Wednesday: D3,W10

Training:

Evening:
800 m run (warm up)
14 x 200 m run (85% effort on each, 30 seconds rest between runs)
800 m run (cool down)

3 x 15 dh pullups

Pullup ladder: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1
x dh pullup
x dh chinup
x dh commando pullup
(do 1 of each type, than 2, than 3 ect with limited to no rest between... total of 45)

2 x 25 squat (w.35lb db)

active stretch

Night:
30 min of mobility work

4 x 50 pushups

Notes:
Legs were absalutely destroyed today. My allergies are kicking into gear so that did not help either. Have not done pullups in a while and was pleased with the numbers, especially considering the high volume of running I have been doing lately, I had figured that they would go down a bit. Easy day volume wise. Will go for a long run tomorrow.

Diet has been solid as of late. Below would be a typical day:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and honey, protein shake

Lunch: Chicken, eggs, peppers, sunflower seeds, salted pork and raisins

Dinner: 3/4 to 1 lb of lean beef or chicken, vegetables, salad, chocolate

Post dinner: bowl of cereal because I get really really hungry before bed, typically plain cheerios or grape nuts. Grape nuts with blueberrys and honey is one of my all time favorite meals.

I eat a ton of peanut butter and drink a lot of chocolate milk as well as 1-2 gallons of water throughout the day. My weight has stayed right at 190-193lbs.185lbs is too light and I lack energy, 200lbs I feel healthy and have great energy but it much more difficult to run extended distances. 190-195lbs is a healthy weight.

Daily Reading: Esther 6-10

My Utmost for His Highest:

• "Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a centre for Jesus Christ to pour living water through. Stop being self-conscious, stop being a sanctified prig, and live the life hid with Christ. The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing wherever it goes. The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those who were unconscious of it." 

Prayer

Delayed answers to prayers are not only trials of faith, but opportunities to honor God through steadfast confidence in Him. Even under the apparent denial of our request

Tuesday, D2,W10

Training:

Evening:
9 mile run (6 miles at a moderate pace, 3 miles at easy pace)

4 rounds AFAP:
30 x pushups
30 x situps

Long active stretch

Night:

40 min walk (2.5 miles)

Notes:
Daily Reading: Esther 1-5

Below is a pretty cool vid:
North Face, Ultra-Trail running http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFWDUsvLCoE&feature=youtu.be

Monday: D1, W10

Training:

6 mile run

8 rounds w/ 20lb vest
20 x squat
20 x stationary lunge

4 rounds:
12 x strict military press (2 35lb db's)
15 x goblet squat (35lb db)

2.5 mile run

active stretch

Notes:
Legs were shot on that second run. First 6 mile run was done at 8 min mile pace.
Daily Reading: Nehemiah 9-13

Sunday: d7,W9 (Deload)

Training

20 min walk

60 min run (moderate to fast pace)

Notes:
Lets felt great after two rest days.

Total Mileage:
Run/Ruck: approx 35 miles (took 2 days off)

Friday: D5,W9 (Deload)

Training: Rest

Notes:
Planning on resting today, Saturday and Sunday to get ready for next week.

Thursday: D4,W9 (Deload)

Training:

2 hour ruck (40lb pack)

Notes:
I raised my computer and keyboard at work and will now be standing all day in hopes of strengthening my posture and to simply get more time on my feet.

Daily Reading: Ezra 1-9 (Ezra 7:10 says "for Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law and the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and Laws in Israel.")

The Land God Forgot by Robert W. Service

The Land God Forgot

The lonely sunsets flare forlorn

  Down valleys dreadly desolate;

The lordly mountains soar in scorn

  As still as death, as stern as fate.

     The lonely sunsets flame and die;

       The giant valleys gulp the night;

     The monster mountains scrape the sky,

       Where eager stars are diamond-bright.

So gaunt against the gibbous moon,

  Piercing the silence velvet-piled,

A lone wolf howls his ancient rune --

  The fell arch-spirit of the Wild.

     O outcast land! O leper land!

       Let the lone wolf-cry all express

     The hate insensate of thy hand,

       Thy heart's abysmal loneliness.




Robert W. Service

Wednesday: D3,W9 (Deload)

This used to be the annual allowance per man for lighthouses on the outer banks of North Carolina. 

