training plan

Last weekend I completed an event I never dreamed of signing up for: the TC Marathon. I'm still not sure why I signed up, given my resentment towards the "endurance" crowd of fitness folks, especially given that my training hasn't been very running-centric. That said, I wanted to spite several people who said that my conditioning through other means (oly lifting, crossfit, etc) would not get me through a marathon.

Welp, I proved them wrong, and 26.2 miles later I finished in just over 5 hours. It was, indeed, brutal. It hurt, badly. It was probably the most difficult physical event I have done to date, having done multiple 100+ mile bike rides and been training for a good chunk of my life.

That said, I didn't really train for it. If I would have, it would have been less brutal. As they say, you get out of it what you put into it... and after that, this motif certainly rings true. While fun and exciting, I didn't "get" much out of it. It even feels odd to me to receive congratulations from people who learn that I finished. Feeling this way, I believe it is time to make significant changes in my life, in order to get more out of life in general. I have gotten away from my days of training early, watching what I eat, and, in general, caring for my level of fitness.

I'm beginning a plan today and starting as simple as I can. One thing I want to work into my daily life is getting up early to go to the gym and break a sweat. It doesn't need to be a gruelling back-busting workout, but the simple habit of rising early has made huge impact in my life previously, so I am going to bring it back.

I will keep this short for now... tomorrow I will be rising early to train. With this small change going well, I plan to incorporate other healthy habits back into my life such as being more mindful about how I sleep, how I eat, and how I carry myself through the 9-5 life that I have not adapted so well to since I was in school just a few short months ago.

Daily report:

• Body: My body fat is higher than I would like it to be. I am not sore, but I do not feel "fit."
• Mind: I think well during the day, but still I am drained by headaches that did not occur when I was training as hard as I used to. At times, I feel I am not in control of my emotions or thinking.
• Spirit: I have not been reading as much as I used to. Nor have I been engaging in the sort of discussion that I really enjoy. I plan to begin regular attendance to church and incorporating mediation into my days.
• m/f/s: 6/1/1

crypto

I've been asked before to write about bitcoin. I'm not quite sure where to start other than a stream of consciousness of why I think cryptocurrency is the logical next evolution of our financial system. Is bitcoin here to stay? Will bitcoin define commerce of the next 1000 years? The jury's still out, though, there is promising signs that shared consensus will soon make it's way into several facets of our lives.

WHAT IS BITCOIN AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

To share what bitcoin is, one must begin with what bitcoin is not. Finding a means of transfering balance electronically is not a new problem for cryptography -- it has been a foundational problem for many years. Starting in the 80's, people began to say, "Let's create a digital class of assets. It shall be a secure means of transfer, it shall be a cryptographically sound evolution of trust."

Off to the races they went. We've had digital means of transfering value for quite some time, but the problem is that there has never been a means of doing so without a third party, that is, transfering value without first validating through a central authority.

What bitcoin brings to the table is a decentralized solution. Decentralized means there is no central authority. There is no FED. There is no uncle sam that says "this dollar has been spent, this dollar has not." The current methodology puts these central authorities i.e. visa, amex, mastercard, wells, name your financial institution, in charge.

But how? How can this possibly be accomplished? Through a breakthrough technology named by the bitcoin protocol as the blockchain. An in depth explanation would involve describing the evolution of cryptography, public/private key sharing, and difficult algorithms that make a persons head spin so fast it's difficult to keep your bearings. Simply put, the blockchain comprises ALL TRANSACTIONS since the beginning. Every. Single. Transaction. To be checked, authorized, validated, by all participants in the network.

This protocol solves two important solutions to two difficult problems: 1) how do we keep this thing afloat i.e. in check and 2) how do we incentive the computing power necessary to keep commerce alive.

Item I: The transaction protocol of bitcoin ensures that transactions are legitimate, that is, transactions have originated from a person who's good for their funds and destined for a valid "address." This is much like sending an e-mail: who did it come from and where is it going?

