Today's workout was a real lung burner. The best one yet.

800m: 3:34
Squats: 1 minute, 70 reps
800m: 3:31
Jump Rope: 1 minute
800m: 3:37
Lunges: 1 minute
800m: 3:41
Squats jumps: 1 minute
800m: 3:48
Pull ups: 1 minute, 5 reps (then negatives)
800m: 3:49
Dips: 1 minute, 5 reps (then negatives)
800m: 3:52
Push ups: 1 minute, 32 reps
800m: 3:37
Sit ups: 1 minute

Total Time: 38:22

Followed by some extra ab work

Yesterday was an off day, which was good because my calves were still pretty sore. Today was back to the workout. I am wearing normal shoes again which should eliminate the calf soreness. I think I am going to wear my Vibrams every third workout until I can wear them without crazy soreness the next day. Today went pretty well. I was able to keep all of my 800's under an 8 minute pace for the first time and I did 30 push-ups in a minute which is the most I have done since my high school wrestling days when I could do 60.

800m: 3:48
Squats: 1 minute
800m: 3:44
Jump Rope: 1 minute
800m: 3:45
Lunges: 1 minute
800m: 3:47
Squats jumps: 1 minute
800m: 3:50
Pull ups: 1 minute
800m: 3:52
Dips: 1 minute
800m: 3:55
Push ups: 1 minute
800m: 3:49
Sit ups: 1 minute

Total Time: 39:24

That was followed by a 10 minute cooldown on the bike and some ab work.

Circuit Training Day 3

I was planning on doing the same routine again today, but my calves were even more busted up today and after one lap around the track it was to painful so I skipped the running and just did a circuit of the exercises. I think I am going to switch to regular shoes for a few days until the soreness in my calves becomes a little more manageable. After that I rode the stationary bike for a little while.

Circuit Training Day 2

It took me three tries to stand up this morning. My calves were as sore as the day after a 100 miler! That's what training in the Vibrams will do for you. The rest of my body was sore but manageable. After a few hours of messaging and stretching my calves I went back to the gym for my second session. The running started off shaky but once the calves got loosened up things went well. I did the exact same routine as yesterday, with similar results

800m: 3:29
Squats: 1 minute
800m: 3:25
Jump Rope: 1 minute
800m: 3:44
Lunges: 1 minute
800m: 3:52
Squats jumps: 1 minute
800m: 3:59
Pull ups: 1 minute
800m: 4:12
Dips: 1 minute
800m: 4:13
Push ups: 1 minute
800m: 3:45
Sit ups: 1 minute

Total time: 40 minutes

My 800's were a little faster today and I was able to do 3 pull ups and 3 dips before switching to negatives. I figure after 3 weeks I will begin seeing improvments and the soreness will subside, but until then I'm going to be hurting...

After that I biked for 30 minutes, 10.8 miles on lowest resistance level, AVG HR:135
Then did some ab work

Circuit training Day 1

I started my Circuit training routine today. The plan is to do this 5 days a week for the next month and hope I see some improvements. The main objective is to improve overall strength (upper and lower body) and fitness, in doing that I hope it will help me run longer, harder and more consistently with better form in training and reduce the risk of injury which will translate into better race times. I think spending the time building a solid base will help me more than continuing to run high miles with a weak base. The workout is going to be 800m repeats with one minute of varying exercise in between (i.e. Squats, jump rope, lunges, squat jumps, pull ups, push ups, sit ups ect...) I want to get the heart pumping with no breaks in between activities. I have also decided to use my Vibram FiveFingers during the workout to give my calves the extra burn and work on my ChiRunning technique (forefoot landing.)

Today's workout:

800m: 3:43
Squats: 1 minute
800m: 3:41
Jump Rope: 1 minute
800m: 3:41
Lunges: 1 minute
800m: 3:52
Squats jumps: 1 minute
800m: 4:01
Pull ups: 1 minute
800m: 4:21
Dips: 1 minute
800m: 4:12
Push ups: 1 minute
800m: 3:54
Sit ups: 1 minute

It was one hell of a work out, 43 minutes total, 4 miles of running. I was gassed after the 5th 800. I couldn't even keep the pace below 8 minute miles. My upper body strength is a joke. I could only do two pull ups and 1 dip (Then I did negatives to fill up the rest of the 1 minute intervals.) It worked out well and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow morning!

After that I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes at the minimum resistance level for 10.5 miles with an average HR around 135. Then did some extra ab work.

For the rest of December I am going to mix up my training. I'm going to do more cross training and strength training with only a little short distance running (besides a couple ultras, of course.) In the past couple months I have notice some real weaknesses in my total body fitness. I am hoping to improve my form, strength and muscular endurance while reducing the risk of injury and repairing the small injuries I currently have. After hearing about CrossFit , from Catra's blog, I really wanted to give it a try, but the classes in my area don't fit my schedule so I plan on inventing my own circuit training routine. I hope it will make me a better runner in the long run (get it "Long Run" I crack myself up.)

Tecumseh Trail Marathon Race Report

I drove out to Indiana on Friday night and stayed with some FUN and FAST runners from the Buffalo running club in Central Illinois. This was my second time running Tecumseh so I knew what I was up against, but that doesn't mean I was smart enough to learn from it. I felt good going into the race but I was only 6 days removed from a Trail 50K PR performance in Georgia so I didn't really no what to expect. I pushed the pace early on with an ambitious goal of sub four hours. My pace worked for the first 1/4 of the race. I was running just under 9 minute miles, but I was already wasted with no chance of maintaining anything remotely close to a sub 4 pace. After all, this is a tough marathon course with 3,500 feet of gain. I was talking to one guy during the race about ultras. He said this was his 3rd time running Tecumseh but he didn't think he could finish a 50k, if you can finish this marathon, there are plenty of 50k's you can finish. I backed off big time after that and started walking the hills and taking it easy. The middle part of the race was slow but steady, trying to recover from the unmaintainable pace I subjected myself to the first 6.5 miles. By mile 21 I got my second wind and was able to pound the last 5 miles around a 9 minute pace again. I passed a boat load of people in the last 5 miles, at least 20. It's always nice when your the one passing people rather than being the pissed off runner getting smoked. I came to the finish line in 4:39, a lot slower than I would have liked, but better than last year by 15 minutes.
The race had good organization, volunteers and aid stations. It had an ultra feel to it, although it was a large trail race with nearly 500 entrants. Not much else to report about this race. I started off to fast on tired legs and paid for it, it happens.

a HUGE congrats to Marla (what else is new!) For an awesome performance and another win! Beating over 100 talented women in the process with a time of 3:47! I don't like getting chicked but if it has to happen I'm glad it's by someone as fast and cool as her :)