Training:

1 hour 40 min run/walk (only walked a few times, spent 20 min on some technical trails and used that time to run hard and work on my uphill and downhill running)

70 min walk

10 x 10 dh pullups (active stretch and mobility work on my legs in between sets)

Notes: 

Felt good about the run. Took it easy because I did not want to overdue or over stress my foot. Spent the 20 minutes running hard on uphill and downhill trails. Very technical work with lots of roots, trees and brush. Did some hill repeats at the end on a very steep hill where I worked on my bounding uphill. Here is an interesting quote about the importance of mental training as well as physical:

"All the physical training in the world won't help at all if you can't deal with psychological challenges such as fear and various forms of suffering." Mark Twight

Tuesday: D2,W9 (Deload)

Training:

40 min x step ups (stepped onto a boulder approx height of weight bench, wore 40lb pack)

4 rounds:
25 x rdl (wore 20lb vest and used two 35lb db's)
20 x tricep pushups (wearing 20lb vest)

On the minute for 4 minutes:
100 x jump rope

20-20-40-20
Straight leg, weighted overhead crunches (using 35lb db)
Flutter kicks (4 count)

Short walk to stretch out the legs

Mobility work (elevated pigeon stretch, focused on opening up hips)

Notes:
Outside of my right foot is feeling better. Decided to take a day off from running. 40 straight minutes of step-ups with my pack is no joke and tests your mental focus as it gets really boring and really painful fast. I struggled big time on this and am not pleased with the effort. However, with that said I am glad I pushed through. This will be a staple from now on in my weekly routine.

Monday: D1, W9 (Deload)

Training:

Evening:
77 min run (easy pace)

100 x pushups (70,20,10)
100 x squats (using 2 35lb db's)
100 x situps (anchored)
100 x db swings (50 each arm, 35lb db)
100 x leg levers
50 x tricep pushups

Night:
100 x tricep pushups (50,25,25)
Mobility work (hips, quads and feet, rolled out foot and it is feeling better, still a bit sore though)

Notes:
Pulled a muscle on the outside of my right foot. I have run for 8 days in a row and realistically should have taken a day off yesterday or just hiked. I plan on doing mobility work and rolling it out tonight as best I can and re-evaluate tomorrow. The only part of my body that starts to give me trouble on longer runs is the bottoms of my feet. I feel my running form is pretty good as my hip flexors, hamstrings, quads and calves are all fine and never really give me issues.

This week is going to be a de-load week of sorts. I am planning on taking the weekend off. The plan is to start my first 4 week meso-cycle next week and I want to be fresh for that. I will outline the plan going forward later in the week.

Sunday: D7,W8

Training:

Afternoon:
On the minute for 10 minutes:
10 x pullups (100 total)

100 x pushups (50,25,25)

Evening:
30 min walk

Night:
37 min run (easy pace) pitch dark outside on the path

Notes:
Legs felt great today. Refueled and ate quite a bit post workout. Weight has stayed at 192-194lbs the past few weeks. I have much more energy when staying in this weight range vs 185lbs ish.

Weekly Totals
Approx 40 miles run

Saturday: D6,W8

Training:

Afternoon:
60 min run (easy to moderate pace)

5 rounds
20 x squat
20 x stationary lunge
20 x jumping lunge
10 x jumping squat
40 x pushups (used as active recovery between sets)

Max dh chin-ups: 23

Mobility work on ankles, achilles and calves

Friday: D5,W8

Training:

Endurance:
8 mile run

Notes:
Only got 3 hours of sleep the night before so just ran today and did not no any crosstraining.

Thursday: D4,W8

Training: Active Recovery

Endurance:
Run: 35 min (easy pace, hilly course wearing hydration pack)

Rest a couple hours

Run: 15 min (fast pace)

Notes:
Legs were pretty beat up. Taking it slow and down the rolling hills really helped flush them out and loosen my muscles up.

Wednesday: D3, W8

Training:

Endurance:
5 mile run: (34:16, fast pace)
3 minute active recovery
3 mile run: (easy pace)

Work:
5 rounds:
20 x squat
20 x stationary lunge
20 x pushup
10 x jumping lunge
5 x squat jump
rest 30 seconds between rounds

Durability:
100 x 4 count flutter kicks
100 x superman back extensions
Active stretch

Notes:
Goal was to keep all 5 miles right at or a little below 7 min mile pace on the run and I accomplished that which as encouraging. I probably could have gone another mile or two with that pace as my wind was fine. I loved the work portion which is a leg blaster from Mountain Athlete. It is quick and efficient.

