March Stats

RUNNING - 100.17
RACES - Oskar Blues, Dark Hollow Wallow
CYCLING - 20.05
ALL ACTIVITIES - 121.46
VOLLEYBALL - 6-3 (YTD GAMES 36)
STRENGTH SESSIONS - 7

THREE 26 - 31

Sunday 26

Today I begin a 30 day no chips or popcorn trial. I'll update periodically.

Hank's Loop

LMLS. Tired legs run (9:07 pace with a few walk breaks). Stretch.

Volleyball (Pandemonium) - This game was not good. We won 2 - 0. (Games YTD 29)

Monday 27

Another night of poor sleep.

Gym session -
Warm up:

1. Push-ups 10
2. Shoulder combo #10 10
3. Pull-ups 5
4. Back extension 10

Strength:

1. Cleans (working on form from the floor) #95 3/2
2. Hang clean #115 3, #130 2
3. Squats #135 5, #175 3, #195 2 (not very deep)
4. Calf press #160 2/20
5. Low pulley single arm #45 3/5

Core / mobility:

1. Foam roll
2. Hip opening
3. Plank to down dog

Tuesday 28

Three days and no chips. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and walking past the chips gave me issues. I have a problem.

Morning flow - Foot Rx. Foam roll

I'm 5 days out from the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run. I guess I'm fit, but a bit tired. 

Hank's Loop

LMLS and drills. 6 miles with 4 x 30 second strides on very tired legs. Tomorrow is my last quality workout till Sunday, really just a tune up. 

Wednesday 29

Morning flow - Rope stretching.

Day 4 and no chips and salty snacks. CA (Chips Anonymous).

4 days until the CUCB 10 Mile Run. I'm ready.

Track Session

LMLS. Drills. 1 up. 5 x 800m (3:39, 3:42, 3:39, 3:41, 3:25). I had some right hamstring tightness during the cool down.

Rope AIF and hip opening.

Thursday 30

Morning flow - Foam roll and hip opening. I'm having right hamstring tightness today. I may have to cancel my run.

Easy Run

LMLS. Drills. 4 easy. I almost didn't run today but decided last minute to give it a shot. I went well for a tired legs run.

Friday 31

Travel to D.C.

THREE 19 - 25 (44.2)

Sunday 19

Volleyball - We were in a bit of a tussle in game one, winning 26-24. The second game was easier. (YTD games 27)

Evening Run

4 miles easy.

Monday 20

Gym session -
Warm up:

1. SAM
2. Med ball
3. Pull-ups 5

Strength:

1. Cleans #95 4, #115 4, #125 3
2. Squats #135 5, #165 4, #180 3
3. Calf press #160 3/10
4. Hammer Ground Base Row #80 3/8

Core / mobility:

1. Hip opening

Tuesday 21

Lunch Run

LMLS. 4 miles with 5-6 strides at 5k pace.

SAM and hip opening. 

Wednesday 22

Morning flow - foot Rx.

Haw Ridge K Trail Loop

LMLS. We were on pace for our FKT until Justin rolled his ankle. We have the Cherry Blossom race in less than 2 weeks, so we hiked it back to the cars. It was a fun though.

Thursday 23

Track Session

LMLS. 1 mile up. Race pace 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400. Average pace ~7:20.

Friday 24

Gym session -
Warm up:

1. Push-ups 2/10
2. Hip opening 
3. Med ball (left elbow pain)
4. Back extension BW 3/10
5. Glute/ham ab 3/10

Strength:

1. Press #85 5, #105 3, #110 2
2. Precision Series Chest #140 5, #160 5, #190 6
3. Nautilus Deadlift #90 5, #140 4, #180

Turnpike 20 Miler

Went out in 47:39, came back in 34:31, head wind was for real. 

Saturday 25

We planned to do our North Boundary loop but discovered it was closed to the public for turkey hunting. This was a bummer. We talked about running Haw Ridge but we weren't feeling that because Justin had rolled his ankle in there Wednesday and didn't want to risk it a week out from the Cherry Blossom. We didn't have road shoes on us so we decided to change gears, we settled on a destination run from Earth Fare to the Winter Market. This was awesome, I saw places in Knoxville I've never seen before.

Long Run

THREE 12 - 18 (30.1) Dark Hollow Wallow

Sunday 12

Dark Hollow Wallow

LMLS. This was one of the hardest courses I've ever done. There was 1932 ft. of elevation gain and at least 4 creek crossings. I broke 2 hours which was my only goal and felt relatively good at the finish. I even dropped a 8:31 ninth mile. The only downside was I had a fall and bruised and scraped up my right hip. I will definitely do the race again next year.

Follow up: I finished 27 of 63 overall and 10 of 19 Master Male. No one older than me finished ahead of me. 

Monday 13

Gym session -
Warm up:

1. C2 4:40 1k
2. Med ball
3. Back extension 12
4. Plank
5. Push-ups 12
6. Clams 20
7. Shoulder combo #10 10

Strength:

1. Cleans #95 3, #115 3, #135 2 (form was not good)
2. Squats #135 5, #155 5, #175 5
3. Calf press #160 3/8

Core:

1. Pull-ups 3
2. Australian pull-up 6
3. Plank

Tuesday 14

Evening run

LMLS. Cold and windy marina run, 3 miles easy.

Wednesday 15

Morning flow - foot Rx.