Item II: These transactions are kept straight by incentizing computing power through a difficult algorithm, illustrated thus by a large puzzle. There is a missing part that must be found in order to legitimize (set in stone) the transactions taking place. In the bitcoin protocol, these puzzles strive to be 10 minutes "hard." That is to say, every 10 minutes on average a "block" of transactions is legitimized, and the computing power that has found the piece of the puzzle (in the form of a cryptographic hash) that cryptographically sets these transactions in stone is rewarded. The reward started at 50 coins, and is halved every so often, currently being 25 per block solved.

WHY? THE DOLLAR, GOLD, AND OTHER MEANS OF TRANSFERRING VALUE WORK WELL. THEY ARE ESTABLISHED. WHAT ARE THE INTENTIONS OF SUCH A TECHNOLOGY.

Not so fast. Where do these assets come from? What is stopping counterfeit? Ownership of these means of transfer is big business. Perhaps it's time we ought to ask who's interests they intend to protect.

(to be continued)

CFE Certification -- St. Paul MN -- AAR

The endurance realm of training has always fascinated me, especially after my initial shift in training several years ago from traditional bodybuilding methodology to focusing on measurable work capacity and function. Broadly, the crux here is that the current paradigm of volume loading (i.e. ramp up in mileage = ramp up in endurance performance) has many problems, primarily being the injury rate of endurance athletes. Crossfit Endurance looks at how we can augment this training protocol by decreasing training volume (i.e. less time per week training, less total mileage), increasing intensity (short, fast) in order to find/maintain the highest possible level of performance with much less risk of injury. What a mouthful. In all seriousness, this stuff is groundbreaking and I was thrilled at the prospect of attending a certification seminar with one of their head dudes.

While I've coached since 2007, I am not properly a "coach" now, and I haven't coached for about a year now. Given this there was two main things driving me to this event: partly the opportunity to learn new things and the pleasure of academic discussion, and partly to meet new people in the twin cities fitness circle. Along with this, my expectations for the event were to explore Crossfit training as it pertains to the endurance athlete and to analyze running technique and endurance-specific training methodology. This post will not serve as a regurgitation of what I learned (PM me for notes, if you wish), but rather a review of several elements surrounding what went down.

Let's break up this bad boy into parts: The Staff, The Lectures, The Drills/Analysis, Logistics/Critique, and Takeaway.

Staff -- The leader of the seminar was Dan Hollingsworth, a head coach at Crossfit Endurance  hailing from Kitsap Crossfit in Pousblo, WA. Coach Dan ran the event delivering each lecture and series of drills himself. His background is impressive having competed in endurance events and being a part of the "inner circle" for many years (notably completing 30+ tri's, 8 marathons, a 50-miler). He's well-spoken and credible and his delivery style was engaging. One aspect that stands out is his understanding of the "traditional" endurance community and style of training. Discussion was never in terms of "us vs. them,' but rather in terms of an evolution and continuance of what they do well and critique of what's not working. While demonstrating command of the seminar, Dan was approachable as well and offered personal coaching throughout the drill progressions -- something that wasn't expected and greatly added to the experience. Lastly, I left the weekend with a handful of stories and anecdotes that will undoubtedly influence how I coach -- Dan's personal touch here made it clear he not only understands the material but cares deeply about the significant shift in methodology CFE proposes.

Lectures -- We covered the gamut as far as content is concerned, covering more ground than expected. The format was well-organized, first laying down a context/framework for what was to come and then filling in the blanks. I never felt as if something wasn't fully developed or left out and nothing really felt out of place. There was adequate time for questions and a sense of balance between story time, evidence, and application. I'd rather not go into more specific discussion here, but I will say my favorite module was nutrition ("Are you eating to train or training to eat?") closely followed by the programming discussion of what makes up an effective/balanced routine. In summary, each lecture left me with a nugget worth integrating to my current approach and overall shaped my perspective of how to train smarter.

