Karate
Basics, Heian YonDan review with Ron.
Crossfit
Warmup
Dynamic – Walking lunges, Frog hops, high knees, butt kicks, very short sprints
Burgener warm up, couch stretch.
Strength – Clean 5 x 3
115 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 3
165 x 3
165 x 3
WOD: (took me 10 mins)
Thrusters 10 – 1 (75lb)
Burpees 1 – 10
These are intermixed, so: 10 thrusters, 1 burpee, 9 thrusters, 2 burpees, etc…
Karate
Sparring 1-step (w/Rob R.), Jion, Hangetsu, Gankaku
Crossfit
Warmup: 1.5 mi run barefoot
Squat therapy; hold a pole and squat, trying to bring the hips to the pole for 3 minutes
Couch Stretch – 2x each leg
Strength: Front Squat, 5×3
Worked on finding the right weight:
115 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 3
165 x 3
165 x 3
WOD: 12 minute AMRAP
3 Kneeling to Squat
5 KB Swings (16kg)
7 Toes to Bar
I completed 8+ sets (in the last round, I completed the 3 kneel to squats but not the KB swings.) I think I need to start keeping track of my set count because I almost lost count along the way. And a few times, I did 7 KB swings instead of just 5 because I wasn’t thinking straight.
The ‘kneeling to squat’ is a dynamic movement. Start on your knees with feet extended (shoelaces to the floor), then jump up into a squat.
‘Toes to bar’ is done on the pull-up bar. Start in a hanging position, then raise your feet up in front of, then above you to touch your toes to the bar. I have never done these before. As my hands got sweaty, I was concerned my grip would slip and I would fall to my back. So I used the chalk for the first time. I managed 8+ sets, so doing 56 of these was a great workout and I’m starting to build the needed callouses on my hands.
Karate at Gold’s
No one showed up but me on Presidents’ Day 🙂 I did lots of stretching.
Crossfit
Warm-up: 15ea of air squat, frog sit up, ring rows
Mobility: couch stretch (4x each leg), down dog to cobra (5x)
Strength: find 2 rep max in the dead lift; I’ve never done heavy weight on the deadlift so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I worked up, starting with 2x45plates and a 45lb bar:
135 x 2
155 x 2
165 x 2
205 x 2
235 x 2
255 x 2
When I first went to pick up the 255, I picked it up and inch and put it back down, thinking it was too heavy. Dolph walked over and I mustered the resolve to do it again. I did two with no pain and good form, but it was a challenge. So, my 2-rep max is 255 at the start of the 90 day body composition challenge.
WOD: 12 min EMOM (every minute, on the minute)
65lb – 3 Power Snatch to 3 OHS (Overhead squat)
The overhead squat was pretty easy for me, but I don’t feel I’m squatting low enough yet; need to work on hip and knee flexibility. The snatch is a work in progress. During the last few sets, it turned into more of an overhead press than a snatch. I don’t feel my shrug is effective yet; need to work on that.
Misc:
800+ meter cool-down run.
Tanaka is a legend in Shotokan karate. Here is a link to a video where he takes some students through some of his sparring techniques.
In my quest to follow the paleo diet, and still run long distances, I need to determine good foods to eat during long training runs or races without resorting back to GUs or Shot Blocks, etc. I found this list of 10 natural race food alternatives from active.com.
Race nutrition can be an experiment if you aim to fuel with whole foods as much as possible. It’s important to look for food that is natural, compact, easy to carry, and tastes good. These 10 race foods fit those criteria. Give them a try when training for your next race.
These can be used for making your own energy bars, or can be eaten on their own. They contain natural sugars and simple carbs that will keep you running over long distances. They’re also easy to chew.
More: 5 Foods to Try This Spring
This drink provides the electrolytes your body needs to replenish the minerals you lose through sweat. It also tastes great and is extremely refreshing on a run.
Use a variety of fruits and vegetables to make your own “baby” race food. Anything is fair game, so get creative and use your favorite fresh ingredients to blend flavors that you will love. Just mush everything up so it’s easy to digest. You can pack it in small Ziploc bags and just suck it out like a gel when you’re ready to fuel.
More: How to Fuel Your Body for Energy
This has a great nutty taste and is a source of both healthy fat and protein. Sometimes you can find these in small gel-like packs that are easy to carry. Otherwise you can pack your own in small Ziploc bags. A good brand is Sunbutter, which is completely peanut-free and gluten-free.
