Crucible of Flesh

Last autumn I posted about Crossfit, a multi-diciplinary training programme that is short and intense and different each day.  It didn’t make it out of my Fad Of  The Month tray… because, well, it was too damn hard.

I hates me some fail.

So I spent the winter on a simple freeweights programme, and stuck to it for a change, and the final ping on that programme’s stack was repping ten chins.  Because, you see, that programme was aimed at getting strong enough to do the Crossfit warmup.  (The official warmup’s three rounds each of a stretch, then ten broomhandle overhead squats, situps, back extensions, chins and dips).  This winter has basically been the extinction of T.Rex, and the kitten-armed fecker is not mourned.  Whether it’s the consistency, the creatine, or a combination is moot.

So, Crossfit is back in the house as the thing to do on weights days (or foul days).  Today’s WOD: Squat clean singles.  Do a clean, and once the bar is on your collarbones, sink immediately into a front squat.  Squat up and reset with a bit more weight.  30-30-40-40-50-50-55 kilos on the bar.

(The other winter programme, the swim skills, has predictably fallen by the wayside: very early mornings in the dark in the snow, ick, I wussed out. Restarting now I can hear the dawn chorus)

Bike 2,151.5 miles, of which 1,614 geared and 537.5 fixed.  Run 186 km.  Swim 21,000 m.

Spent much of 2008 wondering why I wasn’t getting faster and was getting fatter.  The tale of the totals explains why!  Not enough races, so not enough panicky slabs of focused training. 2009’s dense programme will be a whole different fishkettle.

On the other hand, I pulled a half-marathon out of my arse, did a century on the Brompton, broke my chin-ups curse in good style. 

Okay, the festive leftovers have been consumed and it’s time for that Grand and Holy Tradition, the post-blowout New Year Reboot. Let me just throw out those tubs of peanuts.

The damage: 98.8kg, 20.3% bodyfat.  That’s bad (though there’s more lean mass too, yay weights).  Let’s set some goals:

GW1 - 95kg
GBF1 - 18%

GW2 - 90kg
GBF2 - 15%

GW3 - 85kg
GBF3 - 12%

That’ll put me in better shape than ever (at my previous Best Ever I was 88kg and 16.5%, roughly, and I loved it - that was 06, 07 wasn’t as tight). I’ve got a busy year of stuff planned (June is going to be insane) and the local pool just installed a sauna for reward goodness.

WOD: Virtual shoveling.  26:29.

Extending distances.  Didn’t really stick to the Plan.  Tsk tsk

* Monday: Swim - 400m in 9:43; 750 in 18:17, got mardy after the lane filled up with zombies.
* Tuesday: Rest.
* Wednesday: Morning bike 10 miles lactate threshold, TE 2.8 (?); Afternoon BRICK: bike 12 miles hard, then 3km easy run TE 3.6.
* Thursday: Rest.
* Friday: Rest.
* Saturday: 3h surfing.  I’m going to call this "swim cross-training" as it was knackering and watery.
* Sunday: 70km hilly ride at a "keenly steady" pace, looping Exeter - Moretonhampstead - Whiddon Down (map and ride stats).

I love my new running shoes: Saucony Hurricane X. Pity I’m not doing more running in them, eh? Glad to have got that Long Down ride in, but miffed that I let too much other stuff (including zombieing online) get in the way of the rest of the week. Next week we approach peak hours so I have to stick to it - the plan promises that I’ll be turning into an "endurance beast" after all. No, really!

Recovery week, which is nice.  Start by sleeping off the Dun Run!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: Rest.
• Wednesday: Lunchtime swim, no particular goal just a dip.
• Thursday: Spinny commute (stay in the saddle and drop gears for the climbs): 10 miles in, TE 3.1; 10 miles back, TE 3.2.
• Friday: 30 min lunchtime run, TE 3.4.
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 6k (of planned 10k cut short ‘cos of HEAT!) run, hard, some offroad.  TE 4.1.  Then half an hour’s light spinny bike to the pub.

Got back into the rhythm of it by the end of the week, but at the start I was weary and just eating all the time - which is usual for after Dunwich.  Those runs highlight that my current running shoes are completely dead and need to be replaced sharpish or it’s shinsplint city.  Next: it’s an increasing-hours week.  To get that hill work in, I’ll try to take the Tivvy Triangle or Long Down on the long bike sessions…

Bike week!