Drills/Analysis --While the lectures were neat and engaging, the drilling portion of the weekend was most rewarding for me. I am now armed with a toolbox of running-specific skill work drills that has already influenced my technique for the better. I was especially surprised how simple/fundamental the terms were the Dan used to describe efficient running. I expected more technical terms of articulations and joints and movement patterns (partly from what I've heard about the mobility cert, another seminar I'd like to attend) but even without that the material here was both effective and manageable. Without the high-level tech-talk, I also feel better primed to teach this stuff myself.

If I were name a single element, however, that provided the greatest amount of substance this weekend it would be the video analysis of each participant's running stride. I had never seen myself run from the side before, and seeing this for the first time was insightful, especially given Dan's expert breakdown of positioning and faults. We completed this twice, once the first day and again on the second, with change evident in almost each participant. I challenge any other seminar to demonstrate such a degree of influence in less than 24 hours... seeing this first hand was motivating and makes me (even more than before) confident in the CFE method.

Logistics/Critique -- The space, Side Door Crossfit, was a great venue to host the event. Max was an excellent host offering help whenever possible while also making himself available for any unique needs. There was ample room for us to work and even a track for drill work on the first day. I have nothing really to critique here other than the chairs being slightly uncomfortable (and I would have preferred sitting at a table), but the execution was still just about flawless. I wouldn't hesitate recommending Sidedoor for future certs of any kind. In general, one critique I have for the event is having more of a focus on scientific evidence. Dan was well-prepared with the content and didn't ever have to use notes, but there were several times when he would share a statistic or scientific anecdote and not be fully aware of the protocol or statistic. We all got the "just" here, but having these figures on hand are something that's important to me as a coach when sharing with others. That said, the slides we received point to the direct studies so I am able to look up, for the most part, what I need.

Takeaway -- Even though I'm not coaching at the moment, I got a ton out of this weekend. From the material to video analysis and new friends, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. Huge thanks to Dan for his time and for what he's contributed to the endurance community. To anyone considering attending a CFE cert: you won't regret it. I had thoughts of just scraping their message boards and powerpoints for what would be covered, but having Dan as a resource to bounce idea off is invaluable and along with the hands-on and personal instruction I feel it was a great value in terms of price (especially knowing it's 1/2 as much as the Crossfit level 1 cert). In conclusion, Dan is a rockstar and the this was a weekend well-spent -- the CFE content is ground-breaking and is beginning to influence and define the gold standard of effective endurance training and attending was a fun time. Now for putting things to practice... (to be continued)

GORUCK Heavy 039 -- Chicago -- After Action Review (AAR)

This past weekend I had an opportunity to travel to the windy city to complete an event I had not previously heard of -- GORUCK Heavy. This AAR is not intended to be an overview of events that occurred or even a "review" of how the event was conducted. I intend, rather, to discuss what worked well for me and what didn't, and perhaps a bit about what I would do different when faced with adversity such as this again.

The event page touts GORUCK as "the ultimate team building" event, covering 35+ miles in 24+ hours. This is no joke, it turns out, as Saturday evening we finished the event with 40.2 miles coming in at 26 hours and 5 minutes. What occurred during those hours was some of the most gritty, frustrating, uncomfortable madness I've experienced to date.

n.b. I'm no stranger to endurance events. In fact, the past few weekends I've covered 400+ miles of dirt and road biking. These, however, were individual endurance events. In this case, 42 of us were required to work together and a theme ran through the entire day's work -- we were never stronger than our weakest man. This meant it was critical to work together, for better or for worse, in order to get things done. As a pretty introverted, independent guy, this was massively taxing on my ability to put up with the suck.

