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| Sure, Jim Brown is an Orangeman and Fred Williamson is awesome, but I'm Jim Kelly all the way, baby. |
Fred Williamson: Swimming
1 hour GTS (Monday)
30 Minutes form (Wednesday)
30 Minutes form (Friday)
I've only seen this one film with Fred Williamson which is a lot like my swimming experience. I have come a long way since my first preseason session. Now into the 3rd week of swimming group training sessions, I am decidedly average. At this point, technique is the focus. The coaches have given us drills to practice and I can already see a difference.
I am practicing alternate side breathing, trying to get that timing right. I feel like I cannot hold my breath long enough for three strokes comfortably. When running, taking a breath every three steps is a normal cruising/easy pace for me. But three steps equals one second. So I'm sucking in air every other second (since I also breath out for 3 steps). My swimming strokes take maybe 1.5 seconds each (or longer), so my goal is seemingly to suck air every 4.5 seconds. It just seems like an eternity. I instinctively have been trying to stroke faster. Coach Meghan pointed out that this is the opposite of correct. I have to relax- slow things down even- so that I don't need so much air (or need to exhale so much).
Tonight Coach Meghan gave us a gem- advice on the timing of breathing. There are times when my swimming feels really good- glimpses through the clumsiness of what it should actually feel like. But I never really grasped what I was doing that made it feel so. I just had to "warm up", I guessed. But it's the breathing timing. I was a split second off as related to my stroke.
Jim Brown: Cycling
40 minutes form drill (Tuesday)
80 minutes form and intervals (Thursday)
120 minutes endurance ride on rollers (Sunday)
Ever see Slaughter's Big Ripoff? It's one of my favorites from the era. Great soundtrack. And Ed McMahon's infamous line, "Are you sure you don't want any breakfast? Breakfast is a very important meal," absolutely applies. Holy moly does riding make me hungry.
I've been doing most of my riding indoors, due to the cold weather, as per the coaches' orders. Frankly, I was surprised when I saw the coaches cancel practices due to bad weather. And our cycling GTSs on Sundays have been indoors. As a runner- a runner that will run through anything to avoid a treadmill- my first thought was that cyclists must be a bunch of pansies.
Then I went out riding in what I thought was *nice* weather. It was cold. Not really that cold. And windy. But really, not that windy either. But by my 4th lap of the park, my toes and fingers were frozen and I was a snotty mess. I couldn't breath and I was having trouble shifting gears. After 14 miles, I called it quits.
Oh yeah... wind chill.
So most my miles come on rollers. There's no bracket holding the bike up for me. I have to balance. It's pretty hardcore. Like Jim Brown hard core. I'll get into this in more detail in a future post.
Jim Kelly: Running
8 miles of speed work (Tuesday)
3 miles coaching (Wednesday)
12 miles easy/coaching (Saturday)
5.3 miles race pace brick (Sunday)
Running is my favorite. Like Jim Kelly is my favorite blacksploitation star. A cross between Bruce Lee and Shaft, how could he not be? When training for *just* a marathon, I would regularly do 3 to 5 running workouts a week (plus cross training). I have a structure to these running weeks- 3 quality sessions, usually consisting of speed, strength, and a long run. Then some other fun stuff, like coaching. So here I am trying to maintain a similar schedule yet not over train. I think it will be possible. I'm basically cutting back on the easy miles and only doing speed, pacing, and coaching miles and a long run.
Ok, so it doesn't sound like I'm cutting back at all, but I am.
My planned weekly mileage hovers between 20 and 30 miles right now, rather than 35 to 45 as it normally would. I am fortunately in the kind of shape where I could rip off a marathon at any moment if I had to, so my focus is to not burn out. I have to keep this up for 6 more months (oh my god, I only have 6 months) so I need to take it easy and just focus on sharpening my speed and form. In fact, I've only been doing a long run every other week. I think that will change, because I enjoy them so much. But it'll just depend on my body and my energy level.
I did my first hill session in a long time last Tuesday with James and Nate. It was glorious. Speed work will take priority for me at this point in the season. Getting in at least one workout a week of speed would be great. Tonight I may crash the spring season GTS and climb some hills with them.
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| Summer 2012: The Next Generation |
Free weights- Chest and back plus SEXCC circuit (Tuesday)
Free weights- Legs plus SEXCC circuit (Wednesday)
Free weights- Arms and shoulders plus SEXCC circuit (Friday)
No, the Coffy actress is not in this movie, but I need one more character and she probably epitomizes (hard) core workouts more than anyone (plus, she's a cancer survivor). I really love free weights. It brings me back to my high school football days and lifting in my friend Matt's basement while referencing Arnold's book.But I'm not lifting to bulk up, like the 17 year old version of myself was. I'm looking to become a better athlete. So my workouts have changed- they're more dynamic and use several muscle groups at a time (if I can help it) rather than just isolating. Plus, I do about 12 minutes of SEXCCs.
What's the SEXCC? It's an abs/obliques specific circuit, basically steps 6 and 7 of the SEXC7s. for my routine, I do:
- 60 seconds of roll up- V leg lifts
- 45 seconds planks front, then right side, then left side (2:15 total) times 3
- 60 seconds of Crazy Ivans (oblique rockers) times 2
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So those are my scheduled workouts. I have yet to complete all of them in a week and I'm not too worried about it. This plan is more of an idealistic goal rather than a minimum that I must accomplish. Week by week I focus on what I feel is behind, even if it means sacrificing a run =(.
So far, so good.
If you've actually read this far, here's your reward...
That is a LOT of training to fit in. I think you are doing great so far. You will be an Ironman in six months! Awesome.
ReplyDelete(Also, I love this: Summer 2012: The Next Generation)