Tuesday: D2,W8

Training:

Warm Up:
Dynamic stretch

Work:
5 rounds:
10 x squat clean
20 x hand release push-ups
30 x sit-ups
40 x squats

Endurance:
Run: 60 min (wore a hydration pack, ran 4 hill repeats fast at the end)

Durability:
Active stretch

Notes:
Legs were tired from yesterdays work load but loosened up after the dynamic stretch. Ran in the rain. I have been focusing on doing mobility work on my achilles, calves and feet and I think it has been paying off. Conditioning is never an issue on the runs, it is always my feet that bother me. It is nice to see the mobility work paying off as my feet did not bother me at all for the first time in a while.

Monday: D1,W8

Training:

Warm Up:
ROM drills

Work:
On the minute for 20 minutes
5 x military press (35lb db's)
10 x pushups
15 x squats

100 x step-ups
(35lb db's, first 50 on low step, second 50 on high step, broke into sets of 10)

Durability:
50 x dumbell good mornings (used 1 35lb db)
2 min max situps: (105!!!)
active stretch

90 min of softball (many short sprints)

Endurance:
6 x 400 m sprints (ran all out, 1 min rest between runs)

Durability 2:
2 rounds:
50 x russian twists (35lb db)
50 x leg levers

Active stretch (focused on hams, glutes and quads for a majority of the time then spent some time in a pause squat opening up my hips)

Notes:
Quads and back are getting a bit tight but overall a great day.

Sunday: D7,W7

Training:

Endurance:
Run: 120 min

Notes:
Ran at a fast pace and had a friend on a bike to pace me for a large chunk of it. Felt rested and legs felt great. Part of this was due to the more than normal rest days I took this week. I was surprised that the run went so well due to my poor nutrition the past 5 days. I have never really tapered before and although this was accidental and unplanned it was great to see what extra rest can do.

Total Weekly Mileage:
Run: 25 (120 min long run)
Hike: 6
Total: 31 miles

AHU Training Update:
Totals: 3,415 min, 56.9 hours

Saturday: D6,W7

Training: Rest, traveling on the river

Friday: d5,w7

Training

2x50 pushups

5rounds fast
50xsquats
25xpushups

Thursday: D4,W7

Training:

Run: 28 min in Afton State Park (ran in big hiking boots)

20 rounds:
5 x pullups
10 x pushups
15 x squats

Hike: 100 min (many hills and very technical areas were covered along a ridgeline)

Notes:
Last two days I have been on the river with my buddies and got the opportunity to run and hike in Afton State Park. John Storkamp runs a 50 mile race here that I am looking into running next summer. Really hit the hills hard and got a lot of technical practice in running downhill. Overall I was really pleased with the run and ran hard due to lack of time. I think I will try to get back here as it is only 60 min from my house. Ran both days in hiking boots due to lack of proper footwear. Feet held up great. Nutrition has been very poor these past two days.

Wednesday: d3,w7

Training:

20-18-16-14-12-10
pull ups,pushups,dips

2x10 pull ups

Run: 30 min on trails in afton state park

Hike: 45 min (mostly uphill)

Run: Dominated the hills. Really pleased with how my legs held up on long uphill repeats.

Tuesday: d2,w7

Training: rest and recovery

Notes:
Went to the MN Twins game after a long day at work. I figured sleep was more important than getting in a late night run.

Monday: D1,W7

Training:

Warm Up:
ROM drills
1 mile run: 5:51 (could have gone 10 seconds or so faster, very brief warm up so first 800 m were tough)

Work:
15 min amrap: 340
Step-ups (using 40lb pack)

100 x good mornings (w/40lb sandbag)
100 x strict military press (w/40lb sandbag)

Durability:
50 x leg levers
50 x 4 count flutter kicks
50 x superman back extensions
brief active stretch

60 min of softball (included many short sprints and sprint starts)

Run: 58 min (easy pace, focused on my running form and developing a cadence)
Active stretch: (2 min on each calve and achilles on top of normal stretching routine)

Notes:
Overall a good day. I was pleased with the step-ups and will be adding in short amraps of these to build up leg endurance. Good mornings with the sandbag I feel have really helped with my hamstring development. Even with adding more time on my feet running my hamstrings have not bothered me at all. Run was good, cleared my head and really got into a rythem. Picked up the pace for 8 min or so in the middle just because it felt good to go fast. Right achilles was a bit tight post stretch so will watch that and do mobility work to keep that from becoming an issue.