I work best with structure, so let's outline 3 things that worked well, that I enjoyed, and that were positive aspects of the event followed by what didn't work, what sucked a lot, and was negative:

"+"

1. Master Sargent Andy is The Man -- From the beginning introductions, I knew this event was in good hands. There were other Cadre (who we later learned were leading their first "Heavys") but Cadre Andy (hereby, "Top") was clearly top dawg and a keystone of the entire event. An eloquently spoken, combat-decorated marine, Top told story after story of unbelievable situations he's encountered in his 20 years as a Recon Marine. His amusing, off-the-wall demeanor combined with sternness and experience was entertaining. As Top's bio reads, his three loves are Freedom, Family, and America, and by the end many of us began to relate. As for his love of America, the event was partially structured by rucking to several key monuments in the Chicago area where Top would give us a recap of the person's contribution to American history. He knew his shit and rarely used notes to boot. While it was mentally taxing to listen while sleep deprived, his dynamic personality was engaging (and frankly I was scared out of my mind to let me catch me snoozing). In short, Top made this event what it was and to have him as our cadre was a privilege.

2. United We Stand, Divided We Fall -- Our team comprised of 42 people with ranging ages from ~20-40, including two females, one (6th grade) teacher, several marines and a few army folks. Our crew covered the gamut as far as experience with GORUCK, with several having never completed an event, many having done a few, and several having many others under their belt. Meeting these folks and sharing this experience was rewarding, and I'm glad to have done the event with them. One thing I noticed was how people changed from beginning to end, and how difficult it is to keep your guard up when you've had your ass handed to you for 16+ hours. In short, I got to know new people quite well in a short period of time, and saw a side of my best friends that I hadn't seen previously.

3. What's Past is Prologue -- As mentioned before, history of America was a major theme of the event, which was fitting for Memorial Day weekend. I also enjoyed the "dismount" explanation of GORUCK bridging the civilian/military gap. We were brought slightly closer to what many before us have experienced for much longer periods of time. Hearing about this hardship, then living a small part of it, was special. Full disclosure: as a result of this my "Freedom Boner" (Top's term, not mine) is alive and well. Additionally, given Top's background with being a medic, we learned certain techniques of caring for those wounded in battle. This was difficult to hear at times (and I'm not usually squeamish) but the content was legit and again made me grateful for those that take a (violent) stand for the greater good of our principality.

"-"

1. Amphibious Reconnaissance -- I expected to get wet during the event, but the extent to which we would simulate actually taking a beach I underestimated. I don't want to spoil any "secret sauce" but it will suffice to say we got sandy and it really sucked. The breaking point was learning, shivering as the sun came up, that my dry change of clothes was soaking wet and sandy inside of the zip lock/grocery double-bag I had configured. To anyone reading this prior to completion: bring a proper waterproof setup. At this point in the event, I was exhausted -- the water was cold and I was sandy and the "team building" exercises tickled a spot in me that has not been agitated before. I was vulnerable, and to be honest, I almost said uncle. I'm glad I didn't, it was rewarding to finish, but I learned that I really, really don't like the feeling of being sandy, tired, wet, fatigued, and sleep deprived and that I really, really need to stop being such a pussy when faced with this sort of hardship and just grin and bear it because it's going to end and I'm going to be on my couch again doing mindless bullshit in the very near future.

2. Thoughts --> Destiny -- If I could do this event again, I would go in being more mindful of my "self-talk." Frankly, I did too much bitching, and spent too much time feeling sorry for myself. Indeed, it was terrible at times, but every time I bitched about it only propelled me the opposite direction from where I needed to be going. Physically, I could take it. Mentally, I was not where I needed to be and a huge take away from this is to limit self-shame at all costs and just stick it out for the greater benefit both collectively and individually.

