Saturday - July 30

Pool swim w/ Kyle

 - 200 yds warmup

 - 4 x 50 yds sprint on the minute

 - 4 x 25 yds side kick

 - 50yds then thunderstorms rolled in

Later in the evening. 6-9p

GoRuck Lake Erie shore event in AvonLake

 - started with approximately an hour of beach and water calisthenics; push-ups, flutter kicks, crawls, drags, arm raises, etc.

 - clean and press picnic tables in groups of 4 and then did 'sled pushes' with the tables in groups of 4 as well.

 - fire mans carry a partner out and back ~30yds, both had 30# packs on.

 - hiked local park and found a freshly downed tree ~14" at base, cut a 25' section and team carried through the woods for 15-20 minutes

 - liter carried a person 1.5 miles rotating out positions without stopping or verbal communication.

 - Indian run 1.5 miles back to starting point, 14 minutes 

Friday - July 29

Pullups x 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
 - regular
 - reverse
 - close
 - wide
 - neutral

Arm Haulers 2 x75

Neck exercises - 2 x35
DB Shrugs @ 50# - 2x35

Ab SuperSet
 - flutter kicks x150
 - leg levers x150
 - situp x150

Thursday - July 28

Jump Rope - 2 minutes
Dynamic Warm-up

Front Squat (off 120kg max)
 5 x 60, 72kg
 3 x 84kg
 3 x 96kg
 3+ @ 108kg x 3

Trap Deadlift (off 230kg max)
 5 x 95, 130kg
 3 x 161kg
 3 x 184kg
 3+ @ 207kg x 3

FBBC 2-3/8" Axle Deadlift, double overhand(off 165kg max)
 5 x 70, 100kg
 3 x 116kg
 3 x 132kg
 3+ @ 149kg x 3

Single Leg Deadlift
 8 x 24, 24, 28kg

SuperSet - 30# weight vest
 - squat 4x20
 - lunge (r/l) 4x20

Double Leg Bound
 - 3x20

Side-to-side Hurdle hop - 12"
 - 3x20

Seated Calf Raise
 8 x 45, 70, 115, 115, 115#

Fire Hydrants 2x100

DB Farmers Walk @55#
 - 2 x 200yds

Later After Work

Open Water Swim
 - Killbuck Lake
 - approximately 1100yds.
 - 27 minutes

Wednesday - July 27

KB Snatch set
 - 10 minutes, single arm switch
 - 20kg
 - 20 rpm

10 SuperSets
 - 500m Row (drag#5) - (1:43.9, 1:43.2, 1:42.9, 1:42.6, 1:42.0, 1:41.7, 1:41.1, 1:40.6, 1:39.8, 1:38.7)
 - 25 pushups
 - 25 decline situp #2
Time: 44:04

Sandbag Get-up set
 - 10 minutes
 - 60# bag
 - 54 total reps

12.5# Weight Vest
 - max pushups in 2 minutes: 54
 - max situps in 2 minutes: 52
 - max pullups: 12

Handstand pushup hold: 1:01

Recumbent Bike
 - 30 minutes
 - level 8/20
 - distance 7.95
 - aveHR 127
 - maxHR 143

Tuesday - July 26

UpperBody pyramid
 1 to 10, 10 to 1
 - pullup x1
 - pushup x3
 - crunches x5
 - dips x2

Erg
 - 30 minutes
 - drag#5
 - 7811m
 - 1:55.2
 -aveHR 145
 - maxHR 165

neck exercises - 2x35
DB Shrug @ 50# - 2x35

Seated Calf Raise
 5 x 45, 70, 115, 115, 115#

Friday - July 22

KB Snatch set
 - 10 minutes, single arm switch
 - 20kg
 - 20 rpm

Hour break for a client.

15 SuperSets
 - 500m Row (drag#5) - (1:48.3, 1:48.2, 1:47.5, 1:47. 2, 1:47.2, 1:47.7, 1:47.6, 1:47.1, 1:47.4, 1:47.5, 1:47.2, 1:46.9, 1:47.0, 1:47.2, 1:46.3)
 - 20 pushups
 - 20 hanging knee raise (hang from bar)
Time: 1:07:48

Sandbag Get-up set
 - 10 minutes
 - 50# bag
 - 53 total reps

Warm and humid, lots of sweat.  Looking forward to the weekend and relaxation/recovery.

Thursday - July 21

Morning Road Run
 - 5.83 miles
 - 50:08
 - 8:36 pace

Hot day but felt solid for the first run post-triathlon.

Wednesday - July 20

Pullups 2x7
 - regular
 - reverse
 - close
 - wide
 - neutral

Pushups
 - regular 2x30
 - close 2x20
 - wide 2x30
 - hindu 2x30

Dips 2x25
Arm Haulers 3x50
8-count Burpee 2x 20

(12.5# weight vest)
 - max pushups in 2 minutes: 52
 - max situps in 2 minutes: 68
 - max pullups: 14

Handstand pushup hold: 48 sec.

After Lunch in Afternoon......

