WARRIORS...Come out and PAY-YAY $$$

8/28 race 5k @ the Warrior Dash in my MT101's with the +1!!

Just as itchy as it looks :-)

Wow, I've been sitting on writing this race report for nearly a month and allowed it back up all my workout logs in the process.  It was a hot Sunday afternoon, as that was the only slot left when we finally signed up.  My training partners and I originally planned to to do this one together, but we waited too long and none of the time slots available worked for all of us.  So in a moment of weakness, the wife agreed to join me on an obstacle filled adventure!  I figured she could push me on the run portions and I could laugh at her while she tried to climb over things.  We would be a perfect match!  I think she was secretly hoping Irene would head straight for Charlotte and take out the course before Sunday arrived.  No such luck.

The event was pretty well organized, although the staging area felt more like a cross between a renaissance fair and an 80's hair band rock festival due to the weird combination of rednecks smoking and drinking plus people dressed in funny costumes.  Ohh and there were some bands playing and turkey legs and beer for sale.  Speaking of which the event wasn't that expensive, but then having to pay $10 dollars to park in an open field is a little ridiculous.  Also the cost of food and drinks rivaled good rock concerts!  I can't hate on an event too much that gives you furry hats with horns though.

The terrain of the course was pretty flat with a LONG run to the first obstacle, barricade hurdles, immediately followed by the second obstacle, junkyard hurdles (tires, dumpsters, more tires).  The wife wasn't very happy about having to climb over all this mess right at the beginning, but she took off after the first water station and I could barely keep up.  Next up was the rope wall, which is basically a wall with slats to stand on and a rope to pull yourself up.  She did a great job and completed it without any assistance.  Next we came to a balance beam obstacle which started out pretty wide and then got to a narrow section by the end.  I always think I'm going to fall off these things, but it hasn't happened yet.  After that was the "blackout," which I thought to mean a dark tent crawl through muddy water, but it turns out it was just a dark sweaty tent crawl through dusty, dry sand.  This was made extra unpleasant by the heat of the afternoon.   After this was the "crossover" which is an elevated rope web supported by a wooden frame.  She whipped through it without any trouble.  I was disappointed to see quite a few people using the support beams to cheat and walk across instead of actually crawling over the ropes, but there are cheaters on every course.  Next up was this thing called the "escape" which is a few wooden steps up followed by a poll to slide down.  I was getting concerned as up to this point there was no mud or water related obstacles (unless you count the water at the aid stations).  There is nothing that irritates me more than an obstacle course that only has mud at the very end.  Thankfully we ran up next to a disgusting looking lagoon.  I jokingly told the wife she was going to have to jump in that for the next obstacle and it turned out I was right.  I jumped right in first and she slammed on the brakes behind me, causing a rather humorous traffic jam as all the folks behind her scattered, while she gave me this, "I have to jump in that???" look.  She gingerly eased herself into the lagoon and we made our way over a couple floating logs.  On the first log, this fat dude jumped on it right as I was climbing over and nearly pinned my leg underneath.  I think there was another elevated climb over obstacle after this and maybe a rope net we had to climb up and over.  I don't remember the exact order.  This was followed by jumping over two rows of duraflame logs before the finish obstacle.  The finish obstacle was...you guessed it... a muddy pit crawl under barbed wire.  If it wasn't for the water obstacle earlier I would have been really pissed about this, but at least it wasn't the only water/mud obstacle.  I had to navigate around a bunch of slow people that felt the need to wallow in the filth.  Once I made it to the other side, I got to watch the wife complete her crawl through the muck.  At least by this point, I think she was just happy to be at the finish line and not as concerned about getting dirty.  So we crossed the line together, although the event photographers somehow managed to only get shots of each of us with other random people.