3. Teamwork: Easier said than done. -- What at this point seems trifling, the team weight that was improvised for our class because the cadre could not find a log was a chintzy substitute. Instead of carrying a log, we filled a bag with wet sand (~400 lbs) carried it on a stretcher followed by ~800 other pounds of ridiculous objects distributed throughout the procession. Carrying this was just awful, and we could only fit 3 people on each side of the team weight stretcher so this meant taking shifts. Many people gave up and stayed in the back of our procession (behavior in marine terms known as "cheesedicking"), and refused to take shifts in with the weight. If I would do this event again, I would hope that there would be a more manageable team weight.. but perhaps that goes back to my bitching problem. More appropriately, perhaps, if I were to do this again I would strategize more effectively about to take shifts, save energy, and foster encouragement. The team weight was truly the crux of our crew's disagreements (arguments) throughout the event.

Overall: I'm glad I completed the Heavy. We saw a lot of the city, and I pushed myself further than I thought possible. Top was motivating, and I learned quite a lot about military history and medical techniques I wouldn't know otherwise. I also got the opportunity to stay in touch with my best friends from high school which now live in other cities. I'd have to think long and hard about signing up for another (I am eyeing the one in Boulder...), but in any case I am starting to look into other endurance events (i.e. ultra marathons) to complete this summer. This event has influenced how I will prepare for those events and the experience overall was formative and memorial.

Post: This was shared with me by my friend, Craig Shaver, a combat-decorated marine veteran. What a fitting expression of what it means to be a leader.

NCO Creed

I am an NCO dedicated to training new Marines and influencing the old. I am forever conscious of each Marine under my charge, and by example will inspire them to the highest standards possible. I will strive to be patient, understanding, just, and firm. I will commend the deserving and encourage the wayward. I will never forget that I am responsible to my Commanding Officer for the morale, discipline, and efficiency of my Men. Their performance will reflect an image of me.

 Sauce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noncommissioned_officer%27s_creed

1 mo to goruck heavy

CrossFit thurs

Push press
3,3,3,3,3
For load 205 (technique focus)

4 rft w partner
Row 300
Push press 185# x 5 reps
Rest was partners 300m row
For total time ~10 min

Bike ride Friday

Saturday am wod

Power clean heavy doubles up to 235
Then
30 reps for time
Power clean 225#
For time 10:16

Daily RPT
Sore. Okay diet this week. Seeing progress in strength and endurance. Focus this week is diet and consistent rucking times.

biking, yoga

Biked to work today. Also did yoga class at 12 noon. I actually woke up this morning to bike to work so I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that.

Good week so far. I did have dave's for breakfast but after 25 miles of biking in 18 degree weather I felt it was a satisfactory way to refuel.

I am going to wake up tomorrow as well to work out at crossfit st louis park to work on my goat which at the moment is TTB's.... those seriously are the worst thing ever.

Daily work:

Bike commute group ride, 1 hour

Yoga class, 1 hour

Daily report

• Mind: Find calmness.
• Body: A little sore, esp. legs.
• Spirit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR-hAU_lxIc

Week #2

Very good lunch last week, going to try and keep that going this week. Going to make a costco run after work to stock up on produce and chicken.

I did quite a bit of rucking/running/biking sporatically throughout last week, but there was one notable crossfit workout performed on...

WEDNESDAY:

Snatch, heavy double
135, 155, 185, 205 (f), 205

3 RFT
run 400m
10 hang snatch 135#
30 wallballs 20#
for time: 15:00

Thurs and Fri were rucks. Throughout the week my arms were especially sore from the ring dips a few days prior.

This weekend I did one significant ruck run with my bud Craig. He really kicked my ass keeping a 8.5+ mph pace with ~40 lbs on our backs. We also stopped throughout our 3.5 mile run to do a few sets of pullups and hand release push ups. Which brings us into this week...