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: Turbo aero position drills and fettling (with resultant “down and forwards” position changes for more aero goodness) TE 3.0.
• Wednesday: 10 miles in, TE 3.0; 20 miles back TE 3.1.
• Thursday: Rest.
• Friday: Rest.
• Saturday / Sunday: 120 miles overnight at audax pace. TE 3.3.

Yes, it was bike week to the exclusion of all else.  Spank!  The Thursday/Friday rest were to ensure that I was fresh for the Dunwich Dynamo.  Note that I’m failing to push my CV system on the bike with these rides.  I need some hill work!  No weigh-in this week as Dunwich ends in a feast that’ll throw the stats.

This week was listed as a run week, but between wussery and favouring shinsplints, I only got two in.

• Monday: Off.
• Tuesday: Bike commute: 10 miles in, easy, TE 2.8; 10 miles home, hard, TE 3.3.  Having trouble getting that TE up on the bike.
• Wednesday: Off.
• Thursday: Swim - short 500m session in human gumbo. Got grumpy in the melee again.  I need to work on my Zen.  Run - 4k TE 3.6, better than last week.
• Friday: Decided not to run as my shins were dropping hints.  Bike commute: 10 miles in, fast cadence 90 drill, TE 3.3; 10 miles home TE 3.0 smooth.
• Saturday: Running errands.  That’s a pun.  6km of around-town running while sorting out passport photos and paperwork.  TE 4.0.
• Sunday: Bike to the pub.  11 miles, TE 3.2, mostly on the drops; back 11 miles TE 2.6 slow and cidery.

Stats: Weight 94.8kg, 17.0% bodyfat.  Need to balance a legitimate fear of shinsplints against being a wuss; too much rest and the gains fall off and I don’t get anywhere.  HTFU carefully.

This week is a swim week.  The Plan has specialist weeks, which suits me fine: looks like the sport de la semaine gets worked hard while the others just maintain.  For limited values of ‘just’.  So, this week, swim week, and swim is my weak sport (especially as I have been neglecting it).  Time to hurt a bit.

• Monday: Swim - Out with the tri club for sea-swimming in the force-4 chop.  1000m or so of rough stuff.  Very challenging.  Here’s the swim site from space (Google Earth).
• Tuesday: Swim - Warm-up then some short speed intervals (easy length, fast length, pause) then warmdown.
• Wednesday: Bike - 2 x 14 miles.  Hard out (TE 3.2), easy back (TE 2.8).  Finding it hard to really get my HR up on the bike.
• Thursday: Swim - short 500m session in human gumbo.  Did you know that “human” and “gumbo” are the same on a phone keypad?  Got grumpy in the melee, came out early.  Run - 4k (TE 3.3) with strides.  Wheezy ‘cos I forgot my puffer beforehand.
• Friday: Rest, glorious rest.
• Saturday: Reverse brick in foul weather - Run 5k then turbo 40 minutes.  TE 3.3 is under-reporting due to a malf.  Pop quiz: how do you make the turbo comfy and fun so I don’t pack early?
• Sunday: Swim - “just swim” for distance.  Splits are 400m 9:59; 750m 16:38; 1000m 23:07.  After that my form got baggy so rather than go for the allotted 30 minutes and be a mess, I pulled out at 1000m.  Good session, nice base-setter and a reminder that I can just “get in and go”.

This actually missed two more swims - Weds and Sat.  But I didn’t miss any days, and the swim I have done this week is breakthrough anyway - my swim is starting sub par, so I’m playing it by ear.  So far, so good.  Overall I want to get some TE 4+ sessions to get that CV capacity up - so far they’re not coming.  The longer run and harder rides ought to help with that…

Stats: Weight 97kg, 17.9% bodyfat.  I think I’ve over-compensated for being uber-hungry.  No matter, easy to correct.  The hunger from being off any silly diet pills is offset by the increased satiety of more realfood - more fat and protein and flavour.  Yay.  Feeling generally stronger and better than last week.

This is the "ease into it" week.  So starting with a spin or two around Edinburgh before getting stuck into it, we go to a light weights session on Wednesday to get back the feel for it, a run to-and-from the pool with a light swim on Thursday, a steady bike commute for Friday, a power-walk instead of easy run (timetable issues; turn shopping into training!) on Saturday, and then I totally overslept so missed Sunday’s stuff.  Stats: 95.8kg, 17.5% bodyfat by caliper.  Mood: Energised, feeing grimly ready for the coming week, which is a swim themed week - my weak spot.