Week 6

Hard to believe it's already the start of week 6 of my summer internship and week 10 of summer...time flies when you're having fun!

After recovery from the race on Wednesday I had a quick lift on Friday followed by a solid 36 mile (19.6 mph avg) ride on Saturday morning with BD and Morven.  Overall the legs are feeling strong and my main goal is to maintain baseline fitness and health as we head closer to August.  BD and Morven are firing on all cylinders right now as they ramp up their training...I haven't seen Brian in this solid of form in a long time, if ever.

Kicked this week off with a team-style day with TZ where we helped each other through 800m repeats this morning and a pushers lift tonight...he is as strong as ever and continues to push me every day...looking forward to watching him do big things this coming fall.

In the meantime I'm continuing to enjoy work and watching this year's TdF...always an inspiration...and very thankful to have great athletes around to help me train.

Early Riding

Got up early on Friday and joined Morven and the Jedi for an interval ride through Orange County. We did two rounds of our famous lactate loop after climbing Mt. Sinai to get there. I pulled the first loop at 20.4 mph and the Jedi on the second with a legendary 21.5 mph avg. I was really happy to go that fast and to round out the week with a good ride...thanks guys!

Catching Up Although Hurt

Friday's workout was a fun one as we did various quickness and plyo sprint drills including parachute sprints. Later that evening we had a great send off dinner for the gym at Dain's Place for Morven and Krishinda...they will be greatly missed at the gym as they go off to grad school.

This weekend was tough mentally and emotionally....not something I thought I'd be going through this summer. A 38 mile ride with Brian, Morven, and Chip Denton helped on Saturday morning. I tried to bury the pain out there on the course and although it didn't work, I'll never turn down a ride with my friends. Also had a good time visiting with Nana and Pops on Saturday.

Back on the grind today- which is the toughest part to get up and keep going like things are normal. Morning workout with the team: Warm up, then 1 mile at 6:30, 4x200M sprints, and 4x100M sprints. Meredith- thanks for your hug this morning, sometimes the little things mean a lot. After work I lifted with Brian.

Full body:

BW bench for 3 sets (145 lbs 8, 7, 5 reps) combined with clap push ups to fail.

Decline med ball toss abs combined with Lance side lunges

Hamstring let downs combined with BB rows

Ended with planks and DB curl to press

So thankful to have my family and Brian behind me right now...thanks guys...you mean the world to me. Oh and BD- thanks for these sweet aero bars...can't wait to try em!

Weekend Recap

After Thursday's training the team and I rested up and hit the road on Friday afternoon for their big race down at White Lake. It was a smooth drive down, although the place was in the middle of nowhere! We stayed in some bunks right on the compound and woke up early on Saturday morning for the start. Because of fog the swim had to be cancelled, but the bike and running stages remained. I got some great pics of the team in action and was really proud of everyone's efforts. A special congrats to Morven on her third place age group finish in her first ever half iron man! Tom and David had a rough race- Tom's chain broke and David strained his leg- nonetheless they both finished and recorded solid times. Brian led the team out with the best time and did so valiantly. Although he did pay the price for such efforts with a period of dehydration after the race...after some rest and an IV, he rallied and I drove the team home.

Sunday was another rest day- went to church, then brunch for mother's day, and then watched Tyler play his club game- a 1-0 win for his team in NC State Cup play.

Today I began my first day of work at Morgan Creek Capital Management. It was a good first day, including an excellent lunch, and I am excited to continue my work there this summer. Tomorrow training will continue with Brian now recovered and me with a set schedule.

Final Pre-Race Day

This morning I got up and took the car into the body shop...Pops was kind enough to drive me back to the house and we had a good chance to visit for a bit.

Although I am not racing this weekend, it was the final day of training for Brian and Morven before heading out tomorrow for their big race.

For me I had a quarter mile warm up on the treadmill followed by a full body lift:

BB rows combined with SA seated DB shoulder press

Hanging cleans combined with WG pull ups

Ab rotation with a couple more sets of bench.