Monday:

Heavy squats: worked up to heavy triple at 305

2 rounds of
Row 250
15kbs @ 2.5pd
25 burpees
15kbs @ 2.5pd
Row 250
Rest 8 minutes

For time: 4:57, 5:24

(was supposed to be three rounds but ran out of time... second round I was GASSED)

Daily report
Mind: Stay focused, fix sleep habits, clean room.
Body: a little sore, especially legs and back.
Spirit: Dig it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE2MevM5E3A
m/f/s: 5/5/5

Crossfit WOD

Monday

Amrap 20min
10 ring dips
15 KBS Russian w 2pd
20 situps w abmat
25 double unders
For rounds: 9+8 dips

Daily report
Good lunch for the week. Asparagus and broccoli with tilapia and a bit of quinoa monday and Tuesday. I had a beer Monday with the NCAA final game. Going to consume as little as possible over next 12 weeks.

Body is sore all over. Fatigued because of lack of sleep.

Spirit: Tycho concert tonight. May post again after Tuesday wod tonight.

crossfit, bike rides and rucking (oh my!)

A few wods last week:

Monday:

Deadlift - work up to heavy 5
for load: 335

Diane: 21-15-9
Deadlift 225#
HSPU
for time: ~8 min (very slow hspu)

Tues:

1500m row
50 pistols
50 shoulder to oh (115#)
50 ttb
for time: ~15 min (slow ttb)

Wed - Today
a few long rucks, a few bike rides.

I got around to purchasing an ALICE pack to ruck with. I've carried my 36# KB in it for ~12 miles. I need to pick up some bricks for better weight distribution but otherwise the weight is starting to feel better. It also feels nice to get my bike out as the weather in minneapolis is improving.

Diet: http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=drewbreyer

Daily report:

• Mind: Shitty weekend. Need to recover mentally the next few days.
• Body: Not too sore. Feeling pretty good.
• Spirit: Starting Michael Lewis' Flash Boys. Should be a good read.
• m/f/s: 5/4/3 (hoping to see improvement here over the next 12 weeks.

Also: I recently did a bodyfat analysis where my bodyfat was found to be 11.2 percent. I'm not sure how accurate that is but it was done with a bodpod at the university of minnesota. I was a little dehydrated so the figures may be off, but in anycase it will be motivation along with my before pictures I snapped yesterday night. Here's to 12 weeks of discipline.

300th post

Friday: 15.5

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
thrusters 95#
bar facing burpees
for time: 15:05

thoughts: YUCK! at about 12's, i did not want to be in my own skin. i am lucky i had a judge who took over my internal voice for me because if he wasn't yelling at me to keep going the score would have been worse. if 10 is me at my best and 1 is sick and dying, i felt about a 6. i rarely almost hurl during a workout but at 15's i almost blew chunks.

Saturday: recovery day.

Sunday: ran 9 miles outside in boots. felt strong; solid pace throughout. long and slow. adding weight this week.

Monday:

Deadlift 1x5 (335)

Elizabeth - 21-15-9
Deadlifts 225
HSPU
For time: 7:41 (DL's unbroken, HSPU rx'd until set of 15, then +1 abmat)

daily report:

• mind: diet kicks in tomorrow. unbroken april.
• body: arms sore, legs sore, not terrible but enough to walk funny.
• spirit: great post http://optexperience.com/blog/item/march-18-2014
• m/f/s: 8/4/4 (shitty mood.. idk why. not the best diet this weekend)

monday crossfit

Front squats 5x3 at tempo: 23X0
185, 185, 185, 185, 185

21, 15, 9, 15, 9, 6, 9, 6, 3 rounds of the following (i.e. 93 reps ea)
thrusters 75#
bar facing burpees

for time: 14:37

hawt.