Now to discuss something I forgot to mention earlier.  The first thing I do when I arrive at one of these mud run events is to try and scope out the clean up facilities, as this is a BIG deal if you don't drive a car with an interior that can be hosed out.  My initial looking around didn't turn up anything too positive.  No makeshift showers or bathroom with shower facilities and only water/hose trucks.  I was hoping the small heat size would help things, as usually the crowds in the past at the hose trucks are so large, you are lucky if you even get your hair wet.  To make things even better, since we were the last group of the day, the water truck was empty when we finished, so we had to wait around for another water truck to show up and I think the heat before us was still waiting when we got there.  Once the truck arrived, the crowd was so large and tightly packed we barely got enough water to wash our hands and faces off.  This is just unacceptable for an international event company.  I've been to enough events and it's not that hard to build up a frame and drill the pvc to setup a makeshift shower area large enough to support an event with heats this size.

So, overall, the obstacles weren't bad.  The horns and turkey legs were cool although I never found out if they were gluten free (so I didn't buy one).  I would recommend a Spartan race or the USMC Mud Run over the Warrior on the quality and quantity of the obstacles (plus decent cleanup facilities), but if you are looking for an easier event to get into obstacle course races, don't mind trashing the interior of your vehicle afterwards and can afford $10 dollars for parking, the Warrior is a good choice, plus you get a horny fur hat.

P.S. the +1 said this was harder than a marathon, but I think she is just trying to trick me, as she said she would do another obstacle event with me if I run a marathon with her.  I told her it's going to be awhile...

oh sh*, duraflames, those things burn for like 4 hours

Back on the Mountain Bike

8/25 bike 60+ mins at Lake Crabtree on the TORC beginner/intermediate ride

HR avg 160 max 176

Somehow I ended up being the only beginner on the ride, so I spent most of my time struggling to keep up with everyone.  Taking three weeks off since my last ride, didn't help either, as I was full on white knuckle in the beginning, especially with the faster pace of the group.  Toward the second half I started to calm down (or was that exhaustion) and began to remember how to position my weight on the bike and relax my death grip.  I wouldn't say I made any progress from my last ride, but I managed to stay upright again.  I did screw up a couple of the more difficult obstacles.  I really need to make a point of doing one of these each week if intend to improve at all.

Riggsbee Rd and Riggsbee Av are miles apart...no really

8/24 run 42 mins @ Fullsteam Brewery with Fullsteam Ahead! Run Club in Altra Instincts

temp low 80's
HR avg ??? max ??? (strapless)

Visual representation of me using a car GPS

So the wife talked me into attending Fullsteam Ahead! Run Club again.  Normally I like to sit on my butt Wednesday nights, after my lifting sessions, but I wanted to do the TORC ride on Thursday and I also needed to get in another run before the weekend, so it seemed like a good idea.  I get my stuff together like normal and hop in the car about 5:30, which should give me plenty of time to get there before 6.  I pull up the History in my GPS and find 726 Riggsbee, perfect!  So off we go, the route seemed a little odd, but I figured the GPS was doing it's usual magic and routing me around all the nasty traffic on Durham Freeway.  The +1 calls and I remark on the phone about the unusual route it seems to be taking but trusting in the power of technology I think nothing of it, plus I'm kind of busy between talking on the phone and trying not to get murdered by all the aggressive after work drivers.  Somehow I don't realize I'm headed the wrong way on Erwin road, until the gps chirps away that I should be at my destination...crap, this not right.  On the phone with her still, the +1 says, "wait, did you say Riggsbee Road or Riggsbee Avenue."  Me, "well, the GPS just said arriving at Riggsbee Road but I'm in the middle of nowhere."  Her, "umm, it's Riggsbee Avenue."  Me, "WHARRGRRRBL."  I frantically punch in the full address only to find I'm at least 20 minutes away from where I'm supposed to be.  How the wrong address got saved in my GPS history I have no idea, as I don't recall ever going to 726 Riggsbee Road before.  So by the time I get there she's waiting with her BIL and she's none too happy.  So we do our own little Fullsteam run.  She used my extra driving time to pull up the route and transcribe it to her hand.