I am happy with my training so far and am enjoying training towards my goal of the Arrowhead 135. I am also looking at some 50 and 100 mile runs for next summer to help with the prep work and aid in training.

AHU training update:
Total hours: 49.02

Sunday: D7,W6

Training: Rest

3 mile hike

Total Miles:
Run: 35
Hike: 6

Saturday: D6,W6

Training:

AM:

Run: 6 miles

20 x man-makers (using 35lb db's)
40 x bent over row (using 35lb db's)
80 x pushups (chest to deck)
160 x squat
320 x leg levers

active stretch

Notes:
Good day today. Pushups were difficult and had to do the last 40 in sets of ten. Leg levers were a mental battle and took approx 11-12 min to complete. Resting the rest of today and tmrw.

Friday: D5,W6

Training:

Run: 23 min (easy pace)

Hill sprints: 10 rounds (5 rounds of jogging down the hill, 5 rounds of walking down hill, times all between 45-50 seconds, very steep hill)

Run: 21 min (easy pace)

8 rounds:
10 x pull-up
10 x dips

1 x 20 chinups

Hike: 3 miles

Long active stretching session

Notes: Spent all evening outside. Felt great. Wore a hydration pack the entire time. It was nice to be able to spend some quality time outdoors.

Thursday: D4,W6

Training:

Warm Up:
Jump rope
ROM drills

Endurance:
4 mile run: 27:46

rest 7 min (hydrate)

28 min run (easy pace)

Durability:
100 x sit-ups (un-anchored)
100 x superman back extensions
100 x hallow rocks
active stretch/yoga

Notes:
Legs felt great today. Ever since I changed back to my old beat up shoes my heels and plantar fascia haven't been bothering me. Hallow rocks are tough. Had to break the last 50 into sets of 10. Very pleased with the 4 mile run today as I was planning on doing it at 8 min mile pace but messed up my pacing big time and ran the first 1.5 miles in 10:30. My legs felt great so I just decided to see if I could maintain 7 min mile pace throughout and did so easily.

Wednesday: D3,W6

Training:

Warm Up:
3 min x barefoot jump rope
ROM drills

Stamina:
10 rounds:
10 x regular pushups
10 x tricep pushups
10 x divebomber pushups
10 x situps (unanchored)
10 x leg levers
10 x 4 count flutter kicks
10 x squat (using 40lb sandbag)
10 x good morning (using 40lb sandbag)
10 x lunges (using 40lb sandbag)

Endurance: Long intervals
4 rounds:
4 min max effort run
2 min walk

Durability:
60 min x alternating walking/running
Active stretch

Notes:
Big day but legs felt great. Ran the 4 minute intervals at 6 min mile pace. Divebomber pushups were by far the toughest part of the PT.

Tuesday: D2,W6

Training:

Warm Up:
ROM drills, dynamic stretching, jump rope

Work Capacity:
5 rft:
9 x thruster
12 x bent over row
400 m run

Total time: 12:18

Endurance:
46 min run (easy pace, ran 9 min hard in the middle)

Durability:
100 x 4 count flutter kicks (unbroken)
100 x superman back extensions
Active stretch

Notes:
Metcon went really well. I haven't done a running metcon in a while and really pushed it on the 400 m runs. Shoulders and traps are sore from yesterday. Changed up my shoes for the run and feet felt great. I am thinking that this is the problem with my feet and achilles getting so sore.

Monday: D1,W6

Training:

Warm Up:
ROM drills, dynamic stretch
Jump rope

Work Capacity:
AFAP:
100 x squat clean to thruster

Total: 11:33

Rest 2 minutes

Endurance:
10 x 400 m run
Had to finish each in under 90 seconds, 60 seconds of rest after each run

Durability:
2:00 max effort:
Pushups: 95
Situps: 96
Squats: 102
Active stretch

Notes:
Work capacity was a grip and forearm killer. Rested 2 minutes before heading into my sprints with the goal of running on tired legs. Got each run done in under 90 seconds. It took 5 rounds before my legs finally loosened up from the squat cleans. I was disappointed in the 2 minute maxes for push-ups and squats, although doing them after the work capacity and running had something to do with the lower than normal scores I am sure. I will re-test again next Monday.

Sunday: D7,W5

Training: Rest

50 x DH chinups (20-10-10-10)

Total Milage:
Run: approx 23-24