• Mind: Good diet throughout the day. Mood would have been better with higher quality sleep. Haven't been sleeping the best lately and think it may be the weak link in my training...
• Body: Sore calves from running, otherwise good. Going to feel this one tomorrow.
• Spirit: Highly recommend The Black Swan... going to start antifragile this week.
• It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one.”
• “When you develop your opinions on the basis of weak evidence, you will have difficulty interpreting subsequent information that contradicts these opinions, even if this new information is obviously more accurate.”
  ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable 

a few more crossfits

CFSLP, 3/18/2014, 5:30pm

hand power snatch, emom x 3reps
135, 145, 155, 155, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165, 165

30,15,15; 20, 10, 10; 10, 5, 5 rounds of:

KBS
Walking lunges w/ KB in front rack

For time: ~6 minutes

3/20/2013
Run outside, ~4 miles

3/21/2014
WOD at home:

5 rounds for time
Run 600m
10 goblet squats, 2pd
15 kbs, 1.5pd
20 situps

Daily report:
Mind: Getting there.
Body: Legs still sore from squats, but feeling a lot better than a few days ago. Some soreness in traps/shoulders/arms.
Spirit: About to finish Black Swan. Need another book to read... perhaps Codebreakers.
M/F/S: 5/5/5

sore. legs.

Did one at Crossfit St Louis Park...

Strength: Max Turkish Getup - 1 rep/arm
Easily got the 2pd kettlebell, moved on to barbell
Worked up in 10# increments from 45# bar and got to 75#... ran out of time or I think I could have gotten 95.

Hero WOD: JT

21,15,9
HSPU
Ring Dips
Pushups

For time: 14:01 (ouch)

Daily Report

•  Mind: Terrible sleep the other night. So bad that I came home at 5PM and slept until 10PM. Slept okay last night... feeling better today.
• Body: HOLY LEGS. SORE AS F***. Need to go for a walk or run this afternoon to flush. Seriously difficult to walk.
• Spirit: “All I know is that while I’m asleep, I’m never afraid, and I have no hopes, no struggles, no glories — and bless the man who invented sleep, a cloak over all human thought, food that drives away hunger, water that banishes thirst, fire that heats up cold, chill that moderates passion, and, finally, universal currency with which all things can be bought, weight and balance that brings the shepherd and the king, the fool and the wise, to the same level. There’s only one bad thing about sleep, as far as I’ve ever heard, and that is that it resembles death, since there’s very little difference between a sleeping man and a corpse”
  ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de La Mancha
• M/F/S: 6/3/9 

go time

I've been training regularly since my last post but haven't been logging much here. The past two days have been pretty fun. I plan to keep this updated now with two major events coming up. 1) GoRuck Heavy in Chicago this May; 2) TC Marathon in October. We had a brutal winter in Minneapolis this year that left me training many times at the gym in the skyway near where I work. I generally prefer to workout outside when I can -- not being able to walk outside without frozen eyebrows has been depressing. For the past while I have followed this routine:

1) Warmup
 -- Arm swings, leg swings, lunges, torso twists, etc
2) Strength
 -- Large movements i.e. squats, deadlifts, press, push press, cleans, snatch
 -- Low-ish reps i.e. 3x5 or EMOM 2 reps for 10 min.
3) Metcon involving gymnastics
 -- Focus on burpees, pushups, and jumping
4) Bust ass
  -- Tabata sprints, stair stepper, rowing sprints, something to end on at full speed
5) Cooldown

I've been diggin this so far but I need to get more in shape for these contests coming up. I recently did a cleanse for 5 days that involved eating very little and drinking a lot of water (formally: neera cleanse). I felt awesome after the 5 days and was very focused and "in the zone." Coming off the fast, however, I learned some things. Tiltrate onto the diet, ease off the diet. I went from eating regularly to not eating cold turkey, which was managable but not advisable. THEN going from not eating to eating regularly i.e. back to regular protein and fat quantities was frankly stupid. Next time I do this cleanse I will have my "on/off ramps" detailed and follow them just as strictly as I follow the cleanse.

Other things I noticed: increased sensory perception i.e. clearer thoughts, brighter colors, more in-tune with nuances of music (no I was not taking acid), less stress in general i.e. more calm and able to stay focused on tasks, peeing much more often (always pale-colored... the "detox" portion of the cleanse was most evident in how much I was peeing, sorry if TMI), in general I would say my cells were communicating much more efficiently/effectively as a result of not being bogged down with having to digest.