Then ended with a 7:15 mile on incline 3 on treadmill- slowly getting back cardio.

Headed down to Raleigh for The Athlete's Foot Downtown Challenge tonight...it was great to have a large turnout. Tomorrow team Activedge hits the road for the big race, follow my Twitter for real time updates!

Distance Work Beginning

Woke up this morning and headed into Activedge.

Did a quick lift:

4 sets of bench press: 6x 135 lbs, 5x 145 lbs, 4x 145 lbs, and 5x 135 lbs

Combined with twisting ab slamballs w/ 16 lbs Dynamax- 3 sets of 10

DB tricep pushers combined with BB curls

Then hit the road for a 3 mile loop around the gym with Brian and Morven:

1st 2 miles at 8:30 and 3rd at 7:00, 24 min. total.

Had a nice chance to skype with Kalee this evening and enjoyed a great pasta dinner that Grandma made as well. Summer rolling.

Back in the Saddle

Started the day by going to mass with Mom, Grandma, and Nelson. It was nice to see Nelson accepted into his school's national honors society as well.

Then hit the road with the Jedi and Morven for a solid interval ride:

A roughly 3 mile warm up, followed by 2 hard 10 minute intervals at just under 20 mph. Then rode back to the starting point. In all a total of just over 15 miles in the saddle. Brian and Morven are in great shape and I was happy to just keep up...I can't wait to see their greatness in action at the big race this weekend.

The Summer Tour Begins

Yesterday was a great day- After church Nana and Pops came over and Grandma was here so we all celebrated my birthday with a cookout and mom's famous banana cake. It was the perfect way to kick off the summer.

It was great to head back into the gym and visit Meredith, Morven, and Brian this morning.

This afternoon I also began my summer training with the BD. This is his taper week heading into the White Lake triathalon so I was glad to join for a good workout.

In gym body weight exercises:

Angled push ups- 4 sets of 15

3 sets of 10 NG chinups

3 sets of 10 hanging leg raises

3 sets of 8 SL squats each leg

Then hit the track for 400M intervals:

half mile warm up

1st and 2nd 400 at 1:40

3rd and 4th at 1:35

5th at 1:28 and 6th at 1:24. Each interval had a 400M jog recovery in between and the whole workout ended with a half mile cool down. It was very hot out and I was glad to keep up.

Then BD was kind enough to treat me out to lunch for my birthday. Came home, did some work, and cut the yard with dad. In all, a good day of activity.

A Solid Weekend

After coming down with a tough head cold this past week I wasn't sure what to expect heading into the weekend. I knew it'd be a busy one.

Friday I woke up and drove with Denny up to Williamsburg for CNU soccer's golf tournament fundraiser. We played 'best ball' with a team of 4 and I was happy dad could come up and play on the team with us. I'm terrible but it was fun nonetheless...learned a few things and shared some good laughs and company. Jumped in the car from there and had a nice dinner with Nana and Pops at a local steak place.

Saturday morning I headed out to Kalee's track meet where she had a great day, setting a new personal best height of 10' 7" and a third place position on CNU's all-time list. Saturday was also our alumni day. We (current players) had a good time playing with the old guys in some small sided games. Good to see some old friends again that I've made from recruiting trips and freshman year. Also had a good time that morning giving Nana and Pops a tour around campus, I was really glad they could come up and see everything. Our spring game got pushed back to Sunday afternoon and it was a good thing it did after seeing the intensity of the storm that came through. Glad everyone at home was safe after numerous tornadoes touched down in NC earlier in the day.

A shout-out to Meredith and Brian and Morven in all their events on Saturday as well. I heard some good things from Meredith about her competition and I'm excited the rest of the team had a great showing in their short triathalon in preparation for their big race in May. Well done guys!

