#OperationGetSexy - Gareth's log

Abingdon Parkrun 5km
33:41 - about 10:45 mins/mile
About 4-5 minutes off target/expected pace. The course is over two laps of meadow, farm track and riverside trail and at least 1km per lap was very muddy and slippery, and a good 1.25km per lap was straight into an insane headwind. So, with two laps that put around 4.5km of the 5 either on mud or into very strong wind. According to Strava, I dipped down to around 12 mins/mile at some points into the wind!
So, that's 5km done at least. I ran the whole way (I was tempted to walk at times, especially when slogging away in the wind but still feeling like I was barely moving). I'll return to do this run again in a few weeks when hopefully the conditions will be more favourable. I should be able to do this course in 28-29 mins at current fitness.
 
Training Mon 12th Jan @ home - lower body

Weather: light rain but mild @ 11C

First leg session in 3 weeks, kept it quite short as it was so miserable outside.
I bought a Safety Squat Bar as a Christmas present to myself and this was my first go with it. It is brutal - I was expecting to be putting up biggish numbers but I actually put up less than my pre-Christmas front squat weights.

Safety bar squat
3 x 105kg
4 x 5 x 85kg
(bar weighs 25kg)

KB swings
2 x 15
2 x 10
All sets with 24kg bell

Legs felt quite jelly-like after the SB squats so I'm expecting some good DOMS tomorrow.
 
Training run - intervals
3:30 mins (ish) warm-up jog
4 laps of park (0.4 miles according to Strava) - fastest lap 3:15, slowest somewhere around 3:30
3 mins (ish) cool-down jog

21:14 moving time, 33:54 total, 2.6 miles covered. 8:14 mins/mile average while moving. Hard to tell from Strava but looks like I was under 8 mins/mile average for each of the laps.
 
Weight 15 st 2 lbs

Training run
2.11 miles in 19:29 - 9:13 mins/mile average pace
1st mile in 9:02

Decent run this. I bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 15 - this means I can use the watch for pace/distance data and my ipod shuffle for music, and I don't have to carry my iPhone with me. Garmin Connect has my pace as pretty consistent throughout the run, which I'm pleased with.
Strava says I did my best "estimated 2 miles" (18:34 - though I think I ran 2 miles in 18:18 a couple of weeks ago?) and "estimated 1/2 mile" (4:10 - not sure where I did this given how consistent my pace was). Legs felt a bit tired (still pretty sore from Monday's leg training) I must admit.

Upper body lifting tomorrow, run Saturday (laps), lower body lifting Sunday.
 
Training Friday 16th Jan @ home - upper body

Weather: cold (1C), dry

A1 Bench press
5/3/1 week 1
5 x 62.5kg
5 x 72.5
8 x 82.5 - left a couple in the tank I think, felt really unstable. really need some wooden blocks so I can plant my feet properly
2 x 5 x 75kg

A2 Jungle Gym inverted rows
5 x 10

B1 JG push-ups - 3 x 10
B2 JG face pulls - 3 x 12
B3 Tall-kneeling band Pallof press - 3 x 8/side with 2 red bands
 
Training run - intervals
3 min warm-up run (0.4-0.5 miles ish? didn't capture)
5 laps of park with 3 mins rest
Lap times:
3:00 (pb, 7:12 mins/mile)
3:14 (7:36 mins/mile)
3:21 (8:01 mins/mile)
3:22 (8:04 mins/mile)
3:17 (8:03 mins/mile)
3 min cool-down run (not captured properly as I had auto-pause disabled and forgot to stop my watch for a few mins)

Painful. Cardio fitness feels fine (not struggling to breathe and only takes me about a minute to be back to normal breathing after a lap) but legs heavy. Shoulders also felt tired today (presumably from lifting yesterday) which affected my rhythm.
 