Neck exercises 2x50
DB Shrug @ 50# - 2x50

Abs SuperSet x2
 - situp x60
 - 4-way crunch x50
 - leg lever x60
 - flutter kicks x150
 - 1/2 situp x100

This kicked my butt today.  I can tell its been 2 weeks since training with this kind of volume.

Tuesday - July 19

Dynamic Warm-up

Front Squat (off 120kg max)
 5 x 54, 66kg
 5 x 78kg
 5 x 90kg
 5+ @ 102kg x 5

Trap Deadlift (off 230kg max)
 5 x 95, 125kg
 5 x 150kg
 5 x 173kg
 5+ @ 196kg x 5

FBBC 2-3/8" Axle Deadlift, double overhand(off 165kg max)
 5 x 70, 90kg
 5 x 107kg
 5 x 124kg
 5+ @ 140kg x 5

Single Leg Deadlift
 8 x 24, 24, 24kg

SuperSet - 30# weight vest
 - squat 3x15
 - lunge (r/l) 3x15

Double Leg Bound
 - 2x10

Side-to-side Hurdle hop - 12"
 - 2x20

Seated Calf Raise
 8 x 45, 70, 115, 115, 115#

Fire Hydrants 3x50

DB Farmers Walk @55#
 - 2 x 200yds

Later After Work

Open Water Swim
 - Killbuck Lake
 - approximately 1400yds
 - 34 minutes of swimming, in the water for 38 minutes

Monday - July 18

Recumbent Bike
 - 30 minutes
 - level 8/20
 - distance 8.72
 - aveHR 132
 - maxHR 147

(12.5# weight vest added to the following bodyweight exercises)
Max Pushups in 2 minutes: 47
Max Situps in 2 minutes: 56
Max Pullups: 14
Handstand Hold (against wall): 56 seconds - no weight vest

Erg
 - 30 minutes
 - drag #7
 - 7579m
 - 1:58.7 ave500m
 - aveHR 142
 - maxHR 152

I let my HR get away the last 10 minutes on the erg as I wanted to keep under 2:00 splits.  

Friday - July 15

Recumbent Bike
 - 30 minutes
 - level 7/20
 - distance 7.42
 - aveHR 127
 - maxHR 135

Erg
 - 30 minutes
 - drag #7
 - 7059m
 - 2:07.5 ave500m
 - aveHR 129
 - maxHR 135

Thursday - July 14

GoRuck - Sea/Land via MolonLabe Crossfit with Mark Nolan

We started at the gym with a warm-up circuit

3 rounds with 35# packs on - down/up commands on all
 - Overhead Squat x10
 - Pushup x10
 - Leg Levers x10

We then partnered up (packs off) for 10 minutes of sandbag get-ups (60#)
 - Greg and I switched every 5 reps and finished with a total of 45 each.

Next, they carabinered 3 of sandbags together for us to carry as we marched/jogged a mile to the local rec. center.

At the rec. we took off packs and shoes before various sets of 10 reps of:
 - pushups
 - leg levers
 - flutter kicks
 - 8-count burpees
 - situps
 - tunnel crawls

Then it was shoes and packs back on for an outside buddy bear crawl.  Your partner laid on their back and grabbed hold of your shoulder straps while you bearcrawled and drug your partner for 20 yds before switch.  (these were not hard at all I felt)

Then it was another mile march/jog to the Macedonia fire department for more pushups, flutter kicks, leg levers and overhead squats with your pack.  All while two members of the fire department hosed us down.

Back to another mile on the road, this time indian run style, while we worked our way back to the gym.

Once back at the gym, we got in groups of 4 based on height.  Our object was to clean and press a tire on command for reps.  After 10 reps of this, we did 10 pushups with toes on the tire before doing another 10 reps with the tire this time with one less person who held the high pushup position.

All in all a good fun 3 hours of movement.  I did everything rather easily, but I do plan to add in pushups with weight and overhead work, as these were weak areas.

Wednesday - July 13

Erg
 - 20 minutes
 - drag #6
 - 4753m
 - 2:06.2 ave500m
 - aveHR 119
 - maxHR 133

Recumbent Bike
 - 20 minutes
 - level 7/20
 - distance 4.80
 - aveHR 110
 - maxHR 123

Another nice and smooth day.

Tuesday - July 12

Erg
 - 20 minutes
 - drag #5
 - 4744m
 - 2:06.5 ave500m
 - aveHR 121
 - maxHR 128

Recumbent Bike
 - 20 minutes
 - level 6/20
 - distance 4.90
 - aveHR 110
 - maxHR 120

Needed to get the blood flowing without being too invasive.  Feeling surprising well but know I should not push any limits this week or next.

Saturday - July 9

Muncie, Indiana Half-Ironman

My wave left the beach at 7:39am for the 1.2 mile lake swim. I was nervous but confident.  Swimming is my main weakness but it has been improving.  I tried to stay relaxed and get into a rythym, but I quickly was doing breaststroke as I sighted the buoys. I continued this rotation of freestyle/breaststroke for the first 2/3 of the swim.  After the last turn buoy, stubbornness kicked in and I maintained a steady freestyle with sighting strokes just like I practiced.  Would have been nice to start that way but better late than never.  I was happy that this was my first triathlon swim where I did not have the thoughts of quitting because I was in over my head. So that was a PR.  My official swim time was 57:37 for the 1.2 miles.  Water temps were 77.4 so no wetsuits were allowed and I had planned my training not to depend on a wetsuit.