Sunday we had our spring game against William and Mary at home under the sun. It was great to start and play some good minutes...I had the first shot of the game that I thought was going to be a goal... but those will come next year. Felt good out there, it was nice to play a real game again in front of our fans. We ended up in a respectable 0-0 tie. In all a good way to cap off the spring as school winds down with 2 weeks left- 1 of class and 1 of exams, then summer.

April Fools

I woke up to a pleasant surprise to learn from Brian that Morven was now engaged, how exciting! Upon congratulating her I was greeted with the response: April fools, Brian got you good! Without going into too much detail I did manage to get him back though.

On another note I was excited to learn that Endurance Magazine published an article about Brian's achievements as a "Tri Dad" It was an honor to train with him last summer and I am very thankful he gave me a kind shoutout....you can access the article here.

Anyway, ended the week with a good lift and practice:

Ab routine (with 40 lbs weight vest added)

BB warm up

Split press- 5 sets of 5 working up to 110 lbs

Hanging body pulls- 3 sets of 12 with weight vest

Hanging leg raises- 2 sets of 6 with weight vest

Outside practice of small sided games.

Still cold here but glad it's April, lots of work to do this weekend, but looking forward to warm weather. Also excited to learn today that Andrew Crabtree's treatment is going well as he continues to read Lance's book...hang in there Andrew!

Week 2

After a relaxing weekend we started the 2nd week of spring training today with a dece practice.

Got a few good lower body explosive lifts done (abs, hanging cleans, back loaded squats) in the weight room and then hit the field with the team.

Warmed up with the ladder drill and then played 4v4 for an hour. Ended with a series of sprints with and without the ball. Feeling good and enjoying playing with the team. Also glad the weather is getting much nicer.

A shout out of congrats to Brian, Morven and the rest of the AE team on a successful half and full marathon in Durham this past weekend, keep up the nice work guys!

Short Race Day

Woke up this morning and headed to the Washington Duke Trail for the Immaculata Catholic School 5k fundraiser. Great morning for a run with much better temperatures than I anticipated. Was great to see 100+ people show up and run and support a great school that I am proud to have attended. As for the run itself, I knew I was coming in out of cardio shape, so I knew it would be a struggle. Sad BD hurt himself this week although very happy he showed up today to support the entire Activedge team. So today it was Rachel, Morven, and me that ran.

At the start I went out very fast with Rachel (who is in great form right now) and we led the race for the first mile, hitting the first mile split at 6:11...much faster than I anticipated. So we backed off the tempo a bit and had one other high school cross country runner join us...clearly I was out of my league for where I am running-wise. Oh well, had to keep plugging....hit mile 2 and told Rachel to let it rip, I backed off my pace and had to run solo the rest of the way over a series of climbs that are just killer when the legs are sore. I was passed by two more cross country runner freaks but kept my head down and ran my race. Came in at 22:20 ish, not bad for not having run more than 3 miles at one time since pre-season training in August. I rounded off the top 5 for the race....so I'll take it for now. Different goals for next year though. Headed back to the gym to change and recover. Did a quick body fat test with Brian...I'm at 16%...again not bad for where I am now...will be at 10% or lower by the end of May.

Overall this was a great week to visit with Brian, Meredith, and Morven. Their dedication and intensity inspires me. I will miss them lots over the next few weeks at school. Also was very excited to hear Rachel and Bill are engaged now too. Now our paths temporarily diverge...

Friday Conclusion

Spring break lifting concluded today with a good workout with Brian and Morven at the gym.

Full body:

DB SA bench on foam roller

Cable SA lat. pull downs

Dynamax Slams on decline

Incline BB bench

Standing SA KB rows

YTArrow DB complex

Hanging L-ups

Sad the Jedi hurt his quad this week training, I know he will rally though. For Morven, this will be a good chance for more 1 on 1 tri coaching. For tomorrow will have to fly solo on the Immaculata 5K fundraiser, I'm sure Rachel will kill me seeing how I am not in top cardio form. It's ok though, run is for a good cause and a chance to get the cardio back on track for the spring season.

