swimriderundave’s BodyBlog

So I’ve been to dozens of coaching clinics for running, triathlon, and swimming and have picked up on one recurring theme in regards to improving one’s race times: VOLUME.  In order to rack up the volume for running, one has to really back down on the intensity and do frequent bouts of ‘EASY’ running.  You look at all the top athletes and ask them their training history.  I guarantee that at some point in time in their athletic development, they completed week after week of high-volume low intensity training.

I’m currently training a two-time olympic runner (1996, 2004) who spent several months training in Africa with the Kenyans.  She mentioned how some of the men who were capable of running 13-minute 5k’s (that’s a 4-minute mile pace) were running 12-minute miles during their base training phase.  Bobby Mcgee, a Running Coach from South Africa, mentioned how the Japanese Women Marathoners would do run-walk intervals to support their 120-mile weeks (also done during base training…and who won the women’s olympic marathon?).  My point is, volume is the most effective way at increasing one’s fitness to achieve better race times and in order to rack up the volume, you have to learn how to turn down the intensity.   Of course there are other methods but if they were just as effective, I’m sure that elite level athletes would probably already be doing them.

Question is, where does intensity come into play?  In a typical periodization scheme, intensity usually comes in AFTER several months of base training.  That’s when you start incorporating speed intervals, hill intervals, time trials, etc.  But my point is, in order to have an effective race season, you have to pay your dues and build your base.  When was the last time you focused on building your base,…doing at least 12-16 weeks straight of running (or run/walking) at least 6 days a week?  That, my friends, is a solid scheme for ‘base’ training that most people won’t commit to because it requires humility (I’ll talk about that in a moment), commitment, and patience.  Don’t get me wrong,… if one was to simply start a season by doing hard intervals on the track, I’m sure their times would improve BUT, their physiological make-up would be different from those that have done their base training and therefore their rate of recovery would be much slower. 

I must confess that until several weeks ago, I have NOT been able to commit to developing a solid base, particularly for running.  I know for a fact that my ego had something to do with it.  Let me explain… My 5k PR is 19 minutes.  I was able to run it simply by running 2-3 times a week.  That’s about a 6:20 minute/mile pace.  Now I’ve tried in the past to establish my base but I would always break down because of fatigue or injury because I was running too fast during my workouts.  I thought that a 9-minute mile would be a good running pace to run 6 days a week (at least 4 miles a day) but aparently, not.  In the last few weeks, I’ve been running at an 11:30 pace and it has allowed me to put in about 35 miles per week.  And yes, I do get passed by other men, women (pushing strollers), and children.  It’s humbling but I know that it’ll make me faster runner in the end.

I’ve known about periodization and base training for the past 11  years but have always tried to take the easier route.  I’ve made gains by training my ‘own’ way and would often plateau and eventually injure myself.  BUT,…I would still preach periodization to my athletes and force them to follow its protocols….I was a hypocrite.  I’m now in my 4th week of base training and plan to continue to rack up the mileage thru late October.  I’ll start the ‘quality’ workouts in November where I’ll decrease my volume while increasing my intensity.  My ‘A’ priority race is the California International Marathon in early December where I plan on qualifying for Boston.  My stand-alone marathon PR is a 3:52 from 2 years ago when I rode a century (100 miles) on the day before the run.  I’m sure I’ll do better this next time around.

The worst thing I could ever do was purchase my Garmin Forerunner.  Rather than focusing on limiting my intensity like I should have, I used it to play the ‘numbers’ game, where I’d go out and run harder than I should just so I could say I ran 5 miles at a 7-minute pace.  This numbers game was bad in the sense that I’d try to better my numbers each time until I would break down with an injury.  And then I’d lose whatever little fitness I gained while trying to recover from the injury.  I had a friend who showed me his Garmin and bragged about holding a 5 minute pace.  I ran with him and could honestly say that yeah,…we ran at a 5-minute pace but only for 100 yards!!  If you’re trying to become a faster runner, cyclist, or even swimmer, don’t get caught up in the numbers game.  This ego-driven activity takes your focus away from when it really counts….race day.

