2010-05-07 - 6.2k run

Warmup: run 800m


WOD:
WOD @ GWPC 100507

Run 6.2K @ minute 0:00 (women get a head start at minute 0:00 minus four minutes)
At minute 40:00 group relay bench presses two reps each, starting at 45 pounds and continuing in 10 pound jumps until failure, in reverse order of first to last on the run (slowest runner goes first). After all who are able have lifted a given weight, those remaining add 10 pounds. Bench Press continues until strongest athlete fails. There is no rest between lifts, except as needed, momentarily, to increase the weight.

Ranking is lowest number of combined run/bench performance. For example Athlete A is 1st in run and 4th in bench for 5 points, and Athlete B is 2nd in run and second in bench press for 4 points. Athlete B wins.

Results:
6.2k: 5:05; 36:27(5k); 5:46 = 47:19 (minute 43:19 - Technical DNF)

Bench Press (2 reps per set): 55-65-75-85x1(f) 85# is a new 1RM PR.

They had already started the relay by the time i got back to the gym, but there were a lot of people, and they'd only gotten up to 55# - so I basically arrived from the run (feeling like there was no skin left on the bottom of my feet) and sat down at the bench for my first attempt.

I managed to give myself a blister the size of my entire big toe on my right foot, somehow. I really feel like if I had not gotten that blister that I probably could have made the 44 minute time limit. I had to stop and walk a couple times but more because my foot hurt too much to keep going than for any muscular or aerobic failure (though i was plenty tired).

2010-04-25 lake merritt

ran Lake Merritt today in 39:43

4.5 minutes slower than the last time i did it.

watch was set to 4 min run 1:30 walk intervals

first walk was at 15:00 min, ran the full 4 minutes of every 'run' interval (barely :p)

5k around Lake Merritt

35:17.

I had set my watch for 4 min running, 2 min walking, but Hodges ran with me and I skipped most of my walk breaks. I only walked about 7 min total out of the 35 min run. about 5 while Hodges took a pit stop, and 2 more when I was about 2/3 of the way through when my right hip flexor started kicking up a fuss.

It was a gorgeous day, and a really nice run. SO much better than running around the Ironworks Block. Yuck.

5k

Warmup: run 400m, lots of run prep exercises to warm up the hips knees ankles and legs.

WOD:
Run 5k

Results: 37:26
5:05, 5:39, 5:49, 5:49, 6:32, 6:58, 1:31

Comments:
I totally fell apart at the end.

I've never run exactly 5k before. I ran something close but a little shorter last Christmas in 29 min and change. The one 10k I ran took 82 min - so at least this was less than half of that. I was working a 4:30 min of running with 30 seconds walking schedule, which might have been overly ambitious. I developed a horrible side stitch that just would not go away in lap #5 and had to walk most of the 1800m.

I think the main reason I got the stitch (and this is some gross detail, so fee free to skip it) is that I was having major issues with snot, phlegm and post nasal drip, and it messed up my breathing patterns.

My right hip also started to give out on me, but the stitch is what kept me from running.

At least there is a lot of room for improvement.

Into the unknown

Something new today: Max lined us up on the start line, told us we would start running 800m laps, and he would tell us when to stop. Experiment in pacing for an unknown duration. I held pace with Matthew throughout, and gambled that the distance would be 5k and made a big push to pull ahead for that - I managed to pull ahead, but that wasn't the final distance: two more laps to go. Matthew did the same to me at the end of the eighth lap, and I didn't have anything left in the tank to fend him off.

Final distance: 4 miles, in (I think) 29:53. 5k was 22:02 (PR)

After that was, immediately:

100 sit-ups
50 burpees
25 pullups

Final time: 48:35ish RX

The situps and pullups weren't bad, but I had huge blisters on the bottoms of my feet that made the burpees pretty agonizing. Those went very slowly, and I lost what lead I had on the rest of the class.

Christmas 5-ish k

Christmas day was beautiful and sunny (if a bit chilly), so in the lull between breakfast and presents, and dinner, we decided to go for a run along the trail that goes around my Parents' housing development. My mom said it was about three miles. I think it was probably a bit less than that. I can't figure out how to get a satellite view on Map my Run, so I can't map it out for sure since it was on trails and not roads.

