Becoming an Athlete

My wife and I ran sprints for an hour yesterday. We hit the park / track at 3:00 PM. I'm not sure exactly how hot it was, but it was no LESS than 100 degrees Farenheit. We did lots of sprint build-ups to avoid hamstring injuries. I've had two serious pulls in the last 4 years, and I intend to avoid any more at all costs. Since we knew we'd do this for an hour, we really extended the volume of the build ups, and were able to very gradually build up the intensity of effort. Build-ups: High knees: 2 x 40yds High knee + run: 4 x 20yd + 20yd Plo-skips: 2 x 40yds Plyo-skip + run: 4 x 20yd + 20 yd Acceleration sprints: 4 x 20yds Acceleration sprints: 4 x 40yds Sprints: Our sprints were gruelling. We did 100 yard races. After two sprints, I decided that we'd both run much harder if my wife had a 10 yard head start. That forced me to accelerate fast, and sustain my absolute to speed to beat her. I was able to "win" a couple times, but the effort had me on the verge of ...

Work obligations keep cutting well into my evenings. I'm getting angry about it because I find myself spending less time with my wife and kids, and consequently, having less time to train. As frustrated as I was, I thought "Fuck working out. I want greasy pizza and cheap beer!" Thankfully, I convinced myself to train instead, and I'm glad of it. I didn't have a plan, so I just hammered away on squats and dips. Squats fix everything! Heavy squats in particular. Squat: 135 x 10, 15; 185 x 10, 15; 205 x 10; 225 x 10, 5; 245 x 5; 265 x 5; 275 x 5; 285 x 5 I thought about working up to the 300 range, but I didn't want to risk yet another injury in 2011 Dips: BW x 5, 5; +5lb x 5, 5; +10lbs x 5, 5; +15lbs x 5, 5; +20lbs x 5, 5; +25lbs x 5, 5, 5 That's all. Nothing fancy. Just heavy, head-clearing, spirit-raising work.

After two long weeks, I'm back in the saddle. I love playing as hard and wreckless as I do, but I'm going to have to figure out a way to not get hurt, or to develop Wolverine-like regenerative powers. Saturday was my first outing, and I did a TON. 8:00 AM: MuscleUp group workout. After all the running, plyos, and sprint build-ups, we worked in teams of two to finish a total workload. My team came in 2nd. Workload was: 70 pushups, 70 burpees, 70 rind rows. We had originally planned for 100 per movement, but base on the folsk in attendance, we moved it down to 70. 5:00 PM: Swimming I must have done 25 laps. I lost count.

Living an adventurous life is great, but not without risks and, yes, set-backs. My wife and I went to the Gulf of Mexico this weekend and the plan was: fish Matagorda on Friday Check into hotel in East Matagorda Bay on Saturday: - 4-wheeling to get to the goot spots on the island Kayak East Matagorda on Sunday Guided fshing trip on Monday Come home Tuesday Well, the first couple of bullets went as planned, but then came the kayaking. It ws 100 degrees that Sunday, from 10:00 AM till well into the evening. We set out from the dock on Caney Creek at 6:30 AM, and kayaked a slow 10 miles, stopping everywhere we thought the might be fish. We also stopped at 2 islands to walk, have snacks, and fish the banks. It was a gorgeous day, and a real endurance event. We made it back to the dock at 2:00 PM, without any incidents or problems at all. I got out of the kayak and my legs went completely numb. It reminded me of getting dead-legged when I was kick boxing. That's when you get kicked hard...

I trained hard on Thursday, 5/26. I ended my workout with deadlift and worked up to 405 for 5 reps. I was REALLY happy with that. I was all set to start my next round of 5-3-1, but life dictates changes and fluidity. We had the kids for Memorial Day weekend, so we did all kinds of stuff together. Movies, swimming at a lake, bowling and arcade, home-made bannana split night, skate park, and just chillaxin. The home-made bannana splits were the best part BY FAR!!!! So my wife and I are headed to the coast on Friday and won't get back till Tuesday. As a result, I'm doing an abridged 5x5 whole body workout just to keep some degree of forward progress. Tuesday, 5/31: Squat: 135 x 10; 185 x 10, 10; 205 x 10; 225 x 10; 245 x 10 Neutral grip pullup: +25lbs x 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2 (25 total) Dips: +25lbs x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Rope grip row: 110 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Overhead press: 135 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (HARD after all the dips) Leg press: 450 x 10, 10, 3 I'll do something like tis on Frid...