The past few days I've had some good workouts.

Saturday

5 RFT
10 KBS - 2pd
5 TGU - 1.5pd
10 KBS
10 TGU (other side)
Run 600m
Time: ~30 min

Monday
EMOM back squats
255 x 3 x 10 min

Tabata sprints
15% ele, 7 mph

Daily report:

• Mind: Tired. Not feeling 100% but getting there.
• Body: Legs very sore after squat session. Not much soreness otherwise. Need to be mindful of water intake (I don't think I'm getting enough at the moment)
• Spirit: Reading Black Swan right now. Fantastic read... reminds me a bit of Freakonomics but more dark and the implications are applicable to what's happening in the world right now.
• M/F/S: 4/5/5 (reminder: m/f/s = mood/fatigue/soreness; less is better e.g. 1/1/1 = happy/awake/ready to rumble vs 10/10/10 = pissed off/exhausted/can barely move)

Working on a website to document movies and stories I find about fitness. There I will enclose a link to this blog. www.dfbfitness.com

Playing with the idea of tweeting everything I eat. This morning I had an omlette and (gasp) hashbrowns. I will be eating strictly paleo the rest of the week and will document pictures here.

On the horizon:

Clean up the diet
Be mindful of recovery i.e. to bed like a farmer not a bartender
Up the endurance training (long runs throughout week, eventually adding a pack.)
Attend regular crossfit classes in AM instead of being a little bitch and doing it after work
Stay foolish; stay hungry

push press // snatch

Two days of Crossfit this week:

4-3-3-3 push press
165, 185, 205, 205 (felt heavy...)

25-20-15-10-5
push press 115#
pull ups
for time: 9:01 (pullups felt slow...)

yesterday:

5-4-3-2-2-2-2 snatch
135, 155, 165, 185, 195 (x1)

amrap 8 min
1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4...
deadlift 185
box jump 32"
for reps: though round of 11 + 1

notes:
mind: getting there. eating more paleo but need to start the day off better. too many calories late at night and not enough in the beginning and middle of the day. weight has been good at around 185-188 but energy levels could be better by eating less late and better quality early.
body: sore as crap in my lat's and shoulders. creating supplementation has helped with WOD's and yoga recovery. speaking of which i have been doing yoga 2-3x a week.
spirit: about to finish Don Quixote. Great book. one of my favorite quotes:

“All I know is that while I’m asleep, I’m never afraid, and I have no hopes, no struggles, no glories — and bless the man who invented sleep, a cloak over all human thought, food that drives away hunger, water that banishes thirst, fire that heats up cold, chill that moderates passion, and, finally, universal currency with which all things can be bought, weight and balance that brings the shepherd and the king, the fool and the wise, to the same level. There’s only one bad thing about sleep, as far as I’ve ever heard, and that is that it resembles death, since there’s very little difference between a sleeping man and a corpse”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de La Mancha

"Essentially, not only do we believe in this myth of 'de-risking', but it has become the one overriding goal; de-risking above growth, de-risking above innovation, de-risking above everything else. And we've reached the point where the Fed is using $70 Billion a month to 'de-risk' a largely insolvent banking system. And this can only end badly. The idea that you can do capitalism without risk is ridiculous on its face."
-- Andreas Antonopoulos on the financial industry and Bitcoin ( MadBitcoins Live: New York Bitcoin Hearings )

weekend crossfit

from last week:

work up to 1rm ohs from floor
for load: 205 (225 is in the bag; knee was sore)

amrap 10min
3, 3, 6, 6, 9, 9 ...
squat snatch 115#
pull ups
for reps: through set of 15 + 6 reps

some stretching after

mind: this felt good. didn't get after the squat snatches very aggressively but felt polished on every rep.
body: sore. starting to get in the swing of things.
spirit: leggo.
m/f/s: 2/2/4