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.

Last Day

Today was my last day of the winter tour with team Activedge...a word of thanks to Brian and Meredith for opening the gym up to me when I'm home...I really appreciate it and wouldn't know what to do without it!

Today's work:
Mid-day light lift to work on form and prep for the upcoming meathead CNU lifting sessions.
Bench warm up, and went for max, failed at 175 lbs (all-time max) so will go for 165 with the team this week and build from there.  Not bad considering I weigh my lightest ever right now at 139 lbs...cut a lot of weight to get my body fat down and endurance back.  Then I went ahead and did the Grenade workout I designed from last year:
100 jump ropes, 40 dynamax ball squats, 20 burpees - repeated 4 times.  Hit 11:45, which is about a minute slower than my all-time record of 10:52.  Finished with abs and DB curls.

Headed back to the gym in the evening for its inaugural TRX training class designed and led by BD.  Went through an hour of full body work on the bands and then decided to give the Grenade one more run.  Jacob wanted in so we hit it all-out.  I took absolutely no breaks and pushed it hard...got done at a very good 8:30.  Jacob finished at the exact same time but no comment as to where he was in his counting haha...anyway glad for another solid winter tour...time to head back to school tomorrow morning.

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.

Fitness Catching Up

Took a nice off day on Saturday and followed it up on Sunday with a good full body lift with dad.  Mile warm up on the treadmill combined with 15 minutes on the bike to get loose.  Then three sets of the following: bench press, hanging cleans, DB shoulder series, BB military press, BB curls, triceps, and ab routine.

Monday did a pullers lift with Brian and Charlie.  Included SA cable pull downs, reverse DB lunges, NG pull ups to chest, lance side lunges, sand ball ab lifts, and a Y/T/Arrow complex on the TRX.

Continued to follow Brian in his craziness today with a 6:30am track workout at Duke. Did 5x1000M repeats at an average pace of 3:43 each with a 400M jog in between each...tough workout call by him.  Immediately followed this with a pushers lift with Brian and Charlie.  Included 3 sets of leg press, planks (new format of 10 seconds holding, 5 seconds rest, repeated 10x), bench, NG tricep bench, seated DB arnold press, jump ropes, tricep pushdowns, and decline med ball tosses.

In all I am quite tired from 3 days straight of lifting.  In addition I've managed to get a few good hours of work in at the gym and had lunch with coach Jamie on Monday and the Morgan Creek team today.  I really enjoy being around Brian, Meredith, and the gym during the holidays.  Good to catch up with everyone this time of year...the winter tour is in full swing.

Week End

Enjoyed an excellent week back in the triangle to kick off the holiday season.

Thursday I did a few hours of work at the gym and got a good hour long sweat session (long sleeve gear at high cadence) on the bike trainer followed by an arms and core lift.

Yesterday I teamed up with Brian and his friend Charlie for a full body lift design:
cable push press, WG chinups, med ball squat/split jumps, box jumps, Y/T/Arrow DBs, straight bar pull downs, TRX abs, and dips.

Recovered and then hit the road for 26 miles of interval work on the bike.  Hung with the guys for the first 20 miles at a fast clip, taking my turn at the front, but my legs virtually gave out at mile 20.  Needed to ride the last 6 miles back solo, but managed to save the average at 17.6 mph for the entire trip...not bad for being off the bike since August.  Ended the workout right after that with a one mile run (out and back) at 8:20.

Closed out the week with my good friend Kelsey at the Dixon Hughes Goodman Christmas Party at the Angus barn.  I'm looking forward to working for them in the summer and was glad I could catch up with Kelsey last night.

Today I'm taking an R&R day.  Haven't slept late in a really long time so I really enjoyed that.  The legs and upper body are sore, it's too cold to ride, so I'm looking forward to chilling out, helping mom with Christmas cards, and soaking up the season!

Welcome Break Time

Extremely excited for break and eager to get back into a training routine.  It was a tough semester and I'm glad to be through it all...time to dial it in a re-focus on new commitments.

Got through exams and lots of traveling last weekend.  Kicked off this week on Monday with a good full body lift designed by the Jedi followed by a 7:30 mile on the treadmill to start getting the legs re-engaged.  Took yesterday off and then met up with Brian this morning for a 5 mile clip through Duke's east campus.  Had a good breakfast outing with Pops and then a full TRX workout afterwards over lunch.

