DL/burpee metcon

1500

6x:

30s max deadlift, 225#

30s rest

30s max burpees

30s rest

• Notes: Short and fast. 225# felt pleasantly light, but I was definitely having to struggle to hold my core together.
• Sleep: Not great, 5-6 hours.
• Nutrition: Went to GABF last night, so lots of beer. Understatement.
• Body: Feel pretty solid. Upper back is definitely tight.

PC, holds

1500

Power clean

2 x 143#, 155#, 165#, 165#, 165#, 165#, 165#

3 minutes handstand hold

3 minutes hollow position

• Notes: Wasn't completely happy with my technique today so I opted for some volume at 165# vs. pushing heavier weights. Kept rest around 2 minutes.
• Sleep:
• Nutrition: Probably eating less than I normally would, but training isn't really very hard right now so it's fine.
• Body: Hammies and adductors a little tight. Energy-wise I feel great.
• General: Rest day tomorrow. Lots of school work to do.

Bodyweight metcon

1200

3x:

60 seconds max pushups

60 seconds max situps, 20# ball

60 seconds max ring rows

2 stair climbs

60 seconds rest

Front/back lever progressions and practice

• Notes: Good bodyweight burnout today, haven't really been doing pushups/situps at all recently. My levers are starting to get strong.
• Sleep: Great.
• Nutrition: Great.
• Body: Legs are sore, mostly adductors and hip flexors.

Squat singles

Back in Boulder and back on schedule after a little detour.

1430

Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 (95#, 105#, 115#, 125#, 135#)

Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 (135#, 155#, 175#, 185#, 195#)

Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (195#, 205#, 215#, 225#, 215#)

Pool

5x, 2 minutes rest in between:

25m underwater swim

25m fs sprint

• Notes: Back on more of a structured schedule now that I am back at school. Feel very fresh and excited to train. Gonna take some time off from running and focus more on my main lifts and do a few more metcons, as I have been enjoying them lately.
• Sleep: Great. Been getting a lot the past couple of weeks.
• Nutrition: Has been pretty lax, but I getting back into my normal eating and honestly burned myself out on eating crap.
• Body: Little sore from ultimate last night, but mostly good. Left shoulder/scapula has been feeling a little loose and not as strong, but doing some overhead mobility has helped a lot. It's usually after I jerk heavy weight.
• General: Making my own programming right now revolving around squat, DL, press, and olympic work.

ME SDL

1600

Sumo deadlift, moderate stance

2 x 275#, 295#, 285#, 285#, 285#

Knees to elbows, strict

3 x 10

• Notes: In Nashville, will give a detailed update later. I have been lifting, but wanted to post this as a reference for later. Others notes, I pr'd on 165# clean and jerk a few days ago.
  

C&J, levers, pool

1300

Clean and jerk

2 x 111#, 121#, 121#, 133#, 143#, 148#, 148#

Front and back levers w/ band assistance

Pool:

2x

1 minute leg tread

1 minute leg tread w/ brick, chest level

1 minute leg tread w/ brick, overhead

25m underwaters

• Notes: Felt awesome today. Got under some decent weight, although I was having some trouble locking my elbows out. Getting really hooked on levers, and using the band is an awesome way to scale and get some work in.
• Sleep: Little short, but feeling fine.
• Nutrition: Definitely could be improved.
• Body: Pretty much 100%. Right knee gets a little achy every now and then, but my legs feel incredible muscle-wise. Need to do some shoulder mobility.
• General: Going to do some wods until monday when I get started on a strength cycle again.

Recovery PT

3x, 10-15 reps per exercise:

Back extensions

GHD situps

DB swings, 40#

Bench press, 95#

Strict pullups

• Notes: Easy movements to get my joints loose and bearing some weight. Pretty much everything was pain-free.
• Sleep: Been fine.
• Nutrition: Ended up taking a lot of stuff during the race that I wouldn't have liked to, but aside from that I have been pretty clean with a little bread.
• Body: Today was a 360 turn around from yesterday. Had to limp to class yesterday morning, but by the end of the day I was almost completely normal. Today I still have lingering soreness in my knees (feels like ligament soreness), but all of my other joints are fine. I was shocked that I had little to no muscular soreness except in my adductors oddly enough. Guessing all the strength work took care of that, so most of my aches were just knees and that just came from not having done much mileage. Very pleased with how my body has recovered so far. I already have a desire to train hard again.
• General: Probably going to keep the rest of the week unstructured, just get in the weight room whenever I can and continue to get back to 100%. Looking forward to shifting back towards strength training at the beginning of next week.