Cardio Day

No lift today, just extreme cardio- triathlete style as called for by the Jedi.

Had a nice breakfast with Pops this morning and then headed into the gym. Took the bikes over to Durham Academy where Jen Renn, Morven, Brian, and I all took off for an interval workout through the rural areas of Chapel Hill:

15 minute warmup ride up Mt. Siani climb to Carolina Friend's School road. From there we did a 10 minute loop with a 10 minute cool followed by another 10 minute hard loop. I actually felt better today than I thought I would although I could not hold Brian's wheel for the last hard section of each loop. In all the ride was 19 miles with a 17 mph average including the warm up and the cool down. Then we cruised back to the track where we jumped on the track for more interval work. At this point the legs felt rubbery but I had to give it a go. Did the first mile with Brian at a very difficult pace, he dropped me with half a lap left and came in at 6:30 with me behind at 6:45. He then proceeded to begin his next mile while I recovered. I joined him for the last 800M which we did in roughly 3:10, completing his mile at a very solid 6:22. Then he did an 800M while I rested again. Then I jumped in with him for his second and final 800M. He led the first lap, I led the second and he outpaced me in the last 50M coming in at an impressive 2:59 with me in at about 3:03. In all, an hour on both the bike and the track has left me tapped. But a great day nonetheless! Brian is in phenomenal shape as usual. Now on to tomorrow's stage.

Spring Tour Engaged

First day of spring training with Brian and Morven began today at Activedge. Went in at about 11 this morning. It was great to see Meredith again and the rest of the crew and get a chance to catch up for a bit, I really hated to be away from the gym for so long.

We did a "tobata" lift which is a timed rotation of mostly body-weight exercises:

6 rounds of the following (20 seconds of activity at each, 10 seconds transition):

Cross over push ups

Leap-frogs

SA Alt KB swings

Sit up to throw- using stability ball against wall

Jump rope

Then 2 minutes of rest followed by 6 more rounds of:

Left arm DB snatch

Left leg Warrior squats

Right arm DB snatch

Right leg Warrior squats

"L-ups" on the decline.

Definitely got tired on that second round of exercises. Then jumped on the bike and did a quick solo ride from the gym to Hollow Rock. It was a quick but windy 3 miles. There I met Brian and Morven and while they did their swim I had a good recovery meal. Definitely tired and will have to dig very deep to keep up in tomorrow's activity. In all it was a great day to kick off the the spring tour and see everyone again.

Divergence

Today I had to say bye to most of the Activedge community as our winter tour comes to an end. I was glad to share good quality time this past month with Brian, Chad, Meredith, Morven and Kelsey. It was also nice to see Taylor today as well as a number of other loyal gym athletes. I wish them all the best at the start of a new semester.

As for me, no training today after yesterday's hard workout. Brian and I will get in one last lift tomorrow before I head out on Sunday. As our paths diverge, we cherish the memories and look forward to many more to come.

7 Up Anyone?

I had a very nice breakfast this morning with Pops and enjoyed some great quality time with him. Going to miss our visits when I head back up to school. Also want to send a shout out to Morven as I am thinking of her with her operation today on her Bday.

After the usual morning work at the gym we did one final hard workout Brian designed called "7 Up"

250M row

21 DB sit up to press (20lbs)

250M row

15 DB sit up to press

250M row

9 sit up to press

Then 21, 15, and 9 reps of the following:

jump rope double jumps

75% of BW hanging cleans (112 lbs for me)

Standing push press (same weight)

box jumps

Bench press (also 112 lbs)

Med Ball jumping slams

chin ups

Ended with:

300M shuffle

21 plank claps

300M shuffle

15 plank claps

300M shuffle

9 plank claps

All of this was timed and very difficult to say the least. Chad went first and posted a great time. Then Brian went through the routine and posted the best time of the group. I went third and lost to Brian by 38 seconds. I was pleased, and BD claimed yet another well-deserved victory (which I might add was very tough because he had fewer cheerleaders than me!) Kelsey was yet again a great coach and motivator for me today, as was Chad once he finished his round of the exercises.

