Monday, May 07, 2007
Hitting the Weights
Okay, so I'm admitting a little bit of defeat.
My goal was to run some distance this weekend, but there was no wind in my sails. The thunderstorms didn't make the mountain feasible and I could use other excuses but the timing just wasn't right. I feel like I've been trying to force a square peg into a round hole and am going against what my body needs.
The two biggest issues right now are strength and time. Interesting combination?
Strength ... I know in part some of my issues are because I'm not resistance training, and I've been scrambling to get this in but my schedule has been such that I end up doing my runs and that's it. I decided to change that this morning. I woke up and wandered down to the local clubhouse. I used to have a full home gym. Before moving to our beach house on St. Pete Beach, Florida, we knew that we didn't want to pay for storage (we had not clue if we'd be staying in Florida or not ... turns out not) and had no room for the weight set, so I ended up donating it to a Christian school in Minnesota. They drove eight hours to Lead, South Dakota to pick up the set ... great group of people and I hope it is serving them well.
The clubhouse has some dumbbells and a universal system. Doesn't really phase me, I'm not looking to squat records out the gate, just move my joints and resist some weight.
I tackled what I refer to as an induction workout (can't take credit for it, learned it through my ISSA certification). Basically it involves longer-than-usual sets and is designed for either beginners or someone starting back after a lay off.
The premise is simple: pick a weight that you can perform 20 repetitions at. Not just any repetitions, but a special format. The first 10 are done explosively, i.e. with acceleration but still controlled. Without any rest you immediately move into the last 10 repetitions at a slower pace - for this workout I chose three seconds up and then three seconds down. So 10 fast, 10 slow.
It was a great workout - I hit all major groups. Nothing fancy like arm curls, just the basics - legs, bench, military press, pull-down, etc. I only did one set each because I'm feeling where I'm at, but I sense this will become a habit.
The second factor was time. Long runs take a long time. With a family, helping build a technology business while running my own ... those runs end up taking a lot of time out. I found I was dreading them not for the runs themselves, but for the time they took. Now understand to an extent this is an excuse. I could certainly roll out at the crack of dawn and run 4 hours and still be home before the family wakes up, but I just wasn't ready for that.
Does this mean no more ultra?
No way, as I said, I'm just learning where I'm at and how to pace myself. I need to have more consistency first, then introduce other factors. So I'm going to roll down to the basement tomorrow and do a high intensity interval training session instead of my normal steady paced run. I want to focus on some strength and cutting down some fat and then build my mileage up over a longer time frame ... I think I was pushing too hard to do too much too fast.
I feel good about my choice. I'll keep you posted.
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
My goal was to run some distance this weekend, but there was no wind in my sails. The thunderstorms didn't make the mountain feasible and I could use other excuses but the timing just wasn't right. I feel like I've been trying to force a square peg into a round hole and am going against what my body needs.
The two biggest issues right now are strength and time. Interesting combination?
Strength ... I know in part some of my issues are because I'm not resistance training, and I've been scrambling to get this in but my schedule has been such that I end up doing my runs and that's it. I decided to change that this morning. I woke up and wandered down to the local clubhouse. I used to have a full home gym. Before moving to our beach house on St. Pete Beach, Florida, we knew that we didn't want to pay for storage (we had not clue if we'd be staying in Florida or not ... turns out not) and had no room for the weight set, so I ended up donating it to a Christian school in Minnesota. They drove eight hours to Lead, South Dakota to pick up the set ... great group of people and I hope it is serving them well.
The clubhouse has some dumbbells and a universal system. Doesn't really phase me, I'm not looking to squat records out the gate, just move my joints and resist some weight.
I tackled what I refer to as an induction workout (can't take credit for it, learned it through my ISSA certification). Basically it involves longer-than-usual sets and is designed for either beginners or someone starting back after a lay off.
The premise is simple: pick a weight that you can perform 20 repetitions at. Not just any repetitions, but a special format. The first 10 are done explosively, i.e. with acceleration but still controlled. Without any rest you immediately move into the last 10 repetitions at a slower pace - for this workout I chose three seconds up and then three seconds down. So 10 fast, 10 slow.
It was a great workout - I hit all major groups. Nothing fancy like arm curls, just the basics - legs, bench, military press, pull-down, etc. I only did one set each because I'm feeling where I'm at, but I sense this will become a habit.
The second factor was time. Long runs take a long time. With a family, helping build a technology business while running my own ... those runs end up taking a lot of time out. I found I was dreading them not for the runs themselves, but for the time they took. Now understand to an extent this is an excuse. I could certainly roll out at the crack of dawn and run 4 hours and still be home before the family wakes up, but I just wasn't ready for that.
Does this mean no more ultra?
No way, as I said, I'm just learning where I'm at and how to pace myself. I need to have more consistency first, then introduce other factors. So I'm going to roll down to the basement tomorrow and do a high intensity interval training session instead of my normal steady paced run. I want to focus on some strength and cutting down some fat and then build my mileage up over a longer time frame ... I think I was pushing too hard to do too much too fast.
I feel good about my choice. I'll keep you posted.
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
I know I already commented over in JSF but I also wanted to say thanks for this site great information.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]