Anyway,…that’s all I have to say today.  Along with the 35 miles of running I  do per week, I’m also trying to get in at least 150 miles of cycling and at least 8000 yards of swimming so needless to say I’ve been pretty tired lately…..but the weights coming off!!  Stay tuned for more progress pics!!

I’m sure you’ve all heard the term ‘Junk mileage’.

In a base building scheme, there’s no such thing as junk mileage.  In fact, your goal is to acquire as much mileage as your body can handle and recover from.  Junk mileage comes into play when you’ve already built your base and are in a phase where your doing quality workouts.  An example of junk mileage would be running an additional 5 miles after doing a quality set of 20 quarter milers on 80 seconds with 2:30 rest in between.  It just doesn’t make sense to run the additional mileage after such a set.  That’s junk mileage.

DAVE

So here’s a summary of what’s been going on with my body transformation challenge:

Strength: Since I started this challenge in late April, I’ve made a ton of progress with my strength; I wasn’t able to bench press 185 when I started.  On my last chest workout, I did a stripping (drop set) set where I was able to crank out 6 reps at 185, immediately pull the 25’s off and crank out 8 reps of 135.  And this was after doing 135 for 21 reps.  After I attended a kettlebell clinic with Pavel Tsatsouline, I was barely able to snatch a 16kg bell.  Last Friday, I snatched a 20kg bell for 10 reps on each arm with no rest between arms.  I’ve built my squats (full squats) up to 4×10 of 185 lbs. and I’ve increased my pull-up count from 6 when I started to 12 the other day.  For the first time in my life, I’m using the 50 lb dumbbells for my shoulder presses.  Back in high school, I’d do heavy shoulder presses with 135 on the bar but never had the stability use heavy dumbbells.

Endurance:  As some of you may know, I’m an endurance athlete, just a fat one,…for now.  My swims have been consistent,…consistently slower.  I think it’s because my shoulder musculature is tightening up.  It’s like I’m fighting myself in the water.  I’ve gotta do a better job at stretching.  My biking’s been pretty much the same.  Not much improvement but I’m curious to see how my climbing improves once I get down to my goal weight of 155.  My running’s getting better; I’ve really been working on firing my glutes with each stride.  I’ve become more efficient but am still dealing with a case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot.  I have a sprint triathlon in July after the end of my transformation.  My goal is to go sub-7 minute pace for the 5k run after the bike.  The last time I did a sprint (years ago…before I discovered Ironman), I averaged like 7:05 per mile so I’m looking for an improvement even though I’m 6 years older.  I’ve got a grueling 50 mile run in August and its supposed to be a tough one.  I’m looking to break 10 hours for it but it seems to be much harder than the 50 miler I did 2 years ago (american river 50 miler).  The following link is the elevation chart to the first 50K of the race. (http://www.mtdisappointment50k.com/course.shtml)  The remaining 19 miles is through the same type of terrian so it’s really important for me to get down to 155 to increase my strength to weight ratio for the hills.

Physique:  O.K.  here’s the important stuff.  My shirts are tighter, even though I’ve lost weight.  I’ve plateaued at 172 but I look leaner and like I said, I’m getting bigger.  Some stranger approached me at the gym the other night and said that I look like I’ve gained at least 10 lbs of muscle (I hope that’s the case!).  It must have been the lighting and the mirrors.

 So here’s my plan for the last 21 days:

-     I plan on eating my largest meal during breakfast.  I’ve been doing this since the start of the contest but I plan continuing it.  This is when I’ll take in all my starchy carbs for the day (the brain still needs glucose).  The rest of the meals will consist of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and protein powders.  It will be a high protein low carb diet.

-     I will increase my intake of fruits and veggies.  My mandatory intake will be 5 apples, 5 oranges, and at least 1/2 a pound of vegetables each day.  I feel that this will contribute to my satiety and allow me to ultimately take in less calories throughout the day.

-    Lastly, I plan on not eating anything after 7 pm.  I might drink tea or water, but nothing of significant caloric value.  I’m normally asleep by 930 so this shouldn’t be too hard.

I’ll be making some Youtube videos for these last 21 days so stay tuned and wish me luck.