Frozen grapes are just as sweet as candy. They cool your mouth and they’re easy to carry. Freeze small bags of grapes and carry them on your long runs.
More: 5 Best Carbs for Athletes
Making your own gel is fun and saves you money. Here’s a recipe to try.
Combine:
7 and 1/3 tablespoons of honey
3/4 teaspoons of blackstrap molasses
1/10 teaspoons of table salt
The watermelon rehydrates you while the salt replenishes your electrolytes. This is a refreshing and satisfying snack that can immediately boost your energy and help you pick up the pace.
More: 7 New Super Foods
I bought my own dehydrator so I could make a lot more of this. Dehydrating fruit allows it to keep longer and it’s easier to carry. I also find it sometimes makes fruit taste sweeter. With a dehydrator you can make your own natural fruit rolls, and you can even dehydrate meats and vegetables. You could almost carry entire meals. The possibilities are endless.
Use raw, natural honey as a sugar source. Your body will appreciate the fuel and the good quality honey can also boost your immune system.
More: Eat Green to Run Better This Spring
These are just a combination of fruit and nuts. They come in small bite sized pieces and they are gluten-free and dairy-free. They’re less chewy than a bar, but not as watery as a gel. I enjoy the consistency and the flavors are delicious.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different foods during training and long runs. On race day, always stick to what you know will work.
So, I’ve debated it and decided to finally join CrossFit Mercer. The groupon I found is ideal: 2 hydrostatic weigh-ins (one before and one after a 90-day body composition challenge), three months of unlimited crossfit, and several seminars on crossfit, goal planning, and paleo.
I’ve resisted up to this point because my physical fitness schedule is already full: karate 5+ times per week, running (marathon training) 6 times per week, DJ Health club 5x per week, and miscellaneous classes at Gold’s 1x or 2x per week.
I will probably cut back on my running to fit this in. Focusing on total body strength and core strength, in my opinion, is a good substitute for some of the “junk” runs anyway. I’ll focus on the essentials: long runs on Sunday, and speed work on Tuesday or Wednesday. Then I’ll do another one or two runs of about 8 to 10 miles some other day. Maybe I’ll run to and from CrossFit on Friday mornings once I graduate from “OnRamp.”
I’ve been doing lots of push-ups, pull-ups, handstand push-ups (against the wall), situps, etc., on my own already. I had to focus on this more when I ripped my shin open down to the bone doing box jumps, since I couldn’t do my normal running routine for about a week. Hopefully, this helps prepare my a little bit for what’s in store. However, I’ve never focused on olympic-type weight lifting. I’ll be trying to figure out what I can lift in terms of deadlift, clean, etc. I will also obviously need help with proper form, which I expect to get from CFM.
Part of the challenge involves Paleo, I believe. I’ve had much success on the Zone diet (60+ pounds of fat loss over several years), and further success on the Tim Ferriss Four Hour Body diet. I follow those principles generally to this day, and maintain what I consider an acceptable body comp, and a great cardio-vascular fitness level. I expect CrossFit to improve my strength, and following the Paleo diet should help eliminate some additional fat. I don’t expect my body fat is very high; probably in the 15-17% range. I’m excited to have the most accurate measurement done (hydrostatic testing), instead of relying on the Tanita scale at home.
This year I’ve joined with Hamilton Area Trail Runs to do the NJ River to Sea Relay on Saturday, August 4, 2012. Seven runners will trek 92 miles across New Jersey from Milford to Manasquan. This event is a lot of fun.
The team is running to raise money to help Thea Danze and other children affected with brain tumors. The goal is $2,500 and we need your help. Thea, now age 5, lives in Robbinsville with her parents, Trisha and Jeff, and her baby sister, Lilly. In October of 2007, Thea was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and a brain tumor. She was just 4 months old. She underwent 3 brain surgeries that first week, including a nine-hour operation to resect the tumor. They got about 50%. A few days later, she suffered a stroke that left her with right-sided hemiparesis and a long road of therapy.
To date, Thea has had 43 months of chemotherapy, countless MRIs, several hospitalizations and hundreds of hours of PT, OT and speech therapy. But she is one of the lucky ones. Despite all the vomiting and hair loss, her side effects, thus far, have been pretty minimal compared to many other kids with brain tumors. Many other families are not so lucky. Please read more about Thea’s and the funraising effort Thea’s star of hope and if you are moved by her story, please make a donation: http://www.giveforward.com/theasstarofhope
You can also read more about the Hamilton Area Trail Runs “Run for Thea” here: http://www.hamiltonareatrailruns.com/run-for-thea.html
Thank you in advance!