Running on Empty

8/23 run 37 mins (6x400m) @ ATT soft side in Altra Instincts

6x400m with 60 sec rest
1. 1:54  HR avg 164
2. 1:58  HR avg 168
3. 1:54  HR avg 167
4. 2:04  HR avg 170
5. 2:08  HR avg 171
6. 1:59  HR avg 173

temp 81 (about 1:20pm start)
HR avg 153 max 182 (average heart rate includes 10 min warm-up, 10 min cool-down and 60 second rest intervals)

I hadn't done intervals since the beginning of the month, so I was happy to have a slightly easier workout for them today.  This was meant to be the race week workout in the book I've been using, so I only had to do 6x400m but with 60 seconds rest.  The rest was a real killer.  I jogged the first rest, but after that I resorted to walking as I needed every second to try and get my heart rate down.  Sadly the best I could do was to get into the low 150's and by the end, I couldn't even get below 160 during the minute rest (my 60 second rests had an average bpm of 170 by the end).  Cooler days should help, or if I could just get my ass out of bed a little earlier :-)

In order to get out the door sooner, I skipped eating breakfast and just went ahead with the run.  This didn't seem to bother me too much, so I think I will start doing it more often, in order to save myself some time.

Weekly Weight Recap

8/22 lift box squat 3x315 close-grip towel bench press 3x250 dumbell snatches 5x85,3x105, *x115 pull-ups +60lbs and farmer's walk with 115 and 125lb dumbells

If I had stuck to my plan I should have only done 305, at most 310 on the squat, but my training partner inspired me with a great set (and I didn't want to have to take off those 45lb plates).  I also moved up another 5lbs on the towel bench.  Hopefully I can keep up this progress.

8/24 lift power clean 3x220 deadlift 3x410 plus strict dumbell presses 40,45lbs

These lifts were HARD.  Doing a triple with 410 seemed ALOT harder than doing the heavier doubles and singles of the past weeks.  I moved up on the power clean by 5lbs, which is my first increase since March on the triple.  We also moved our presses to Wednesdays.  I mixed in some rotator cuff band work after the presses to balance things out.

8/26 lift squat 3*x285 close-grip bench press 3x235 pull-ups +65lbs and atlas stone carry supersets x3

Today was another tough workout.  The problem with Friday 3x3 is all three sets are very close in weight, so even though we are only talking about 9 reps, each rep is a struggle.   I put a * on my squats, as I didn't get deep enough on my 3rd rep, but it's my fault for getting greedy and putting 10lbs on the bar.  I also moved up 5lbs on the bench, which felt good today and didn't give me any troubles.  The stone kicked my butt as usual.  Adding 5lbs on the pull-ups didn't help things.

Wheel on my spin bike keeps on turning

8/21 spin 56 mins at SYNCstudio in Laurissa's class with the +1

HR avg 149 max 174

I was looking forward to this class to help flush out my legs after the long run on Saturday, even though I didn't feel that beat up.  I managed to figure out some of the "traveling" on the bike and we had a pretty great mix of Journey and other music.  How can you not like a class when the last track is Don't Stop Believin'?

A Genuine Long Run

8/20 run 96 mins @ ATT soft side in Altra Instincts (total time 118 mins with cooldown)

temp 89 (about 2pm start)
HR avg 150 max 161 (for the 96 min run)

The +1 did her long run with the Bull City training group that morning, and, as usual, I slept through it (since I have to work overnight).  It was my luck that she had a very busy morning and was still out of the house when it came time for me to run.  She encouraged me to go ahead and do it, so I did.  I've been cutting my carbs to see if it helps with my runs and using VESPA.  So, today, I ate eggs, uncured bacon and an avocado before my run.  I think that was it.  During the run I had my two 24 ounce bottles.  I put a Thermotab in one bottle and a NUUN in the other.  I also brought along 3 more Thermotabs (no you don't need $30 per bottle salt tabs, the $8 ones work just as well).  I ended up using all the salt tabs.  After what Peter Defty said and with the temp at nearly 90 degrees, I used one every 30 minutes.

