PastorMan’s BodyBlog

Ok, I FELT like one anyway. Today was pretty light as I was not able to get to the pool because of two impromptu meetings. So in spite of that I got a nice hard 30 min ride in on the trainer this morning. Again, 16 mph at 95 rpm cadence for 30 minutes straight. That is equivalent to 7.5 miles over varying terrain as I vary the tension and gearing every 5 minutes then end with a very tough gear ratio. Then I finished off the day with a BEASTLY performance in the weight room. While my workout partner did yesterday’s CF WOD I decided to work on chest/bis & abs. I was very surprisingly strong on the bench. I have seen my bench strength decrease greatly this year as I have switched from traditional weightlifting to CrossFit to P90x & back to CrossFit. This was sad but to be expected. Tonight however I don’t what it was but…DANG!! Here is my Dumbbell Press sets.
Incline Bench Warmup - 40s x 15
Incline Bench- 60s x 10
Incline Bench - 65s x 10
Incline Bench - 70s x 8
Incline Bench - 75s x 8 PR (this is when I knew it was going to be a GOOD NIGHT)
Flat Bench - 70s x 10
Flat Bench - 80s x 10 (Tied a PR)
Decline Bench - 85s x 8 (still felt strong)
Decline Bench - 95s x 8 (felt good, took a 5 min break & decided to go for the big boys. My biggest DBs I own)
Decline Bench - 100s x 6 (I’ve done these 8 & 10 times before but never after so much press work preceding it)
WOW.  
In addition to the above and in between sets I did standing DB curls (3 x 8 with 40s) &  lots of AB work: Knees to Elbows on the Rings & Foam tube crunches.
Great Night!!!

I didn’t get my swim in today as I had planned. A meeting I had went longer than I thought so I "only" got one workout in.
CrossFit’s "Elizabeth" and while she is short she, like most CF "ladies", is intense.
"Elizabeth" is 3 Rounds of 21-15-9 reps of: 135# Power Cleans and Ring Dips.
The top male reportedly did this in…2:53. If true…A BEAST!!!
I, a mere mortal, did it in a pedestrian…9:30
Round #1 of 21 Reps…3:13
Round #2 of 15 Reps…3:47
Round #3 of 9 Reps…..2:30
Lungs were burning, arms were pumped and I feel GREAT!!!

My first swim of this week and I have seen great improvement in my 3 weeks of swimming.
Today I did a PR as far as the most laps in a single session - 20 laps. That is 1000 yards.
I did 10 laps then 4 laps then 4 single laps sprints all out and finished up with 2 more laps.
My first week I could only do 1 lap without stopping. Then I went to 3 laps.
Last week I did 8 laps and today 10 laps without stopping. I feel good about my progress.
Long ways to go, but I’m progressing well.

Today was a "rest" day as far as sport specific training goes. No biking or swimming. And since it was a "rest" day for CrossFit as well I created my own WOD. Here it is…
3 rounds of 21 - 15 - 9 reps for time. Each round consisted of: 225# Deadlifts; Burpees; 40# Dumbbell Thrusters; 21" Box Jumps
Round #1 - 5:00 even
Round #2 - 10:00 even
Round #3 - 13:35 total time.

This was a tough one even though the time was short. Almost visited uncle pukie near the end. Very good metcon workout as well as lower body workout.

This was the second training session of the day. Previous blog shows today’s a.m. CrossFit WOD. This evening was the CrossFit Endurance workout. Supposed to be 2 3-mile sprints…all out. Roads were too icy and cold for an outdoor ride so I had to do my best guesstimate on my indoor training. So I did 2 15 min sprints at approx 16 mph and 90-95 rpm pedal cadence. That should be close to 4 miles. I consistently changed gears during the rides to keep my muscles guessing and cadence consistent. My tension on the trainer was pretty high and the gearing on the bike pretty low to make the rides fairly intense. After the two 15 min rides I had some gas in the tank and then did a 3 min all out sprint in the lowest gear possible. This really taxed my thighs.  Tomorrow I will swim in the a.m. and do the CrossFit WOD in the evening.

A little early for a Crossfit workout for me, but my workout partner needed to get in and out.
So we attacked "Barbara" one of the most difficult CrossFit "girls." She is a tough one:
5 Times Rounds each including: 20 Pullups; 30 Pushups; 40 Situps & 50 Squats. With 3 min of rest between each round. Here is how I did.
Round #1: 3:13
Round #2: 3:44
Round #3: 4:09
Round #4: 4:22
Round #5: 4:30
Total Working Time: 19:58
Total Time: 31:58

Time to rest. Whew.

After a very full weekend of ministry, 3 weekend gatherings  and an afternoon transition team meeting I still had some gas in the tank. I watched some NBA for a while answered a handful of emails and then attacked the bike. Here was today’s CFE interval training and I went for it. Short, but very intense.
All Out Efforts.
1min on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on, 40 sec off, 1 min on, 30 sec off, 1 min on 20 sec off, 1 min on, 10 sec off, then go back up the ladder until you finish with 1 min on, 50 sec off, 1 min on.

Sweating like a pig, quads are burning and I STINK!! Time to hit the shower and prepare for an intense Crossfit workout tomorrow am.

After a rest day yesterday, today I hit it again. Each training day I include one sport specific training from CrossFit Endurance and then in the evening the CrossFit WOD.
Today was swim training (by far my weakest event): I swam a total of 1/2 mile (800m) in about 30 min. That is very slow and I must improve that greatly by June. Of course I have 5 months to do so.
This evening I just finished the WOD and it was 5 rounds of 45# Overhead Lunges for 50′ and 21 Burpees for time. I did all 5 rounds in 15:54. I will log it in on logsitall.com and see how I compare to the beasts.

Yesterday I worked on my swim endurance…I am following the CF Endurance training plan. So I did a 800 m swim. I was able to do the first 400m in one phase with no breaks. This was a PR for me…8 straight laps. Nothing big for most , but a good step for me.
Today I continued the program and did speed intervals…4 rounds of Swiming 1 lap at full speed with a 30 sec break between laps.
Then later this afternoon…same thing on the bike. I did the bike intervals after about 20 min of pedaling drills using the POSE method.
Finally, this evening I did part of yesterday’s CF WOD…4 x 15 of 250# Deadlifts. My first heavy deads in a long time.
Will be sore tomorrow.

Monday - Swam 500m in 10 50m sprints; Biked 10 1/2 mile sprints; CrossFit WOD (105 reps of Virtual Shoveling & Pullups)
Tuesday - CrossFit WOD (45 135# Power cleans & 90 dips in 5 sets)
Thursday - CrossFit WOD (5 x 3 105# Overhead Squats)
Friday - Swam 650 m in 5 100m swim & finished with a 150m swim; Biked a 8.2 mile loop in 30 min. Will need to cut 8 min off that time to meet my 25 mile goal in June.