It’s January 31, 2012 and I just made a log entry into runningahead.com for today’s nine mile run. My total distance for the month of January is 173.4 miles. This is something new for me, because in all the years I’ve been running I never tracked my accumulated distances so closely. I can thank Dimitri Bilenkin for his great example of how to maintain a detailed running log.
I didn’t start the year off using RunningAhead. Rather, I was using a paper-bound log I received in my goodie bag from the Asbury Park Marathon last year. It’s a nice book, however, not being able to share and compare my workouts easily with other people detracts from its social score. About mid-way through January I saw Dimitri’s log and thought, “I could really use this.” So I transferred my paper log to the RunningAhead website and have been an avid user since. Now it’s easy to send someone a link to one of my workouts or running plans by pointing them to the website. Also, the tools, graphs, and summaries on the RunningAhead site are pretty useful. I tried RunningAhead about a year ago but didn’t stick with it. This year I am more consistent. I am also making use of the “Training Plans” feature to prepare for the Pocono Mountain Marathon: Run for the Red, on May 20. I’m using the Pfitzinger 18 week/70mi peak training plan, which is nicely laid out in my calendar log along with my completed workouts.
I mention this mileage statistic because it’s a personal record. I don’t believe I’ve ever run this many miles in a single month. With this much mileage I am trying to take precautions to avoid injury. I’m continuing my cross-training workouts, karate classes, and miscellaneous fitness activities like: pushups, stretching, and foam/pvc rolling. I believe the foam/pvc rolling is making a big difference in recovery times from my runs. For instance, I ran 17 miles on Sunday afternoon and Monday I was up and about with very little soreness. In the past, runs like that had left me walking around like a zombie the day after.
Next up: set a weekly record in mileage and continue my running streak since December 30, 2011. By continuing my planned activities, I should exceed 58 miles this week.
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” – Jim Rohn
This applies in so many areas of life. Most recently I can apply it to my marathon training and the Philadelphia marathon itself. Never give up.
The 2011 Philadelphia Marathon is my fastest marathon yet. I finished in 3:13:22, which is a 7:21 per mile average. I finished in the top 6.05% of 10,000+ marathon runners. The cheering crowds were spectacular and uplifting. The bands along the course and cheer sections were awesome. The weather was very cooperative, but I think it would have been better about five to 10 degrees colder.
The last time I ran the Philadelphia course was in 2005 and my time was 3:21, so for this course I made an eight minute improvement. My second fastest marathon is now the Steamtown marathon, where I clocked in at 3:16:15. The Steamtown course is easier than Philadelphia, so to have run this harder course faster than Streamtown, even if only three minutes faster, is a nice improvement. However, I did not qualify for Boston, which requires a time of 3:10:00 until I turn 40. I would have qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon if I had run this race before September, because it was then that the BAA enacted stricter qualification standards. Previously I needed to run 3:15:59 to qualify, but now I need to run 3:10:00.
While waiting just minutes before the start of the race, I tried to reposition my shirt and race number. But I tore the race number right off the fuel belt I was wearing. I didn’t have any pins with me (because the fuel belt has built-in bib holders), and the hole on the top of the bib was torn and now useless. The race would start in three minutes and I had no way to keep my race number on, which is critical because it also contains the timing chip. I glanced around in desperation but I was squeezed in a sea of people, poised to begin their run. I needed to make a new hole in the bib, but unfortunately I didn’t have a hole puncher handy. Playing the part of MacGyver, I thought quickly and realized that the metal part of my watch wristband may be able to punch a new hole. I took off my garmin watch and with some carefully applied force, was able to poke a hole through the top corner of the bib. Then I was able to re-attach it. Wile E. Coyote, super… never mind. Pre-race crisis averted.
During various high and lows throughout my run, my wife and boys, and many family and friends were in my thoughts unknowingly getting me through rough spots. Jeannie and the boys were out on the course and I got to see them four times cheering me on. It was so very generous of them to spend half of their day trudging around Philadelphia just to catch a glimpse of me in different spots for a couple seconds as I ran by. But for me it had a huge impact on my performance and overall mood to have them there; I’m so very thankful. As I hit those rough patches along the course, I also thought back to other family and friends who wished me well and I also thought of those who were monitoring my progress from afar (Rich C. and Dimitri B.) via the pace alert mechanism. I also called upon memories of my martial arts instructors who at times got me through training and events I once thought I could never do. I heard ghosts of their voices barking at me, telling my I was weak, or no good, and that I needed to keep my pace, or run faster 🙂 That always helps to keep motivated. Thanks everyone!