I worked in a rotating schedule of 3 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking, and I completed the run in 29:28.

The trail has a stretch that goes right along the Potomac river, and it was a gorgeous day. I really enjoyed the run, and I never had to walk during a run period - even after I ran for the first 6 minutes stright when I accidentally set my interval timers for 3 hours and 1 hour instead of 3 minutes and 1 minute. I figured that out when I started feeling like the first 3 minutes were taking FOREVER. After taking a quick break to reset the interval timers on my watch I ran for the next 3 minutes, too - so I actually ran for most of the first 9 minutes or so.

Christmas 5k

Merry Christmas!

After breakfast and loot (new camera and jumpropes!), we decided to get outside and explore the beautiful day with a run. I got a little lost, but when I got back I put in my route on mapmyrun.com and, lo and behold, it was a little over 5k.

5.17k, 28:37

OK, I'm a bit confused. This was a LITTLE bit longer than the 5k trail run we did at Thanksgiving, and a HELLUVA lot less hilly, but it took more than 3 minutes longer? Disappointing. I can think of a couple reasons, though.

• That trail was a LOT of fun, and so prompted me to run harder.
• More than half of this run was on large, loose gravel, which I found uncomfortable to run on, and probably slowed me down. The rest was on asphalt. The other trail was on beautiful, soft dirt.
• Breakfast.
• I got lost a couple times and took a couple wrong turns that forced me to either walk or double-back to find the trail.
• I spent a lot of time today practicing POSE, and not just zoning out and running.

So, not as good as I could have wished, but I'm glad we did something other than eat candy and pie and watch TV all day. We finished up with some double-under practice with our snazzy new super-ropes. I got two consecutive!

Thanksgiving, part I: The Trail Run

I've always been attracted to the idea of trail running. I've been a hiker all my life, but lately I haven't done it much because A) in order for it to be worth anything as exercise, you've got to go a long way, which takes a LONG time, and B) long, slow distance stuff is kinda anathema to CrossFit. However, trail running neatly sidesteps (ha!) both those problems. I've never done it, though - only recently have I come to actually think of running as something that *I* do, and not just other, crazier people with healthier knees, better cardiovascular systems and snazzier shorts.

So it was with a combination of excitement and trepidation that I approached today's special Thanksgiving Day Trail Run that Max organized. Excitement to finally be trying this, and anxiety about running on uneven and potentially slippery surfaces. Not to mention that I'd be running 5k, which is three times the longest amount I've ever run before this (I did say I'm not a runner), and it would involve some pretty serious hills - another first.

Yeah. Sucks, right?

5K - 25:12

It was AWESOME.

Seriously. It had all the endorphins and challenge of exercise, all the beauty of a redwood park in the breaking fog, and none of the hassle of running on sidewalks or tracks (cars, dust, asphalt).

My path was in three parts. First came East Ridge trail, a fire road along the (duh) eastern ridge of the park. Ups and downs, but nothing too dramatic. Then came Prince Trail, which was really just a cut down to the valley floor - very steep, very short. Then came Stream Trail, which went up the center of the valley back to the northern Skyline entrance, where we started. The first half of stream trail was like that photo above - flat, wide, soft, dark, quiet, through tall redwoods. Then came the Up.

I learned two valuable lessons today. 1) Trail running is really fun, and 2) Running uphill is REALLY hard. I don't know the exact numbers, but some googling tells me it's about a 600' climb. I ran every step of that motherfucker, 'cause I swore I would, but DAMN.

I don't know if 25 minutes is a good time for this run, but the simple fact that I did it, and that I ran the whole thing, fills me with a great sense of accomplishment. It was a great experience.

The ending was complicated somewhat because Rebecca, who had started WELL ahead of me, was not back at the parking lot, and I didn't think I'd passed her. Which meant she'd either gotten lost, or I HAD run right by her and not even noticed, which would pretty much make me an asshole. I waited for probably 10-15 minutes, and then got worried enough to start running back the other direction. Thankfully, she was only a quarter mile or so down the trail (she had taken a wrong turn), so everything turned out fine.