Weight 15 st 0 3/4 lbs

Training Sun 18th Jan @ home

Weather - 2 degrees C ish... dry

A: Safety bar squat
Robertson cycle week 2 (5 x 5 x 80%)
5 x 5 x 95kg - belt on

B: Sumo deadlift
I'm not built for conventional pulling so I'll probably want to be pulling sumo for having a crack at my goal of 500 lbs. I thought I should start doing some tech practice.
4 x 3 x 120kg - no belt

C1: KB swing - 3 x 12 x 24kg
C2: Core-engaged dead bugs - 3 x 6/side
 
Weight 14 stone 13

Training run
2.6 miles in 24:36 (9:18 mins/mile)
1st mile 8:58
2nd mile 9:27

Last half a mile or so was a real slog as my calves/tib anterior really started to complain. I need to do more (some) stretching. Continuing to lose weight should help too!
 
Training Weds 21st Jan @ home - deadlifts

Trap bar deadlift - high handle
5/3/1 week 1
5 x 115kg
5 x 135kg
10 x 155kg - belted
2 x 5 x 135kg

Trap bar RDLs
2 x 6 x 115kg

Jungle Gym superset - no rest except to adjust strap length:
Inverted rows 3 x 8
Push-ups 3 x 10
 
Training Fri 23rd Jan @ home - upper body

Weather: 5C (reference point: not so cold that I have to wear gloves while benching), dry

Kept it simple tonight - two exercises, alternated between them seven times

A1: Bench press
5/3/1 week 2
5 x 60kg
3 x 67.5kg
3 x 77.5kg
8 x 87.5kg
3 x 5 x 80kg
For reference, last week I did 8 x 82.5kg. I don't think I've gained a huge amount of strength since then, but my new purchase of an aerobic step to put my feet on made a hell of a difference to my stability and leg drive.

A2: Jungle Gym inverted rows
7 x 10 - shortened strap after 4 sets to make them slightly easier


Training run (Sat 24th Jan)

This was supposed to be the Parkrun 5km, but I walked to the start and they announced it was cancelled this week as it was too icy on part of the course. To be fair I did almost slip over on the pavement a few times on the walk there. I was thinking about going home and getting back in bed (with intention of going out again later for a run) but some part of me told me to stoof and get on with it.

2.6 miles in 23:26 (9:10 mins/mile)
9:09 first mile, 9:07 second mile

After about 2.2 miles I had the option of turning left (uphill) to do a loop of about a mile to make this run up to the originally intended 5km, or turning right (downhill) to loop back towards home for a 2.5 mile ish total. You can tell which I chose...! The state of my legs dictated this - they just felt really tired and the prospect of an uphill slog (admittedly a short and gentle incline!) was not appealing. I do really need to push on and run a bit further next time as I need to condition my legs. I don't feel like I'm breathing that hard but fatigue in my legs seems to be holding me back on each run.
 
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Training run
3.2 miles in 29:22 (9:11 mins/mile)
9:08, 9:13, 9:20 splits
28:33 for the 5km

Pleased with this. Drank way too much on Saturday and still feel like I'm recovering (hence no lifting since Friday), so I was dreading this run but it actually went fine.
 
mrthingyx said:
Colleague of mine did some good half marathon prep on alcohol fuel, too. :D
Click to expand...

I played a fantastic game of rugby on tour last year having drunk 4 pints over a long lunch :)

Training Weds 28th Jan @ home - lower body

Trap bar deadlifts - high handle
5/3/1 week 2

3 x 127.5kg
3 x 145kg
8 x 162.5kg (belted)
That's vs 10 x 155kg last week.

Then:
3 x 3 x 145kg (beltless)

KB clean & press
Done in between the down-sets of DLs:
6/side x 16kg
2 x 6/side x 20kg

KB swing
5 x 10 x 24kg
Put all my kit away during rest periods, so I was constantly moving for a good 6-7 mins.
 
Cosgrove Evil 8 complex
Weight: 40kg
Rest: 90 seconds

The first 3 sets sucked. I got my breath back in time between sets though. Each set was pretty comfortable after the cleans, which I found to be the hardest and most tiring exercise. 40kg front/back squats were a nice active rest to be honest. The cleans/front squat/push press trio in the middle has made my wrists hurt now. I had to put the bar down after the front squats because I couldn't stay in the clean grip long enough and then couldn't transition back to a good grip for pressing from the bodybuilder-style front squat grip.

I don't have a time for the whole thing because my iPhone battery died after the 5s (I was about 6 mins in at that point) but I was strict with the 90 second rest periods. I breezed through the last 3 sets, so I was probably somewhere in the region of 13-14 mins.
 