My plan was to refill my bottles at the first road crossing, where SYNC Studio leaves out a complimentary water cooler.  This plan was working great until I got to the cooler and found it to be empty.  Not a drop left.  I still had about half of one bottle left at this point and quite a ways to go before I would turn around.  I decided to continue on in the hopes of encountering another water cooler.  This turned out to be a good strategy, although I did have to overshoot my initial turn around goal to hit the next water cooler, which is why I ended up with a total of 118 minutes instead of my planned 90 minute run.  I walked the last 21 minutes as I was out of water again by this point and I didn't want to go crazy on my first long run, especially with the ball of my foot bothering me.

I'm delighted to say I felt great during this run and I didn't have any soreness that evening or the next day.  I made sure to keep myself right under 155 bpm the whole time.  Maybe the extended cooldown did it.  Maybe it was the increased electrolyte intake.  I will definitely start doing my dynamic cooldown exercises after all my runs, as that is what I did during those 21 minutes.  The Altra Instincts are doing great, by the way.  I'm not sure how well they will work on a real trail, but they are keeping my lower legs healthy and pain free so far.

Stop feeding the atlas stone

8/19 lift squat 6x255 close-grip bench press 6x210 pull-ups +60lbs and atlas stone carry supersets x3 strict dumbell presses with 40,45lbs

These "high rep" weeks are hard, when you compare them to say 3x3 week, where you only have 9 total reps versus 10,8,6.  I made a move back towards my old weight on the squats and I'm 15lbs away from my previous best for 6 reps on the bench prior to the shoulder issues.  So far everything is holding together and the added shoulder presses haven't caused any residual pain.  The stone carry really sucked today :-)

1st Duke Forest Run

8/18 run 55 mins at Duke Forest entrance off Whitfield Rd in Altra Instincts (2nd run in these!)

temp 80ish
HR avg 150 max 173

I remember it actually felt sort of cool outside when we started this run.  The +1 had wanted to show me this loop for awhile and I was looking forward to trying out a new unpaved place to run with some decent hills.  The hills weren't too steep but they were LONG, so proper pacing was key.  I quickly realized I should have tightened up my shoes a bit more during that first, long downhill section.  The Altra Instincts did a good job of keeping the rocks out and where I've been having issues on the ball of my left foot didn't bother me too much.  Instead of running along the side of the road at the end, I think next time, I'll just turn around and run the same route back to the start, as the cars along that stretch are going really fast and there isn't a whole lot of shoulder to run on.  We started on a second loop, so I don't think the extra miles will be too big of a difference.

An Evening with Peter Defty and Vespa

Vespa CV-25 and Junior

I think a lot of people didn't know what they were getting into when they decided to attend this information session.  For those of you who don't know, Peter is a very accomplished ultra runner and the Vespa rep for North America.  He coaches MANY high level ultra runners.  His ideas are radical and controversial as they would require a complete overhaul in the diet of the average runner (and the average American).  The payoff for these changes can be huge especially for marathon and ultra distance runners.  Dale Humphrey has a good blog post that details some of the dietary changes and product usage strategies.  I'm going to list out some of the things I noted from the information session and some of the books he brought with him and others he recommended.

The goal of all of this is to get the body to burn fat for energy instead of the 1500 calories or so of glycogen it has available on an average day.  By burning fat you can reduce/eliminate your need for calorie ingestion during training (which has many benefits), reduce muscle fatigue/post workout recovery and increase sustained performance during longer events.  In order to prime your body for burning more fat Peter advocates a low carb diet.  This is especially interesting to me, being a larger runner, as I find dealing with calorie and fluid requirements for longer runs to be quite daunting.  I've already had some great results experimenting with reducing my daily carbohydrate intake and using the product on runs over the last few months.

BOOKS

Some of the books Peter recommended:
New Atkins for a New You
Protein Power
The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living
Authors/Research Institutes:
Dr. Eric Westman
Weston A. Price Foundation

TRAINING

He recommended using the following formula for heart rate based training, which is a bit more aggressive than standard Maffetone Method based sessions.