DAVE

So I’ve hit a plateau with my weight but my strength keeps increasing.  This is a good thing but not good enough!  I’ve got about 50 days left in the transformation contest and believe that now’s the most crucial time to start making changes.  I’ve signed up for a sprint tri on the day before the end of the contest so not only do I have to look good, I have to be able to perform.

Phase 2 consists of a more aggressive calorie deficit and an increase in the ratio of protein to carbs. 

Training wise, things will remain the same but have to be more consistent.  I skipped out on a couple of the runs due to a foot injury but it feels better now and so I have not excuse.  Here’s the breakdown of my triathlon training periodization:

Phase 1, 6 weeks(hypertrophy/endurance): GYM- 3 days a week, traditional and kettlebell.  RUN- 4 miles every day.  SWIM- 3×3000yards each week.  BIKE- 1x 80-100mile bike per week

Phase 2, 6 weeks (specific strength while maintaining endurance): GYM- 3 days a week with more focus on core, swimming muscles, and running muscles; more kettlebell and stability ball work.  RUN: every day with one bout of hill intervals and one bout of tire dragging intervals.  SWIM: 3 x 3000yds.  BIKE: 1 bout of 2 mile speed intervals + 80-100 mile ride

Phase 3, 6 weeks (Power): GYM- 2 days a week for strength maintenance, RUN- 3 days a week, 1 day for hill or tire intervals, 1 day for SHORT speed intervals (200m-400m), and one long run to maintain endurance conditioning.  SWIM: 3 days a week; 1 day for intervals (2000yds), 1 day for drills (2000 yds), 1 long continuous swim (3000yds)  BIKE- 1 bout of 2 mile speed intervals + 80-100mile bike ride

Phase 4, (Power Endurance)  6 weeks leading up to A priority race in September: RUN- 4 days a week 1 day for hill or tire intervals, 1 day for 1/2 mile- 1 mile repeats, 1 long run, 1 easy recovery run.  GYM-1 day a week for maintenance, SWIM: 2 sessions of interval training, 1 session of long continuous drills. BIKE: 2 days of 2 mile speed intervals and optional long ride

This is a RUN focused Periodization scheme.  I’m not too worried about my bike as you can see the limited bike training (I’ll save that for next year).

Wish me luck!

Another Phenomenal Workout With my Iron buddies

6 x Dumbell Shoulder Pressses, Pyramid Fashion ( 15@40’s, 10@45’s, 8@50’s, 6@50’s, 8@45’s, 10@40)

5 x Upright Rows superset with Dumbbell Bent over raises (10-12 reps each exercise)

Core Circuit: V-ups, Supine Hip Rolls, Prone Powerwheel roll, Prone Iso Plank, Single Leg Back Bridges, Side Bridge w/Abduction

45 seconds per movement, 15 second transition/recovery time.  3 circuits with 2 minute rest between each one

3000 yard Swim:

1000 yard freestyle warm-up

Main Set: 4 x S.K.I.P.S.

S. = 100 yard free

K. = 100 yard flutter kick

I. = 100 yard IM

P. = 150 Pull (w/bouy and paddles)

S. = 50 yards head up freestyle

Swam entire SKIP straight through while taking minimal time to put on paddles and bouy. 20 seconds rest between each SKIP.

On top of this incredible evening workout, I ran 4 miles with COCO in the morning.  I think the total time working out for the day was almost 4 hours.  I’m taking today off to recover (except for the 4 mile run with my dog,…she needs it….friggen Weimaraners)

DAVE

Today after teaching my noontime water exercise class, I took my weimeraner ‘COCO’ to dog beach just a little north of Huntington.  It was her second time there and she was still hesitant to go into the water.  We played fetch for about an hour.  I headed down to this small hole-in-the-wall enviro-friendly restaurant called the ‘Secret Spot’.  It’s off of PCH and Warner in Huntington Beach.  I ordered a green tea and a breakfast burrito.  So I sat at a patio table with Coco and ate my burrito and drank my tea while gazing into the horizon over the ocean.  Even with all the cars zipping down PCH, I experienced a moment of peacefulness and serenity; I’m here sipping my tea and eating my burrito while the rest of the world is busy working.  The moment was priceless and I thought to myself, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’m a fitness professional with my own business,… I make my own schedule.  I don’t make a lot of money (not just yet, wait till I’m a licensed physical therapist) but I do well with the little I make.  There’s something about not making a ton of cash that allows you to appreciate the ’simple things’ in life.  Once my business takes off, I hope that my values never change.

