Teaser Over

A Christmas break teaser vacation is over as I have to face reality tomorrow and head back up to school.  Managed to get in a good workout in with Brian yesterday:
Full body lift- DB bench, Bosu squats, SA pull downs, reverse exercise ball abs, straight leg deadlift, decline abs, OH triceps, TRX split jumps.

Finished it all off with a good treadmill workout clocking over 3 total miles.  Still a ways to go, but first need to get through the hassles of school before full training is re-engaged.

Also visited with Nana and Pops, watched Mollie and the Duke Women's Soccer team achieve a NCAA final four berth, and celebrated my friend Daniel's 21st bday.

Today we headed out to pick up our tree, I got to visit with Andrew some, and then decorated the house.  It was a great/productive teaser break and although it's over, it's one step closer to Christmas!  

A Weekend Away....

With the unexpected events of Irene, CNU shut its doors on Friday so I decided to make the trip home on Thursday night after training. Ran the trail light in the morning to rest the leg and then had a solid practice in the afternoon despite some very hot temperatures.

Friday I got on the bike and did a good solo ride out through the northern country roads of Orange county. Hit some tough cross winds with the front end of the storm coming through but was happy with a 17.7 mph avg over 16 miles. Visited Cardinal Gibbons that evening for their family football game...good to see so many people come out and great to have a chance to catch up with old friends and parents.

Saturday I took a much needed off day. Today I got a chance to catch up with Brian and watch Mollie and the Duke women's team beat up on Notre Dame...a great 3-1 win for them. Got home and got back on the bike again for a quick 9 miler warmup on some nearby roads and then did a full upper body lift with dad. Enjoyed a nice dinner with Nana and Pops to close out a nice weekend at home. Back to school tomorrow if the power decides to come back on.

Week In Review

Finished off the week's training well on Friday with a double run workout with Brian. First hit the Duke trail for a two mile out and back- first mile at 7:30 then back in (on the uphill section) at 6:30. Pleased Brian pushed the last half mile to bring us in strong. Then immediately hit the track with the team for speed/plyo work. Ended with 12x40 yd dashes.

Today Kelsey, Mollie, and I headed out to the Duke turf for a good shooting session. Despite the mid-day heat on the turf we got a solid 2 hours of work in. Thankful to Brian, Kels, and Mollie for pushing me through a good week. Also enjoyed watching the opening stage of this year's Tour de France today as well as following Dad on the mountain bike as he ran through Duke forrest. In all a good week of training. Best of luck to Brian in his sprint tri tomorrow in Ohio and well-wishes to everyone on this 4th of July weekend!

Memorial Day Heat

Traditionally this holiday is the kickoff for summer and boy was it a hot one. The car thermometer read 103F when I got in...wow. Morning run at the Duke track to kick things off with the team:

Warm up

200 M hard, 200 M jog, 200 M hard, 200 M jog- for 3 sets. Ended the last one at 28 sec. which was decent considering the extreme heat and the fact that I didn't kick it until half way through.

Then hit the gym with Brian (the birthday boy) for an excellent pushers lift:

Bench- 4 sets of 5 working up to 155 lbs

Lance step ups- 4 sets of 6 each leg

Decline DB bench- 3 sets of 6-8 reps working up to 60 lbs

Dips combined with BB squats on BOSU ball (see pic above for this)

Plyo push ups combined with "row the boat" abs

Ended with 3 sets of BB curls.

It was also nice to visit with Meredith at the gym as she did her workout. Enjoyed a nice lunch after with Mollie, Chad, and Brian and hung at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. A special shoutout to our troops for their service and our prayers for those who have sacrificed and fallen for us...God bless and thank you!

Winter Tour Fully Engaged

Today winter training began in full, and a full day of training it was! Woke up at a decent hour this morning, got some work done, and then headed into the gym. Helped finish training a few Duke women's soccer players including Mollie and then hit the weights with BD and Morven. Pushers lift today:

DB bench with Lance step ups.

BB standing press with med ball split jumps.

Fast box jumps with 7,7,7 shoulder series

Dips combined with ring push up flys.

Then we hit the treadmills for what proved to be the hardest part of the day:

Intervals on inclines. Brian made the call for 5 sets of 5 minutes at incline level 5 at under 7 minute pace for each with short rest in between. I knew it would be ridiculous and was not surprised I cracked. I made it through the first one, and died on the second only doing it on speed level 7 instead of 8. Then for the third I only did it through three minutes at speed 7. Brian agreed to the call to stop at three sets however with a full embrace of the Activedge spirit of the tour, Morven made the call for the fourth. I had no choice but to suck it up and roll. I kept it on flat instead of incline and held level 8 for the first minute and dropped back to 7 for the last 4 to finish it out. The road back to top fitness is tough, but this is what makes achieving such a level worthwhile. Thanks Morven for pushing us!

Last Hoorah

It wouldn't feel right if BD didn't go out on top on the last stage of the tour!

Decent run this morning, thankful he could come out and do it with me one last time.

Mile warm up/stretch, then CNU men's soccer test run:

1 mile out and back on a hilly trail course in under 13 min.

Felt good going out, right on pace at 6:30 at the turn around.

Coming back, with 3/4 mile to go Brian attacked on my least favorite terrain (a downhill stretch).

I held the gap as a long as I could, but didn't have the toughness to run him down. He finished at 12:42, with me behind at 12:55. Not happy with the time, (which will never win the fitness test) but happy the legs felt fine. Must dig deep next week at school.

Nice final brunch afterwards with Chad and Mollie.

Tour complete.

Friday: Last day of phase I of tour

Our summer training tour comes to an unfortunate temporary halt as I must travel out of town for a two weeks.

However, ended on a good note Friday:

Good lift, thanks again Chad for spotting.

Bench, worked up to new max of 170 lbs. WG chin ups, ring dips, ring body pulls, decline lunges.

Morning run consisted of speed and plyo work. Ended with 7 40 yd. dashes, all under 5 seconds.

Afternoon skills session on the field, good shooting and passing drills. Thanks again to Brian, Chad, and Mollie for doing it!

Already looking forward to coming back and getting back to work.

Heat Engaged

Brutal Day, but well worth the effort.

Morning Pilates at AE

Afternoon 28 mile time trial, 2 very hard loops, 18.1 mph avg. Brian coming in with a respectable 19.2. Zimm concedes to a worthy machine, after a hard 1.5 hours in the saddle.

Followed by track work with Brian and Mollie in the absolute hottest part of the day:

150 meter repeats, broken into 50 m. segments with 2 turns. 2 sets of 8, over two miles of hard running.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter, this week that BD planned is brutal! But machines don't stop.

And so we're off...

Today is an off workout day, but the new TAF store is off and running and so is the world cup! Very happy with the U.S. performance against England. With good luck we will win out and continue our run.

TAF was swamped today, great sales and exposure for the official grand opening. Glad to have my friends Chad and Mollie stop by, you guys are awesome!

Brian continued his epic training today with our buddy Tom, glad to hear those two are riding well. As for me, the rest is much needed.