where gravity is working with you. I forget to keep my muscles turned on.

10 6 3 EDI, 10-second manual hold, 2 sets

• Lunge with Russian lunge: The first 10 were OK. It all went downhill from there. First, I forgot to pop up immediately after the manual hold (pretty much did that on all exercises today; where was my head?!?). Then it took me forever to complete each jump. By the second set, I was leaning forward and over-thinking everything. I wanted to do it right, but then I was just thinking how tired I was and that I wouldn't be able to do it. So sometimes in the middle of a rep I'd just not jump because I didn't think I could (even though I could do it). Only once or twice did I forget to turn it on at the bottom (although now that I think about it, I shouldn't have to turn my muscles on because I shouldn't ever be turning them off), and the bruise on my knee is evidence of the fact. I couldn't complete the last 3 of either set (left leg) without having to stand between the manual hold and the jumps. Oh, and I kick out rather than up. What in the world.
• Will: standing extreme hamstring with rebounds (yeah, I'm not sure how), 5 on, 10 off through 30.
• Glute ham: The first 6 went well. Actually, in the first set, I went all the way up on all of them with assistance only from myself. However, my upper body was always lagging behind, and I basically was just falling to the ground, not using my hamstrings/quads. Sometimes I wish this were easier, but then I probably wouldn't get any faster or stronger. Maybe I just wish I could do it right all the time.
• Will:1-leg squats, 35-lb plate, 5 on, 10 off through 30.
  
• Curl: light bar with a 5-lb plate on each side. Again, I curled up correctly but down incorrectly, basically just by letting it fall and not by lengthening my biceps.
• Will: standing curl, 45-lb bar, with rebounds (or was it altitude drop? I don't know the difference), same 5 on, 10 off through 30.
• Bench press: 45-lb bar. I forgot to engage my legs during the first set but did much better the second. The whole "chest up, shoulders down" thing has been hard--he said my right shoulder kept wanting to come up, and I couldn't feel that at all.
• Crate crunch: This was weird with a manual hold (arms on shoulders, I think), since I hadn't known you could do it that way; altitude drop to start. Again, I didn't crunch up fast enough. What a frustrating workout all around!
  

I add Will's exercises in here so that you can see how hard this progression gets and so that if he ever tells me to do them, at least I'll have some reference to how.

After that, I got a little work done (race schedule, for one thing, which looks like this for now):

• Runs
  

1. 2-14-09 Preds 5K
2. 3-14-09 TK Classic half-mary
3. 4-11-09 Purity 10K
4. 4-25-09 CM Marathon
5. 5-25-09 5K at Greer (Monday)
6. 7-01-04 MFY 5K
7. 10-11-09 Chi Mar—TOV

• Bike Races
  

1. 4-17-09 Harpeth training camp
2. 5-02-09 Sumner County RR
3. 5-16-09 Highland Rim RR, TT
4. 5-27-09 NC.com crit series
5. 6-20-09 Avery Trace RR, TT
6. 7-25-09 TN state TT
7. 7-26-09 NC.com crit
8. 8-01-09 Allanti RR, TT
9. 8-02-09 Allanti Crit

• Tris

1. 5-17-09 Memphis in May Olympic
2. 5-31-09 Madeira Beach Sprint
3. 6-27-09 Old Hickory Lake Sprint
4. 7-11-09 Half IM in Muncie
5. 7-19-09 Olympic in PA
6. 8-30-09 IM Loo

I met some random guy at Panera where I was working, did a little shopping, then went to watch the IceMen hockey game (3-4 loss).

3x30 sec heavy

• Glute ham: no weight
• Standing ham: 45-lb plate
• Lunge: bar + 35, bar + 25, bar only. Not sure what happened on this one.
• Curl: 40-lb bar. I had to do 4 sets because on the third, I dropped the bar at 28 seconds. So I did it again.
• Crate crunch: 45-lb plate
  

6-9 Challenge; 1.5 mi

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite workouts, especially because it incorporates speed and it's challenging.

• 1-mile warm up: 3:54 and 3:44 for each half mile (7 is much easier to remember than 14)
• 6-rep rounds:

1. 1-minute skipping
2. 6 burpies
3. 1-minute skipping
4. 6 Russian lunges (right leg first; my knee hit the ground [ouch!] on one, but that's WAY better than last time I tried to do these right)
5. 1-minute skipping
6. 6 tuck jumps
7. 1-minute skipping
8. Six 15-m sprints (or close; again, I paced out 20; each lap is appx. 85 meters, which means that 15 meters would be about 1/5 of a lap. I figured this out after I was done, so I'll have to pace out 1 lap, divide that by 5, and I'll be set.)

• Total time: 10:34
• Approximately 2-minute rest interval
• 9-rep rounds

1. 1-minute push ups (42, all on knees)
2. 9 burpies
3. 1-minute push ups (23)
4. Plyometric lunges
5. 1-minute push ups (25)
6. 9 tuck jumps
7. 1-minute push ups (21; total push ups: 111)
8. Nine 15-m sprints

• Total time: 12:43
• Approximately 2-minute rest interval
• 6 Russian lunges (left leg first): I had to repeat 1 because I didn't land correctly (but my knee did not hit the ground)
• 0.5-mi cool down: 3:57 (hardly a cool down compared to my first mile)

Since my usually-20-minute drive took an hour and I had Inversion Bible Study, that was about all I had time for besides some core work and stretching.

3-mi run; 10 6 3 EDI

Today was the first day back running in a few days (11 to be exact), so I didn't do the entire thing. I want my blisters to continue to heal right so I don't have to deal with them later during the season. I started on the track at MFY; 14 laps are one mile, and doing 5+ miles in the same direction was not what I wanted to do all afternoon, so I ended up on the treadmill.