The other day, I invited two of my tri-geek buddies to the gym to join me for an upper body session.  These guys have been doing ‘tri-specific’ training since we started doing Ironmans back in 2000.  They used to be gym mongrels like myself but got sucked into the novelty of triathlon.  So our evening consisted of the following:

6 x Flat Barbell Bench Press; Stripping sets, 4-6 reps of 165, stripping down to 115 and going to failure (8-12 reps)

6 x Wide Grip Pull-ups superset with bar dips; each set consisted of at least 6 pull-ups and 10 dips

4 x Cable Cross Over; light weight 10-15 reps

5 x Seated Cable Rows; narrow grip; med. weight 8-12 reps

5 x Skull Crushers (triceps extension with EZ curl bar on Inclined Bench) superset with narrow grip  inclined chest press, med. wt. 8-12 reps each

5 sets Alternating dumbbell curls, one arm eccentric while other goes concentric.  Med. wt. 8-10 reps

Then we finished with a 1000 yd. swim (14 minutes)

It was my 4th week doing these exercises…and their first day…the testosterone levels were high and these guys weren’t about to admit that they were hurting but I could tell by their body language.  It felt good to finally put the ‘hurt’ on these guys because their always kicking my ass on the road.

So what if they can run a 10 hour Ironman.

I can bench more…..for now.

Alright Bodybuilding buddies,

Here’s what’s going to happen in the months to come:

- drop another 10lbs. of fat by July 14

- take the NSCA CSCS exam in July.  It shouldn’t be too hard.

- cure my gluteal amnesia (stay tuned for a post on this) and break my 19:45 5k personal record.

- Finish the Mt. Disappointment 50-mile run in 9 hours or under.

- Finish in the top 10 in my age-group at the Carlsbad Sprint Triathlon on July 13

- Finish in the top 15 in my age group at the Nautica Malibu Olympic Distance Tri in September

I’ve been doing Ironmans for the past few years and now its time to go back to the sprints; they’re short but friggen painful!

Wish me luck.

DAVE

I did my standard leg routine for the second time since I started the transformation challenge and I must say today was a success.  I gauged my performance by the number of squats I performed with 185 lbs.  This evening I was able to crank out 3 sets of 10 after my warm-up.  It’s the most I’ve done in months!!  Anyway, I’m a happy camper now.  I also performed leg curls, pistol squats, standing calf raises, and back bridges.  Tomorrow’s my day off and I have a gnarly kettlebell workout set for this weekend.  I’ll tell you how it goes.

 DAVE

Alright folks,  so far I’ve lost about 5 lbs.  I started at 178.4 (Late April) and have gotten down to 173.4.  Depending on my hydration, you can give or take 2-3 lbs.  Anyway, if I’m going to be a contender for the transformation contest, I’ve gotta be under 170 by May 24.  My ultimate goal is to get into the high 150’s by mid July when you have to submit your final ‘AFTER’ pics so wish me luck.  Ever since starting the transformation challenge, my workouts have gotten better and my attitude has changed; my self confidence has improved to say the least.  I’ve been sporting my sleeveless t-shirts to the gym (even though I’m one of the smallest guys there!). 

I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

DAVE

Things are looking good strengthwise!

I started off on the flat bench and was able to do 135lbs.  This doesn’t sound like much but it’s the most I’ve done since I tore my left pec back in 2003; I was trying to do 15 reps with 205 and tried to finish by bouncing the last 3 reps.  Big no-no!  I had a purple chest and armpit for over a week.  You can still see a little depression where it was torn when I flex my chest.  Anyway, I was able to grind out 20 slow reps (@135) this evening.  My pull-ups weren’t as good.  I only managed to get 6 and had to spend the rest of the time doing lat pull-downs.  It’ll be a while before I do a 1-arm pull-up!!

Diet went well today and I hope it goes just as good if not better tomorrow.  I’m excited for Sunday’s weigh-in.

Until next time,

DAVE