180 - age + 15

Peter advocated making sure to take a VERY LONG TIME TO WARMUP in each training session to ensure the body will burn fat over carbohydrate.  He also emphasized the importance of fluid and electrolytes for ketosis (fat burning).  I could be mistaken, but I believe he said he ran Western States on up to 60 oz of water and 1500mg of sodium per hour.  These number seem huge, but if the body isn't also trying to digest food at the same time I can see how this could be possible and a requirement to sustain such high effort for nearly 24 hours, 100 miles and temps up to 115 degrees.  He also recommended UVB treatments for athletes, although I didn't have time to discuss this point with him.

DIET

If you are not used to eating low carbohydrate, using VESPA during the transition can reduce the side effects a person may experience during the first couple of weeks (brain fog, lack of energy, craving carbs etc).  He recommends a rare steak and a baked potato loaded with butter and sour cream the night before a race.  I didn't have a chance to write down much else, but I hope to have more information to share as I continue experimenting with the product and my diet.  Since I already have to be gluten free, my carbs aren't very high to begin with, but I've made a point to drop them even more and replace those foods with more healthy fats and proteins.  Using VESPA, I have stopped needing to take in gels during a run and my recovery seems to have improved tremendously between workouts.

Breaking More Records

8/17 lift power clean 2x230 deadlift 2x420

In some ways, I'm more proud of a record on a double than I am of a new record on a single.  I finally moved up on the power clean for my double.  I think I've been doing 225 for like 6 months or more.  I stuck to my 5lbs on the deadlift, which puts me 5lbs off my single.  The key I'm finding is to make sure I complete my exhale and start my inhale before I start descending for the next rep, otherwise I can't get in enough air while descending with all the weight and I end up feeling like I'm going to pass out.

I had to take the tests and qualification on Tuesday for the training I did over the weekend, so I didn't have time to workout that day.  Also, I attended the Vespa information session with Peter Defty at Bull City Running on Tuesday night.  I'll do a separate post to talk about that.  I've been using Vespa when I run (although those runs have been few and far between lately).

Monday Quickie

8/15 lift box squat 6x280 close-grip towel bench press 6x220

I had a dentist appointment afterwards, so I didn't have time to do any auxiliary lifts today.  I was sore and super tired before the workout as I was working overnight the whole weekend and in training from 8-5 during the day.  Hopefully I can stop burning the candle at both ends after Tuesday and catch up on some rest!

New Territory

8/12 lift squat 1x285 close-grip bench press 1x265 pull-ups +60lbs and atlas stone carry supersets x3 dumbell presses 10x40,3x55,6x40

Thursday I had to practice for some training I am attending over the weekend, so I didn't have time to get in a workout.  So here we are at Friday squats and bench again.  The day I skip the most due to my work schedule.  This is also probably the most important day of the program.  I continue to stay conservative on the squat and move only 5lbs a week in order to make sure I don't miss any lifts.

Today was a landmark day on the bench, as I singled the weight I did prior to my shoulder injury.  I bridged a little but nothing too bad.  So far my shoulders feel great, so I'm really excited to see where I can go over the next few months while I am still healthy.

New Records!

8/10 lift power clean 1x240 deadlift 1x425

The lighter sets weren't very foreboding, as they all felt heavy to me, but I pulled off a couple records for my current body weight.  Looking forward to seeing if I can keep moving up next month!  I did miss my first attempt at the power clean and my right knee did something weird on the second by I made the catch.

I hate asphalt

8/9 run 48 mins on ATT by Bull City Running in Altra Instincts (1st shoe run!)

temp 95+ (after dynamic stretch workshop)
HR avg 162 max 175

The +1 is doing the Bull program through Bull City Running, so she had a 50 min run tonight, but first she wanted to check out the dynamic stretch workshop at BCR, so I figured I would tag along.  I think the two combined to work against me, but I'll get to that in a minute.  I brought my new running shoes, the Altra Instinct, and wore my flip-flops for the clinic as I'm most comfortable practically barefoot and I hate to start a run with sweaty feet.