• 10-20 minute warmup: In half-mile increments, it was 3:50, 3:44, and 4:00
• 5x1000 @ 4:16: I had no idea what pace I was supposed to be at. I did the first at 7.5: 4:54. I did the second at 7.7: 4:49. Obviously that wasn't even close to fast enough.
• 10-minute cooldown: I just cooled down.

Then I did 10 6 3 EDI, 2 sets, no manual holds.

• Lunge with violent stops: I've really been trying to keep good form and pull into the deepest position possible.
• Glute ham: I did both sets, every rep, all the way up. Hooray! Now that I know I can go all the way up, I don't think I could do reps only to arm's length.
• Wall squat: Here's where I remembered I was supposed to be doing this with a manual hold. It's hard to simulate that, but it was pretty much normal. Here some guy asked me if I was training for a sport. Of course. (I was nicer than that, though.)
• Curl--light bar: I used the 15-lb bar, did 3 sets, and tried to imagine someone holding the bar down. It makes me work harder. Here some girl (Amanda) asked me what I do for abs, so I showed her crate crunches and planks. I decided I really don't do much else for abs, but the crate crunches are good!
• Push up: I did the first 10 seconds of both sets on my feet, but I could not push up all the way. So I went to my knees and did all 19 + 19 reps all the way up. Hooray! I still use my shoulders and arms more than my lats, but I'm trying to work on it.
• Crate crunch: I finally figured this one out on Monday, and it's a good one if you make your legs work the whole time. Plus crunching up while squeezing a crate is hard.

Then I just did a few stretches. Soon I'm going to start adding mileage, but I'm going to try to let my foot heal all the way first. Next week I'll start swimming, and I'll probably be getting back on my bike then too. Trainer, here I come!

6-9 Challenge

Today's workout, the 6-9 Challenge, came from my favorite fitness podcast. I chose it mainly because there was no running outside due to the rain and cold and there's no getting a treadmill at MFY much after 4:30. But first I went to Hip Hop class at the Y. It went slightly better than the Zumba class because the teacher actually went through each different move set before we started it, but by the time we got to the end of the song, I'd forgotten the first parts of the choreography. In keeping with my reputation, I got the hardest move down no problem (swipe, swipe and turn, pull down, clap, swipe, step up, step back, turn); it was all the supposedly easy ones that I just couldn't get.

Here's the 6-9 Challenge for all those interested:

• 6-Rep Rounds

1. 1-minute skipping
2. 6 burpies (basically squat thrusts; check out this video)
   
3. 1-minute skipping
4. 6 plyometric lunges each leg (I did 1 lunge with 6 Russian lunges for each side)
5. 1-minute skipping
6. 6 tuck jumps
7. 1-minute skipping
8. Six 15-meter sprints

• 9-Rep Rounds

1. 1-minute push ups (I skipped here because I forgot I was on this round)
2. 9 burpies
3. 1-minute push ups (I did 25 total; 10 on feet and 15 on knees but all with the proper form)
4. 9 plyometric lunges (here I did dynamic lunges; basically I just walked forward while doing them. I had to do extra ones because either I didn't step straight or I didn't step up high enough)
5. 1-minute push ups (I did 30 total; 5 on feet and 25 on knees)
6. 9 tuck jumps
7. 1-minute push ups (I did 30 total, all on knees)
8. Nine 15-meter sprints (I timed the final 3: 3.01, 3.00, and 2.95; I figure the distance was about the same distance as between bases in fast pitch softball. I had to estimate and walked about 20 paces)

I did one round of each and it took about 20-25 minutes. I guess you could do as many as you're up for. It amused me when a couple of the girls who were running on the track (as part of a sports conditioning class or something) said, "I don't know how anyone can make themselves do drills on their own." If only they knew what all I do on my own.... Then I did crate crunches and planks. I also did crunches this morning (50) and push ups this morning (20) and throughout the day at work (20), so including the push ups this afternoon (85) I did 125 total! I should start aiming for 2,000 in a month again; that was a fun challenge!

10 10 10 EDI

Not much to report today; that's pretty much the way I like it. 10 10 10 EDI, 2 sets.

• Lunge: Both sets, both legs were good. Hard, and I had to do quick reps, but it was good.
• Glute ham: First set was 10 all the way up, then 3 or 4, then 2 or 3; second set was 3 or 4 all the way up, then 2 or 3, then 1 or 2. On the ones I didn't go all the way up, I went up to arm's length with slight assistance (well, that on all of them). I could really feel myself lagging and wanting to use my back more than my glutes and hamstrings, so I had to and will have to focus on that consistently; the whole rep should be one fluid motion without relaxing for any reason.
• Push up on knees: First set was 10 all the way up, then 7, then 2; second set was 0 all the way up, then 0, then 0. Yeah, the second set was a struggle. I pushed up as much as I could; by the final 10 I was really not moving at all, just making whatever effort I could. It really shouldn't be that hard to do 60 push ups, but I was trying to give the max effort for every one.
• Scap pull up: For this one, the focus was keeping my sternum elevated and making sure I had full range of motion. I used 100 lbs of assistance and did 10 6 3 on the first set and 10 6 2 1 on the second set. I had to get back on the bar to do the last one since I pretty much fell off from the previous rep; I had nothing left!
• Crate crunch

Then I did some planks, just for fun: 30 seconds front, 30 second right side, 30 seconds front, 30 seconds left side, all in succession (2 minutes nonstop); then 1 minute back.

Tomorrow, the running shoes are going back on. I hope it's nice out!

Revealing

• Daniel 4:2–3 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.
• John 2:11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
• John 4:48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
• Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
• Hebrews 2:1–4 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

God revealed Himself and His glory through signs and wonders so that people would believe; why would He not still do that today?