I'm working from home today, so every hour I'm taking a movement break.
9:00 - push-up 10, plank 30 seconds, and pull-up isometric hold.
10:00 - hip opening, push-up 10, plank 30 seconds, and pull-up 3
11:00 - hot tub
1:00 - foam roll, crunches 15, and hip opening

St. Patrick's Historic Run

2.7 mile run with the Socialites. 

Thursday 16

Tempo Intervals

LMLS. 1 mile up. 2 minutes tempo and 2 minutes easy by 2. Paces were 7:25, 7:07, and 7:13. I didn't get a accurate reading on the first tempo.

Friday 17

Morning flow - foot Rx.

Gym session -
Warm up:

1. C2 4:40 1k
2. Med ball
3. Back extension BW 12

Strength:

1. Step through deadlift #135 5, #165 4, #190 2
2. Press #85 5, #95 3, #105 3
3. Bench #135 6 left elbow pain
4. Precision Series Chest #90 8, #160 5, #180 4
5. Calf press #140 2/15

Core:

1. Pull-ups 5
2. Plank to down dog
3. Hollow hold
4. Australian pull-up single arm hang 5 seconds 1/5

Saturday 18

Long run with Roadkill

LMLS. 10 miles, the first 5 was with Tulika's daughter, Muskaan. She and I ran around a 9:20 pace average for the first 5 miles. I finished with Mark, a little slower but still around 9:45. 

THREE 5 - 11 (20.3)

Sunday 5

Travel from Asheville. 

Weekend recovery run

LMLS. 4 miles easy. SAM

Volleyball tournament - We had 2 very challenging opponents, we won the first match 2-1 then fell 0-2 in the final. This makes our 2nd or 3rd runner-up finish after winning the league. (YTD Total games: 30)

Before bed flow - mobility and flexibility exercises for my hip, lumbar spine, feet, and calves.

Monday 6

Gym session -
Warm Up:

1. Plank
2. Push-ups 10
3. Clams 15
4. Shoulder combo #10 10
5. Pull-ups 5
6. Back extension 10

Strength:

1. Squats #135 5, #155 3, #175 3
2. Cleans #95 3, #115 3, #135 1
3. Low pulley single arm #45 3/5

Core:

1. Foam roll 
2. Plank
3. Pull-ups 5
4. Med ball

Tuesday 7

Lunch run

LMLS. 4 miles plus 4 x 30 seconds on TM 3% grade at 7:47 pace. SAM.

I worked from home today which allowed me the opportunity to do a lot of mobility and core work.

Wednesday 8

Haw Ridge K-Trail Loop

LMLS. We started from the west end parking lot and did the outer loop. For a little vert we did K-Trail to Soccer back the parking lot. This was a nice 4 mile jaunt with some serious climb in the middle. Beers and burgers at Double Dogs after.

Thursday 9

Hatha yoga with Shea. This was my first experience with hatha and I liked it. It has fewer strength poses than vinyasa but with all relaxation and stretching.

Track session

LMLS. Warm up: 800m and 400m in and out. Workout: 800m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 800m. Cool down: 400m. This was the first track workout of 2017. My goal was to run around 10k to 10 miles pace, but it was more like 5k pace or a little faster.

It was nice to share the track with Leah Chance, a collegiate All-American runner from Tennessee Wesleyan. Leah was doing 2k repeats at 6:24 pace preparing for the Germantown Half this weekend.

Friday 10

Gym session -

1. Warm up:
2. Core (plank, bridge, hip abduction)
3. Push-ups 10
4. Back extension BW 12
5. Bar (Australian pull-up 10, dips 8, pull-ups 5)
6. Shoulder combo #10 10

Strength:

1. Step through deadlift #135 5, #165 3, #185 3
2. Bench #135 5, #145 3, #155 3
3. Press 85 5, 95 3, 100 3
4. Calf press #140 12/3

Core: 

1. Med ball right throws only. Left elbow pain 
2. Side plank
3. Clams 15
4. Monkey bars 2

Saturday 11

North Boundary Short Loop

LMLS. 4.75 mile easy trail run.

THREE 1 - 4 (15.5) Oskar Blues 4 Miler

Wednesday 1

The severe thunderstorms, high winds, rain, and chance of a tornado stopped all workouts today. 

Thursday 2

Today I only did some mobility exercises. 

Friday 3

Travel to Asheville. Beer crawl. Farm Burger - Appalachian Mountain Brewery Blonde Ale. Old World Brewery - Ashevegas Pale Ale. Pack's - Pisgah Pale Ale. 

Saturday 4

Oskar Blues race day. The Springhill Suites is nice enough, but it was super noisey. Around 1 a.m. there was someone singing and beating on the walls in a room near ours and it didn't get much better. I don't think any of us slept well.

Note to self: The night before a race is not the time for a beer crawl, even a little one.

Oskar Blues 4 Miler

I didn’t do much race pace prior to race day, only strides.

I cut back on alcohol and was more conscientious about my diet the week leading up and I slept great all week. I had no significant niggles.

I wanted to hold a 7:15 pace then pick it up for the last mile or two. I was able to hit the 7:25s but hills around miles 2 and slowed me.

Race: I had 4 pre-race goals; 1) PR 2) All-American 3) Sub 30 4) Sub 29. I met all my goals but 1. I did not go sub 29, I finished 29:17.

Warm up: LML. 1 mile up. Strides. The warm up went well, no issues.