Out of the water and up the hill to T1 and my strength, the bike.  My transition times proved to be strong, only 2:47 from swim to bike.

The bike is were I felt I could make up a lot of time.  My brother, Michael, said your legs are going to feel like garbage after the bike anyway, you might as well go hard if you can. My goal was 20mph average if I was feeling good, apparently I felt really good.  I averaged just over 21mph for the duration of 56 miles.  The course was realitively flat, only 1,140 ft. of elevation gained. We did encounter a noteworthy headwind on our northbound legs. Overall, I felt like I smoked the bike.  Official time of 2:39:41.

T2 was another good transition for me, 2:58. I made sure to add sunscreen to the top of my head and shoulders before leaving.

My goal for the 13.1 mile run was for 10 minute mile pace.  My quads are tight and slightly cramping at first but I knew that slow and steady was my key. Aid stations were about every mile and I would walk through them as I drank water and/or Gatorade.  I did choose to skip the 3rd and 4th stations as I was feeling strong.  I was maintaining 9:35 pace for the first 6.6 miles which I was very happy about, but knew my legs were feeling fatigued.  I maintained my mantra of 'a slow trot is always faster than a walk'.  This powered me through, mile to mile, aid station to aid station.  The final 5 miles were the toughest but I kept the trot going.  Looking at my watch, I knew I had the time to finish under 6 hour but I didn't have any time to give either, staying smooth was the only way it was going to happen.  The hills were becoming a challenge but I maintained.  It was very encouraging to hear the crowds at the end. Soon I entered the final finishing shoot, it was gravel and uneven, so I focused on my footing instead of looking around too much. I crossed the line and looked down at my watch, 5:58:02. My official time was 5:58:06.  Half marathon time was 2:15:03.

I made it under my goal time of 6 hours. Super excited and to think of going twice that distance for a full ironman is crazy, but it was our first conversation.  Michael finished in 5:43:58, a huge PR for him as well, he'd never gone under 6-hours before in 3 previous attempts.  

After some finish line photos we went back down to the lake to soak of tired legs.  At a much slower pace, we retrieved our bikes and transition gear before heading back to the hotel for some much needed food and rest.  Do we plan to go the full distance, absolutely. We are looking at the 2017 Ironman Boulder.  Let the training continue.

Weekend, July 2-3

Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

The 4th of July weekend has become a nice relaxing climbing trip for us.  We arrived Friday evening and casually setup camp.  Saturday morning was nice and sunny as we set out for the Skyline Traverse(5.3) route, we arrived at my best guess (with guidebook) for the start of the route (it was correct).  I gained a large ledge after 10-15 feet and belayed Kyle and Katie up to cutdown on severe rope drag.  We then started up the large corner crack system to the first bolts.  This was definitely my first climbing outing of the year, I was not smooth and took more time than necessary placing gear, even over-camming a #.75 which I was able to retrieve later.  Once at the bolts, I scouted out where to put everyone before setting up my belay in guide-mode off the anchors.  Kyle came up first and I placed her on the small ledge to my left with her stack of rope while I brought Katie up.  Katie remained on the larger ledge 10-15 ft. below me.  We then decided to rappel back down from the bolts.  Tied the ropes together with an EDK in order to fully reach the ground safely.  On rappel, with auto-block engaged I was able to retrieve my stuck .75 cam after 5 minutes of encouragement with my nut-tool.  We then hiked around and up the remained of the stair-master before having lunch.

After lunch we went over to Humphrey's Head, another location I've yet to climb.  A Seneca guide was doing some belay anchor teaching on some of the trees but we had plenty of room for all.  I racked up and started up the face along a prominent crack.  I had 2 piece in the first 20ft. which was good and then encountered some hollow sounding blocks, which I avoided placing gear behind.  Soon, I was at the overhang with my last piece 20ft. below me and mentally not happy.  My feet were secure but I was badly wanting a solid piece or two.  I was able to slot a nut and then found a crack for a cam 3-4 feet after that.  I was feeling better, but knew a slip would be a traversing fall.  The last 15 ft. of climbing are the easiest but most exposed.  Took a couple deep breathes and then was soon at the slings/rap-rings.  I set up our top-rope on double locking carabiners before being lowered.  Kyle cleaned the route and after all had climbed, I went back up to clean the top-rope setup.

Sundays weather was looking iffy but we went up to tackle Le Gourmet.  We got to the start, racked up and then the rain started.  I literally had 1 piece in the wall and needed to down climb 8 feet.  We opted for lunch while we waited for the weather to either clear or continue its drizzle.  Rain continued to spit on us so we went swimming in the river.

Not a lot of climbing, but time spent in the outdoors is never a waste.  It was the relaxation I needed for this weekends upcoming half-ironman triathlon.