Boulder Backroads Marathon race report

Went into this one a little nervous about my lack of volume and mileage in general, but it turned out pretty well. About 3 weeks out I started doing mountain summit trail runs that I think helped me a lot, at least mentally if not physically. Very pleased with how my legs held up.

First hour:

Went out pretty calm and relaxed, just aiming to stay at 9:00/mile pace which I did. No issues, felt good. I got to the start a little late (I was peeing in a bush when they yelled out 2 minutes to the start) but it wasn't an issue. I had my headphones in for most of the race so I was pretty anti-social unfortunately, but the music gave me some nice grooves at points.

Second hour:

Got in a nice groove here. Went through the half marathon turn-around and I was on the new part of the course for me. Still held pace and just tried to relax. The gradual tightness in my legs started creeping in here, probably around mile 10, but it wasn't too big of a deal. I started taking gatorade at the aid stations once I had an hour under my belt, and pretty much grabbed one cup of water and one gatorade at each station from then on out.

Third hour: This was the new territory for me. I have never run over 2 hours, and I had never gone beyond 13.1 miles. Despite getting some knee and foot tightness, I honestly felt solid and just tried to prepare for what I thought would be a big wall before mile 20. Couple of rolling hills in this stretch that were a little tough, but I didn't have any issues with them and feel pretty good about my climbing ability. There were a couple reaaally long straight sections that were a little annoying since you could see a mile ahead, but nothing too bad. Started to get a lot hotter outside.

Fourth hour: I guess this is when you could say I hit a "wall," although it was more just a physical inability to speed up due to cramping. I was definitely hurting from mile 20 on, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. Took a Gu that I had just in case I needed it and grabbed a few macadamia's just trying to get some salt in me. In the future, I will definitely be bringing salt supplements with me.

Aside from cramping, mostly in my calves and groin, I felt pretty damn good. A friend hopped in and ran the last 3 miles with me so that definitely helped. There was a point where I was around 3 miles out from the finish and needed to close in about 20 minutes to get under 4 hours, but I didn't really have it in me with all the cramping, nor was I all that concerned with time at that point. It was nice getting to mile 20 and just knowing that the race was in the bag, that was a good feeling.

Overall the miles went by pretty fast. I stopped and drank at every aid station, which probably took significant time off, but the quick breaks kept me very consistent in my pace. Basically just taking it one aid station at a time, keeping a conservative and consistent pace and it was over before I knew it.

Final time - 4:09:53 (I'll have the official results later)

Definitely a slow time, but a finish here was my main goal. Took about a 5 minute ice bath afterwards. Probably should hit the gym and try to get some soreness out, but that's just not happening today. Few quick thoughts/lessons:

• Chaffing: Feet held up decently well with vaseline, but wow is my taint unhappy. I applied some vaseline before the race but for some reason I just get terrible chaffing down there. Nips and underarms got pretty bad too.
• Hydration/nutrition: I feel like I got away with some slack planning in this area, but any longer distance and it's going to take some planning. Need to bring some salty foods or some electrolyte tabs to keep those cramps at bay. Didn't really need any protein for this length, but might be worth looking into for a 50k/50 mile.
• Walk the aid stations - no point in spilling half the water I have.

Still hasn't really hit me that it's done. I was expecting an epic struggle but it was actually kind of fun just to see how your body reacts to things it hasn't done. Guess I gotta find a new race to train for!

More thoughts on upcoming changes/updates with my programming coming soon.

Strides, mobility

1400

4 x 100m strides

Lots of mobility work

• Notes: Feeling good. Get some.

Easy day

1800

Overhead squats, 45#

Pushups

Rolling pistols

Hollow rocks

Mobility

• Notes: Relaxed day, watched my buddy do a triathlon and just spent some time walking around. Feeling good, getting that antsy feeling in my legs which is exactly what I want.

C&J, easy run

1700

Clean and jerk

2 x 111#, 121#, 133#, 133#, 133#

Run 20 minutes easy

2 x uphill sprints, fast as possible

• Notes: Continuing to taper into this weekend. I did a lot more sets of the clean and jerks but can't really remember how many. Didn't push it hard.
• Sleep: Feeling fine.
• Nutrition: Could be better I suppose.
• Body: Hips maybe a tiny bit tight. I am going to dedicate the next two days to my quads and calves - rolling, stretching, soft tissue, the whole works. Want everything nice and supple for monday.