Dumbell Chest & Ab Rollouts + O'Neill Rowing Test

Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University
Date: 17th February

Workout
- 3 sets of Dumbbell Bench Press (8 @ 24kg, 6 @ 24kg, 9 @22kg)
- 3 sets of Ab rollouts from knees x 10

Dumbbell Chest and Ab Rollout sets were alternated with minimum rest

- O'Neill Test (4 minutes on rowing machine) - 1063 metres

Total Time: 16 minutes

Post Workout Nutrition: none - fasted until dinner.

I am doing a lot of fasting and exercising at the moment - both before and after workouts. It's not intentional, just the way the chips are falling. Since I am doing a bit more running and enjoying the ideas put forward in Born to Run, the idea of getting really lean is attractive and I am not sure I care too much about a few pounds of muscle here or there.

I am just working hard but short, looking for long, hunt-like runs and throwing some heavy around when I get the chance. If it suits me to fast, I fast. As you can see from my body composition chart, updated today, this approach seems to have led to a reasonable trend (body fat falling, weight falling.)

After this discussion with Natural Messiah, I decided to try the O'Neill Rowing Test, and was a little disappointed with the result - my comment at the bottom of his post explains my tactics and the context. I'll be re-visiting this one!

I avoided failure on the dumbbell chest press but ensured I relished the resistance on the sets, using good form and working hard on the final reps. My gym partner was busy doing leg exercises now that he's recovering from his own knee operation, so in any case spotting was not available.

Ab rollouts were tough-ish - it's been a while since I did these. It's about time I got my core doing some real work again. ... Read more

Dark Side Wrekin Ascent with 10kg Weighted Vest

Location: The Wrekin, Telford, UK (Dark Side)
Date: 14th February

Summary
- Dark Side ascent with 10kg weighted vest
- Walked descent via 'South Flank'
- Light running
- Log carrying

Post workout nutrition: this, 2 hours later.

Time to Top: 23:07
Total Time: 1 hour

I haven't run with the weighted vest for 12 months or more. Looking back through my records, I see I ascended the Dark Side in 21:20 with the vest in 2007.

It's tough going on a slope that steep when you are carrying an extra 10kg, so I was frankly pleased just to run the whole distance after all this time. Matching and beating my previous best can be a target for the coming months.

Recovering at the top

Lightning, as his account details, came in 15-20 seconds ahead and still had more under the bonnet. Looking back, I can remember when, in the early days of his mountain running, he was unable to continuously run up the Light Side - so his performance on Sunday was a reminder of how far he has come.

We did a recce of a different route on the way down, walking down the 'South flank'. Lightning has run up this before, but I have not. It looks like a really tough deal because the ground has a looser composition of leaves and soil and there are no breaks from the incline. It looks to be almost 200 metres of consistently steep going.

Coming down the South flank...


...and testing the gradient for a future ascent

We then jogged back round to the normal path and rustled a couple of logs. Carrying our 'prey' back to the cars was a good final workout. I started with a pretty ambitious size, especially given I already had 10kg strapped on... and finished up swapping it for Lightning's more modest pair of stumps. At one point after the swap I dropped one of the sumps and it careered down hill towards his legs, missing them only because I shouted a warning.

Sizing up the logs


My ambitious selection


Lightening, having narrowly avoided being struck by my rogue stump

The knee held up well in spite of still being a little tender after the 3-hour race the weekend before. It had complained a little when I sprinted the final few yards to the top, but no more than it had a right to.

The state of the weighted vest at the end

Relaxing in the sun for a few minutes

... Read more

Swimming Sprint Intervals

Location: Woodcock Sports Centre Swimming Pool, Aston University
Date: 12th February

6 x Front crawl length, 95% effort.

15-20 seconds rest between each length; each length took about 25 seconds.

Total time: 5 minutes

Post Workout Nutrition: none - fasted until dinner.

After the 3-hour fell race on Sunday, the burpees on Wednesday and 90 minutes of walking to and from work every day this week, I felt like yesterday's workout really needed to be easy on the legs. Swimming felt like a good compromise. It does use the legs, but in ways sufficiently different from the other weight-bearing activities.

I am on a roll, fitness-wise. I didn't even think about these intervals. I just got on with them and somehow tolerated the pain better than usual. I think that's often an indication that you are getting fitter. The pain is still there, but you embrace it.

These were pretty much like Tabata intervals but with the protocol adjusted by practical factors like the length of the pool; and the number of intervals was reduced because each one was longer than 20 seconds.

For once, the whole session passed without my goggles leaking. Those public pools are so full of chemicals I swear that regular users have lighter hair than the general population.
... Read more

Mixed Tabata Circuit Intervals x 2: A Good Toasting

Location: My House
Date: 10th February

Mixed Tabata Circuit Intervals x 2 (1 minute rest between)

Total workout time: 9 minutes

Post-workout nutrition: none - fasted until dinner.