So turns out the workshop is being held outside in the heat on the concrete and we all get to practice alongside the instructor.  Normally this isn't a big deal and it didn't bother me at the time to run around barefoot doing various drills but as soon as I put my shoes on started running the balls of my feet felt like they were on fire.  This feeling only got worse the longer we ran.  I don't know if the concrete took of some skin and the sweat was burning me or if it was just some kind of weird hot spot, but it felt like I was running on giant blood blisters the whole time.  I'm thinking the combination of barefoot concrete warmups, the new shoes and running on pavement created a bit of a perfect storm.  My feet look any worse for wear after the run but they continued to hurt for a day or two.

The run itself started off great, but the relentless pace of the +1 and the oppressive heat began to take its toll toward the end.  I was ready to be done and felt like I was trying to sprint by the last 10 minutes.  I definitely need to be running more and not using the bike as my excuse.

Monday Singles

8/8 lift box squat 1x310 close-grip towel bench press 1x265 dumbell snatches 5x85,3x105, *x115 pull-ups +60lbs and farmer's walk with 115 and 125lb dumbells

This workout seemed to take a long time, but we got everything done and made all our lifts.  The farmer's walks are a new addition.  Should be a great exercise for adapting the body to dealing with heavier loads, especially in motion.  The pickup makes my right shoulder pop a bit.  I have some lofty numbers to hit this week.  Hopefully the plan comes together :)

The Substitute

8/7 run spin 54 mins at SYNCstudio in Laurissa's Kristin's class WITHOUT the +1

HR avg 155 max 175

The +1 ran 10 miles this morning, so she bowed out of spin class again.  I don't blame her, as I wouldn't have gone either if I ran 10 miles (or even 3 for that matter).  It was very different from the usual Sunday class, as Kristin looks to weigh about 40lbs and moves with the speed of a humming bird.  I did my best to keep up.  I got in a pretty good workout but I wasn't feeling the music today.

Keep on Keeping on

8/5 lift squat 5x265 close-grip bench press 4x225 pull-ups +60lbs and atlas stone carry supersets x3 dumbell presses 6x40 (testing out the shoulder)

Added in some extra shoulder work, now that my shoulders are feeling good.  Keeping my elbows in on the bench is working great so far, although I need to make sure I don't bridge.  A pretty good day all around.

I think I'm getting the hang of this...

8/4 bike 82 mins at Lake Crabtree on the TORC beginner/intermediate ride

HR avg 144 max 182

So today wasn't quite so terrifying, ok, it wasn't terrifying at all.  Except for maybe when we watched the crazy guys at the pump/jump track thing.  I didn't fall, and I managed to complete almost all the obstacles I attempted.  Michael, who led the group, spent a good amount of time explaining various skills and techniques as we encountered opportunities to practice them on the trails. I feel like I learned a lot and I only hope I can implement it on my next ride.  Brian, who led our first ride the week before, was there too, but he went with the intermediate group today.  Our friends, E&C were there along with their friend Will.  The +1 was out sick, so she missed out on lots of tips, hopefully these added techniques will give me the edge I need to keep up with her on the next ride :-)

Early workout

8/3 lift power clean 5x205 deadlift 5x395

I had to take my Dad in for a bone marrow biopsy today, so we worked out early since I had to hit the road for Greenville to take him to his appointment.  The workout was tough and I'm shocked I was able to pull 395 on my fifth set.  It was difficult, but if I make a concerted effort to breathe out at the top of the rep and inhale as I lower the weight I'm able to finish without breaking form.  I did pause for a second at the top on my fourth rep to get an extra breath, but I figured it was better than blacking out...

So regarding the bone marrow biopsy thing, I ended up being front row for the whole procedure and trust me, you never want to have one of these done.  It gives me the willies just thinking about it.  Hopefully all the tests will comeback ok.