I took the decision to switch from a split of lower/upper/deadlift to full body on all 3 sessions. I essentially ended up doing too much lower body stuff and I wanted to re-balance my training week a bit.

Each session will have a squat movement, a hinge, an upper push and an upper pull; likewise each session will have a "main" lift.
Sunday - squat
Wednesday - deadlift
Friday - bench

So, first full-body session tonight.

Training Friday 30th Jan @ home

Not sure why I continue to specify "@ home" when every session I do is at home and has been since October 3rd...

A: Bench press
5/3/1 week 3
5 x 72.5kg
3 x 82.5kg
5 x 90kg
Slightly disappointed with this after 8 x 87.5 last week. I felt pretty tired beforehand and I have done some form of pressing on the last two days. After the 82.5kg set I set 5 reps as the minimum for 90kg and I could not have done a single rep more.

B1: Bulgarian split squat
3 x 6/side with 20kg weight vest
Fairly light to start with - my balance sucks.

B2: Close grip bench press
3 x 5 x 80kg

C1: Barbell bentover row from rack
(like Pendlay rows but not from floor)
4 x 8 x 50kg

C2: KB swings
3 x 10 x 24kg
Hamstrings a bit sore and tired so I kept sets/reps on the low end today.

Pretty tired now, haven't done full-body for a while!
 
Weight 14 stone 11

Training run
3.17 miles in 27:55 (8:48 mins/mile)
Splits: 8:30, 8:52, 9:03
27:20 for the 5k

New PB for a mile & 5K. Not sure where this came from. I read elsewhere that I should be focusing on cadence rather than stride length, so I did, and I was fairly easily able to sustain a faster pace. I was very tired by the end but my last mile was still faster than my fastest mile on Tuesday. I'm sweating like a bastid now though.

I'm a lot more optimistic about my sub-26 minute 5k goal now.
 
Training Sun 1st Feb @ home

A: Safety bar squat
Week 4/4 of Robertson cycle (3 x 5 x 85%)
Worked up to 3 x 5 x 105kg with belt
Felt solid but was tough... will increase training max by 10kg for next 4 weeks

B1: Jungle Gym rows
6 x 8
Shortened straps by 1" after 2nd set and by a further 2" after 4th set

B2: Put away stuff from squats
Had everything away by 4th set of rows, good way of keeping HR up

C1: Valslide hamstring curls
3 x 6
See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGZgc849wEI
Cracking hamstring activation

C2: Jungle Gym push-ups
3 x 10
 
Weight 14 stone 9 1/2
Have now lost 2 stone (and a bit)

Training run
4.2 miles in 39:13 (9:18 mins/mile average)
Splits: 8:43, 9:32, 9:36, 9:26
28:53 for the 5K
Average HR 176bpm (zone 5)
Max HR 185bpm

Went out with the sole aim of running 4 miles (previously longest run has been 3.2), ideally faster than 10 mins/mile but that was a secondary aim. This felt tough all the way through - the first mile did not feel as quick as 8:43 - and I had to deliberately slow down a few times to get my breathing under control before speeding up again. A few times I tried to up my pace to sub-9 mins/mile but I couldn't sustain it today.

Data is a bit all over the place. I must have been walking up and down the street outside my house waiting for my Garmin to get a GPS signal for about 10 minutes before I gave up and went back into the house to get my iPhone and use the Strava app. After about 0.4 miles the Garmin woke up. I bought myself a HR strap but that only works with the watch and not the iPhone. Thus, distance/pace data comes from the Strava iPhone app; HR data comes from the Garmin and is therefore incomplete.
 
Training Weds 4th Feb

A: Trap bar deadlift - high handles
5/3/1 week 3
5 x 135kg
3 x 155kg
8 x 175kg (belted)
Compared with 8 x 162.5kg last week. Guess I was phoning it in last week.

B1: More trap bar DL - high handles
2 x 5 x 135kg

B2: Jungle Gym rows
2 x 8

C1: More JG rows
3 x 8

C2: KB press
3 x 8/side x 20kg

C3: KB goblet squat
3 x 8 x 24kg


Deadlift video below:
http://youtu.be/9QLyEM-1qU4
 
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