I had intended to do three of these, but was utterly toasted after the second.

As I mention in my post on Tabatas, the idea is to do every 20 second burst of exercise as if your life depended on it.

I can feel myself getting fitter... but not as fit as I have been, or I would have pushed through into that third round.

Give this a go. It will hurt, but you'll be fitter. ... Read more

Knee Survives 3-Hour Fell Race & Flow Treks Prove their Worth

Location: Long Mynd Valley
Date: 7th February

The Long Mynd Valleys Fell Race.

Total Time: 2:49:54

Post Workout Nutrition: this, 20 minutes later.

This was my first proper fell race since the knee operation. I'd been up and around The Wrekin a couple of times, so I knew my knee could take some reasonably tough incline action... but the Long Mynd Valleys race is not a small affair. At 11.5 miles and 4500 feet ascent, I was expecting 3 hours or more of running, scrambling and tumbling.

Unloading the car

Unloading the bladder

The kit and the Vibram Flow Treks

Lightning heads past fellow runners discussing the route

Contemplating the ordeal ahead


A pre-race double espresso while Lightning attaches his race number

Barefoot Buzz - Flow Treks

As an additional dimension, I was using my new Vibram Five Finger Flow-Treks for the first time in a race. Last year I ran the Peris Half Horseshoe in a pair of Flows. A similar race in terms of ascent, distance and terrain, it saw my backside and face intimately acquainted with the ground on several occasions.

The Flow-Treks are equipped with a few millimetres of tread, which made all the difference. I did slip once, but recovered - but I would have done this at least once in a pair of studded fell shoes.

Don't get me wrong - they are not the same as fell shoes. They are still barefoot, with the limitations this implies; but I am now learning to run forefoot first and getting a sense of what kind of ground I can be confident on and what kind of ground to beware of. If the path drops away to one side on muddy, grassy terrain, then with fell shoes I can rely on the studs to grip you through it - but with the Five Fingers I know I have to be careful.

I am happy to acquire these new skills at the expense of some performance, because of a growing sense that this is a much better way to run. If I was 3 minutes away from the course record I guess I'd wear fell shoes to squeeze out those extra bits of speed on precarious ground... but I wasn't, so I didn't.

It sounds pretentious, but I felt like a ballerina on the less severe downhill sections, powering forward while placing my forefoot in strategic spots on the stony ground. I am reading Born to Run at the moment and so was particularly inspired by the feeling of reeling through the mountain terrain in pseudo bare feet.

The state of the Vibrams at the end...


...and the state of all my kit, once removed.

Easy Pace, More Fun

Another difference with this race was my pace. Out of respect for my recovering knee I decided to stick with Lightning, whom I normally outpace by about 5 minutes in the hour, mainly on the uphill.

This made the world of difference. First, because we were able to chat on the flat sections and play tag on the other ones - he would get ahead on the downhill parts, then I would catch him up on the uphill and we would compare notes. The key thing for me was not spending most of the race in a state of pain.

The outcome? I was 10 minutes slower, but had a great time. The scenery, camaraderie with other runners and savouring of the moment were much increased, and the time nevertheless respectable.

Mythical Beast

So whilst I am comfortable with the idea that the occasional long run, even at 'pain' pace is in keeping with our ancestral past and the ideas put forward in Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint, I think that a slightly slower, more varied pace is probably even more in keeping - especially when you look at the way persistence hunters work.

In fact the race on Sunday felt like a persistence hunt. I think it was Lightning and Chris who both recently sent me the link to this YouTube video showing a persistence hunt. Very compelling.

At the end of our hunt on Sunday, I reverently killed and ate the mythical avocado, tuna, sardines, almonds, celery and spinach beast, which, paradoxically, I finally caught in the very place the hunt had begun. Lightning, in common with most of the other hunters, opted for the mythical Snickers beast, a huge herd of which appeared to have congregated at the finish line ;-)

The tuna, sardine, avocado, celery and almond beast, successfully caught...


...and being eaten by the hunter

Disaster in the Last 3 Minutes (well, nearly)

Hats off to the knee. It climbed the steepest inclines, it ran on hard stony ground, it bounded down heather-clad mountainsides and bounced around as I slid down muddy slopes on by backside. Yet 2 hours and 45 minutes later it was still going strong.

However, the one thing it was not ready for was being bent under my body I skidded, knee first down a steep slope. I will not repeat my utterances when this happened. At first I was convinced I would be back in the specialist's waiting room on Monday morning; but I think in retrospect it was the shock which got me initially.

Once I stood up I realised nothing serious had happened. It did hurt, as you would expect, since until then I had not required it to move through the absolute full range of movement; but I was pleased to be able to jog the remaining descent to come into the finish a couple of minutes behind Lightning.

I was annoyed to have come so close to completing the race without affecting the knee, but relieved it was not as bad as I first thought. Today, 5 days later, it feels tender, but still reasonably strong.