I ran the first 21 miles (or so) with a 3:10 pace team, sponsored by Clif Bar in conjunction with the marathon. The pace teams are there to help runners stay on track and cross the finish line within the expected time. Running with the pace team leader is usually a sure bet to hit ones target because these guys can probably run the predetermined time in their sleep. Unfortunately, even the pace team leader missed the mark on Sunday and finished in 3:11:15. Even early on in the course, some of us running together with the pace team leader clocked in some miles with highly suspect splits. A few of the first miles of the race were just too fast, in my opinion. Miles 1-3 were 7:03, 7:11, and 7:02 according to my Garmin 310xt, but we were supposed to be aiming for a 7:15 pace. You shouldn’t ever try to bank time early in a marathon; it’s a recipe for disaster. I should have gotten out of there when I had the chance, but I stuck with the pace team and figured either my watch was off or he simply knew better. There must have been some very disappointed runners out there that stuck with the pace team leader all the way, only to unexpectedly discover they had to increase their pace in the last couple miles which is incredibly hard to do. For the 35-39 age group, Boston no longer allows an additional 59 seconds past 3:10 to qualify, so anyone running with the pace team leader would have had to make up at least 1 minute and 15 seconds in the last mile or two to hit their qualifying time of 3:10:00. I do have to say thanks to the pace team leader for doing a great job getting us through the hills in Manayunk. But the fast early miles and faster miles leading up to mile 13 probably detracted from my performance later in my race.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130091828
The Philadelphia course is great, and there were plenty of aid stations and lots of water available. It was also exciting to see the elite runners heading back along the Schuylkill river as I was headed toward Manayunk. Folisho Tuko took first place with a time of 2:19:16. Wow, that’s a 5:18 mile/minute pace.
For me, the first 10 to 15 miles went very well, I had little to no pain or discomfort, and my heart rate stayed within the low 150 bpm range. Heading out further along the river to the Falls bridge required more and more effort from me, but I was managing well. However, I suspect it was those late though not incredibly steep hills near miles 20-21 in Manayunk that ultimately did me in. I made it through them on target, but it took considerable effort and my heart rate was then averaging around 160 bpm. I think the last straw was a hill at mile 22.75. Once I crested it then attempted to coast down the back-end of the hill, I developed a muscle cramp in my quadriceps. I can see the little blip on the elevation chart from the race, and it’s wagging its finger at me, even now 🙂 Once that happened, my stride was affected which made it next to impossible for me to keep a 7:15 pace. I kept close to target until mid-way through mile 23, but could no longer maintain my stride due to the pain. I kept running, but my form deteriorated which affected my speed. Leading into mile 24, thoughts of giving up started to edge in and I had visions of the 3:20 and 3:30 pace teams passing me by (they didn’t of course, but your mind does strange things in that state). The urge to walk or just stop altogether was strong, but I fought through it and kept running. It took almost a mile to regain some sort of stride but the damage had been done to my overall goal of 3:10. I tried to surge ahead in mile 25 (hearing echoes of “you’re weak Frank. Must do!”) and managed to squeeze out a 7:40 mile. Still too slow though.
I chuckled at the end of mile 25 and thought, “if I could just run my last full mile in 5 minutes, I could make 3:10”. HA!!! If you’re a long distance runner, you know how silly that thought is. You can’t make up two minutes in the last mile of a race, even if you’re from Kenya 🙂 Then I also remembered that my math skills deteriorate significantly the longer and longer I’m out there running, so that quick computation was probably wrong. My leg was still in lots of pain, but I carried through to the end of mile 26 with a respectable sub-eight minute pace. The last 385 yards felt like a whole mile, but I got to see Jeannie, Matthew and Peter cheering for me near the finish line and I managed to cross with a smile on my face.
So even though I didn’t qualify for Boston, I’m still happy with my results and I continue to improve each year.
Thanks to Bill Scannon for his impressive driving skills on race morning. He delivered himself and several of us Hamilton Area Trail Runners from the Dunkin Donuts on Quakerbridge Road in Trenton to just a few blocks from the start of the race in what was probably a landspeed record. Also, many thanks to the HATRs for all those Sunday long runs. Running the 20 milers as a group took much of the monotony our of all those weeks of training. Thanks also go out to all those volunteers who worked the race expo, manned water and aid stations, and helped throughout the course. The support at the race event was stellar.