All in all, glad to be back with family and friends at this time of the year...winter tour up and rolling.

Healing Up

Continuing to heal mentally and physically as the week progresses on.

Good bike work on Wednesday morning and a light sprint session this morning on the track to continue healing up the leg. Also had a good full body tobata style lift in the gym this afternoon designed by Brian:

6 rounds of 20 seconds of-

Dynamax squat throws

DB sit up to press

KB swings

BOSU pushups

Quick rest then followed by 6 rounds of 20 seconds of-

Split squats

Toe touches

TRX SL lunge jumps

Chin up holds

Continuing to rehab the leg and staying positive as the season draws closer. On the bike tomorrow.

Already Wednesday

Having Monday off has really made this week fly by...nonetheless excited for tomorrow to be our off day from fitness.

This morning's run:

Warmup, followed by 400M at 1:30. Then 400M hard (at 1:18-1:16) followed by 400M light (at 2:12-2:14) with no standing rest. Repeated twice for a total of three sets. Then one last 400M all-out at just under 1 minute. Fully tired but still had to pack it off to work.

Afternoon pullers lift at the gym with Tyler:

TRX pull ups/split jumps combined with DB chops

3x5 hanging cleans combined with drop back lunges with the BB, one extra set of cleans at 8 reps to fail

RDLs with the BB combined with SA KB squat pulls

TRX ab pull combined with 4 sets of EZ bar curls along with 3 sets of 4-5 reps of DB arnold press

Ended with one set of NG chinups to fail at 20 reps.

Glad to have the team to push and BD to coach as always. Safe travels to Meredith this weekend as she heads out to visit the hubby in Texas for a few days!

Back on Track

After a nice three day weekend the tour came back to full force today.

Morning run- 2x200M, 6x100M with 100M recovery jog...all repeated twice.

Then off to work followed by evening lift with Brian:

Bench press- BW (147 lbs) 1x7 reps, 1x9 reps, 1x7 reps Combined with line drill

TRX SL squats combined with DB flys

Double box jump for 5 combined with decline med ball abs and OH tricep pushers

2 sets of SL Burpees on the TRX combined with 2 sets of dips to fail and 2 sets of 1 min. planks.

A tough day to get motivated and stay positive...but the work was done and the tour rolls.

Bday Hump Day

Happy birthday to Meredith today...glad it was a good one! Stopped by the gym this afternoon (off day from activity for me though) and pumped to see it rocking with so many people...had some great convo w/ Kelsey as well...always good to catch up with her when we're not both near death pushing each other to finish a work out.

Catch up from yesterday:

Average day on track but good for the lungs....always great to have T to push...building his own legendary status. Work out consisted of mile warm up then 400M, 600M, 800M, 1000M, 800M, 400M, 200M all at very tough paces.

Weights after work with Brian and Tyler-

TRX combo warm up. 2x6 then 1x4 hanging cleans working up to 155 lbs. Combined with SL triple threat on exercise ball.

Off the rack DB rows combined with twisting pendulum abs on the TRX (see above pic) and hamstring let-downs.

Ended with 2 sets of 8 NG pull ups on rings with Dynamax ball added and SA seated arnold press. Also one set of DB hammer curls to complete failure.

A good day of activity and glad to have Wednesday off. Full tour back on point on Thursday.

Monday Lift Only

Took a lot of crap from the team today for not running....tour will roll tomorrow...no need to risk injury in the middle of summer.

Today's lift after work:

Bench press: 10, 8, 6, 2 working up to 155 lbs. Combined with 3x100 jump ropes

Then front loaded DB squats combined with incline cable press

Front loaded squat to BB press on BOSU combined with TRX pulling/twist single leg squats

Ab pulls on hanging TRX band combined with BB skull crushers and 3 sets of pushups.

Great as always to have Kelsey there to push...intensity with good laughs along the way...thanks again Kels! And to BD for a great design as always.

Showered up and hit the Bulls game with Brian and Braden...was a great night out...glad Braden had a good time at his first Bulls game with some awesome funnel cake (Don't worry Meredith I didn't eat any!!)...now back to grind tomorrow.