Ended at the gym working with the Riverside High School girl's soccer team. They were troopers with a tough work out of their own!

Then headed out to take Nelson to his middle school basketball game. It was great to have Chad in attendance helping me cheer him on. Despite the team's 7 point loss (to the league's #1 team I believe) Nelson still had a great showing scoring 1/3 of his team's total points. Another great day of sports activity.

Hump Day

Began this week's hump day early when I took the car in for new tires and then headed into the gym. No morning athletes to work with so Morven, Brian, and I jumped right into our workout.

1 hour on the bikes as we watched highlight triathlon videos. 5 minute warm up. Then 5 min. hard followed by 5 light, repeated 5 times. We then ended with a 5 minute cool down. Over 15 miles of riding at a 18.0 mph before the cool down. It was a very good leg burn.

Then Chad decided to beat my time on a workout we have now come to call the "Grenade" (because of its short time length but extreme intensity). It was the routine I first tried out yesterday:

100 jump ropes

40 speed squats

20 burpies

All repeated four times.

Chad shattered my original time by over 3 minutes, coming in at 12:24. I had no choice (especially with both BD and Chad talking smack) but to engage in record breaking. With Kelsey as my motivator and time keeper, I was able to finish it in 10:52 which left me very tired, especially after a long ride. Thanks again Kelsey for coaching me!

We then jumped into a quick pullers lift:

Off the rack DB rows combined with ab side twists on the decline

NG chin ups with DB alternating lunges

Ended with a quick set of DB curls.

Then Chad, Brian, Kelsey, and I all jumped into the car and headed out for a quick lunch before coming back to work with the Jordan girls soccer team.

Ended the day with a quick shower and dinner on the fly before heading to Duke to watch the basketball team crush UAB. Gotta love the intensity at Cameron Indoor. In all a good day of fitness and sports activity.

Long Day

Had a long day of work and training, but it was all great nonetheless. Had some morning work at the gym and then engaged in my own pushers lift:

Flat DB bench (10, 8, 8, 6) combined with leg press

Incline BB bench with OH tricep pushers

Standing cable flys with tricep push downs

Then a timed cardio rotation:

100 jump ropes

40 Speed squats

20 Burpies

Went through the above three exercises four times for a total time of 15:52.

Then track work with Brian and Morven:

15 minute warm (1.5 miles)

Then 400 hard, 400 jog, repeat 4 times

First three 400s were under 1:25 min and the last was at 1:16.

Then cool down and finished the afternoon training clients and teams at the Edge.

Tired and ready for some sleep! Looking forward to also having Chad back tomorrow.

Doin' Big Things

Today it was up to Morven and me to run the gym with Meredith and Brian out of the loop. As I walked in Morven and I had a funny moment- we looked at each other and realized, "hey, we've been coming to this place as kids forever...now we're all of sudden running the show on our own!" As Morven nicely said, "we're doin' big things today Zimm!"

After the morning round of scheduling calls and training clients, I jumped in the car to pick up Chad for our workout. Morven designed the lift, I designed the cardio, Chad provided the tunes. The three of us did a full body lift:

SA DB bench laying on the foam roller with Lance DB step ups.

SA alternating cable row (seated pull downs) with triple threat on the exercise ball

Dips combined with DB "warrior swims"

Then we jumped into the cardio:

1/2 mile repeats with 100 jump ropes in between (4x) for a total of 400 jumps and 2 miles of running.

I did the first two intervals at 6:40 pace (so they each took 3:20)

Then the third at 6 min pace (3 min. interval)

And the last at 5:42 pace (2:51 interval)

The rest in between each interval was less than three minutes (including jump rope time). In all it was a good 23 minute cardio burn. I was really proud of Morven and Chad for running fast times and keeping up. We were doin' big things today! Looking forward to having Brian back tomorrow and continuing our training on New Year's Eve.