P.S.Lightning told me that someone videod themselves running the race... and spend the first few minutes behind Lightning and me - look our for us a the 1:20 mark!
... Read more

300 Workout, Nearly Complete

Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University
Date: 4th February

Workout: Cheat '300' Workout

25 Chin Ups - 17, 5, 3 (one more on first set)
50 Deadlifts (Romanian) - 35, 15 (two more on first set)
50 Push Ups - 37, 13 (one more on first set)
50 Box Jumps - (30, 20)
50 Floor Wipers - 16, 12, 12, 10
25 x 2 Clean and Press with Dumbbell - right arm (25) , left arm (25)
25 Chin Ups - unfinished: 4, 4, 3, 3 (did not start them last time)

Total Time: 29:31

Post Workout Nutrition: scrambled eggs covered in apple puree, 60 minutes later.

I was able to do the box jumps this time (a big step forward for the knee). This is quicker than doing assisted pistols as I did last week because both legs are done in a single set... so it's difficult to assess progress on the overall time for the session.

I could have done more in the first set of deadlifts - maybe even the full 50 in one go - but my right-hand grip gave way. I moved very swiftly to deadlift from the chins, which do tax the grip. I shall use straps next time.

I still didn't finish the final lot of chin ups. My biceps were pretty wrecked. This is, after all, the first time I've attempted the second lot - but it could also could be the snatches that preceded the attempt. The penultimate exercise is supposed to be dumbbell clean and press, but since the prescribed weight, 16kg, is quite heavy for me, I do more of a snatch movement, which is quite bicep-intensive.

I am looking for ways to bring my '300' more in line with the real deal, and the next target will be trying to do clean and press instead of the snatch. I will start by doing a little 'jerk' to help with the press when I get tired. This will definitely slow down my time on that exercise, but I may get some of it back on the final chin ups because my biceps will be better rested.

My gym partner is back in action next week after his own knee surgery (it must be an infectious condition!) so the fixation with the 300 workout will probably end there and it will be relegated to its more appropriate position as a monthly gauge of fitness and strength. ... Read more

Hill Sprints, Log Rustling and Parkour at The Wrekin

Location: The Wrekin, Telford, UK
Date: 31st January

Summary
- Warm up jog, including short, steep hill
- 5 x 15-25 second sprints
- 15kg log carry (half a mile)

Post workout nutrition: none - fasted until dinner.

[Click on the small photos in the main story to show larger versions]

It was cold and crisp as we approached the Wrekin Hill on Sunday morning.

This shot of the hill from afar gives a sense of its isolated beauty, but not, as Lightning and I never tire of pointing out, a sense of the challenges of the steeper ascents.

However, we weren't here to scale the beast - merely to scamper up and down one of her flanks for some interval sprints.

This was my final training run before the Long Mynd Valleys race next Sunday. It's an ambitious target (3 hours +), given that my knee has only managed 20 minutes of hill running since the op - but I have been so impressed with its performance that I intend to give it a go.

To reach the slope we'd earmarked for the sprints, we had to run up Little Hill - about as steep a climb as it's possible to run, but mercifully short. I was pleased to find I still had the old bounce in the legs and was able to dodge ahead of Lightening to take these photos of him completing the ascent . I suspect he was sensibly taking a slow-and-steady approach to preserve his legs for the sprints.

We set the camera timer to capture the start and finish of one of the sprints . The first sprint took about 16 seconds, after which I stopped timing them; but after the 5th and final sprint, my legs were pretty cooked and I'd be surprised if I took less than 25 seconds.

Lightening, on the other hand, seemed to recover better. He was also, as ever, faster. As I've remarked before, our relative abilities are an excellent illustration of the differences in muscle type; contrast the relative ease with which I jogged up the ascent with my lesser speed on the sprints. The fact that I am leaner certainly accentuates that contrast, so it will be interesting to see how things pan out if/when we find ourselves more comparably fleshed...

On the way back, we carried some logs - what Natural Messiah likes to call a 'kill carry' - simulating the effort involved, post-hunt, in carrying the prey back to camp. On the other hand, it was an opportunity to garner some fuel for Lightening's wood burner. I am not clear whether we could be accused of 'log rustling' - but I doubt whether our modest haul will make much of a dent, given the many piles of larger logs that festoon the forest.

For a non-Paleo person, Lightening does a good impression of a caveman, shouldering this monster for a good half mile . My own, more modest log was still a struggle. It can't have weighed more than 15kg, but it's easy to forget how hard carrying awkward objects can be when you spend too much time in the gym .

Here was our final haul: .

I am not sure how this fits in with the Paleo scenario, but Lightening decided to throw in some impromptu parkour using one of the logs. Pretty impressive stuff: .

Finally, on the way home, I couldn't resist pulling over to take this photo, which captures the weather perfectly: . ... Read more