Weekend Home

After my last class Thursday I hit the road back to NC for a long weekend at home.  It was good to come back for a bit to clear my head from school and enjoy some nice fam time/weather/training.

Thursday I took off and spent some time visiting with Nana and Pops.   Training was re-engaged on Friday with Brian and the AE team for a full day of activity:
Full body lift, TRX class, 30 minutes on the trainer, 5 miles on the run outside, and then a quick 9 mile loop back outside on the bike.  Needless to say I was whooped...Brian pushed the pace hard as always, especially on that last mile of the run.  Felt good during the lift and was pleased to go 6 reps to failure (of 145 lbs) on the bench to top it off.  Still weighing in at around 139 lbs which is slightly under where I need to be (but not as drastic as Brian who has lost 13 lbs in the last 2 weeks on his Engine 2 Diet!)

Brian was feeling a bit better today and made the call to go for one more outdoor ride.  We did our traditional Duke TT loop from the gym and managed to go for a 20.7 mph average for a new loop record.  We timed our pulls perfectly to fit each other's strengths and despite a little traffic outside of Cameron Indoor it was a smooth ride.  Always great to get back home to train with the Jedi!

Had one last nice visit with Nana and Pops tonight, then back to the grind at school tomorrow evening.  Bringing the bike back to campus with me to help with the I40 challenge.  Would really like to turn the challenge into a charitable cause...need to sleep on it some and open to suggestions while the year is still young!  Overall, it has been a great weekend at home.

Pushing thru I40

Yesterday I hit the Noland for some lactate work...need to keep the speed up even though I'm logging longer distances now.  It was absolutely perfect weather (felt like April) and the trail was dotted with lots of people.  I did a half mile warm to the trail and 10 minutes of stretching.  Then decided to do the CNU soccer team testing portion of it: 1 mile out and back.  Hit first mile (mostly downhill) at 5:50 and then had to climb back.  Did second mile in 6:08 and was pretty winded by the end.  Then half mile cool back to the apartment.  All in all a good 3 miles of work to count to this year's total.  Trying to work my way across I40 to keep up with the BD for the 2012 challenge.

Today we were back in the weight room for full upper body lift (higher reps and lower weights today):
Warm up, abs, BB bench, incline alt DB bench, BB push press, lat pull downs, DB shoulder series, and dips.

Tomorrow I hit the road home for the weekend.  Looking forward to a good visit with fam and friends away from campus for a few days.

First Week Tapped

A great way to kick off 2012 with a solid week of training.  Rounded out the week today with a lift at the gym followed by a ride from the estate.  Did a full upper body lift with Brian and David Hey after a 1/2 mile warm up on the treadmill:

Bench (5,4,3,2,1), SA KB pulls, alt. lat pull ups, tricep push downs, decline abs, SA DB raises, and cable curls.  I'm not as strong as I'd like to be on the bench right now, but at a good starting point for the spring lifting that is to come.

After the gym, Brian and I met up with Roger to do our classic Pleasant Green Rd. hill repeats.  Route details here.  This time we did four loops (instead of 3 as shown in the ride details) for a total of 25 miles at an 18.0 mph average.  Much easier to go faster with a team effort but very tired nonetheless.  After this week's activity my total mileage for the 2012 I-40 challenge is 76.5.  Now time for a nice dinner and some rest! 

1st Week Catch Up

Here's a review of fitness for the first week of the new year:

Monday- Pullers lift and indoor trainer work on the bike at the gym with Brian.  Lift included cleans, concentrated curls, L-ups, and DB shoulder series. Bike intervals with an overall average of 17.1 mph for 20 miles on the trainer.

Tuesday- Treadmill intervals followed by pushers lift. Six miles total: 2x1200M at sub 6 minute pace, then 4x800M at 5:49 pace. Most tired I've been on a run in a long time.  Pushers lift afterwards included DB bench, TRX split jumps, decline abs, and tricep push downs. 

Wednesday- Off day...I-40 in 2012 goal established by Brian.  Can track progress at the right/top section of my blog page.

Thursday- mile repeats with Brian.  Started at the Hillsboro Sportsplex and warmed up with an 8:15 mile out to the old Orange County Speedway.  Did 2 miles hard at 6:20 pace around the loop, then 1 mile light at 7:15 pace.  Did two more hard miles at around 6:35 pace, and then one more cool down mile back to the car.  

Friday- will be lift/run combo with Brian from the estate.  Expecting great temps for a tough ride of hill repeats up Pleasant Green Rd.