Bringing It Back Together

Got a little slack in my diet and dedication to athletic perfection over the last week.. BUT, wouldn't change a thing haha! Had a great Thanksgiving with 22 people at our small house in the Chapel Hill woods. My parents, brother, and his wife, were gracious enough to share a few hours of their time with a bunch of friends from church that decided to stay in the area. We were joined by the Bowman's (x5), Densmore's (x5) + a Campus Crusade leader from Duke named Sarah, and Danielle, Luke, and Anastasia Jackson! What a blast! Glad that the weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids were able to run around outside and the adults were able to hang out by the Weber grill that was smoking the turkey breast as the big turkey was roasting. Jay and Julie Harris of Harris Inc. were generous enough to give us plenty of beer from lots of local breweries like, Natty Greene's, Lonerider, Big Boss, and Triangle Brewing Co. We still have plenty left in "The Lab" so please stop by and we can throw back a few!

Anyway, the party was great and we had a ton of fun. I'm still undefeated at Cornhole (Bags from up North), and would be happy to take on any and all comers for a friendly wager. We have some sweet new boards painted in UNC colors that I need to take a picture of and post soon...

On Friday, my parents watched the kids while my brother and his wife, Lindsay, came with us to the Duke Elite 8 game against Long Beach State Univ. What a great victory for the team and Robbie! Couldn't happen to a better man and coaching staff!! So proud and happy for them! We are strongly considering making the trip to Georgia to watch them play! Also happy for our Wake Forrest athletes, Kelsey and Lindsey, as they advanced as well to match up against Duke in the Final Four.

As for this week, hit the track on Tuesday over lunch for some speed work and then got in an early morning run at Duke with Rachel for some distance (9 ish) miles. Unfortunately, no time for swimming this week but the weights for this week are listed below:

WEEK 5

Mon (WOD): 3 sets unless noted

Bench press - 4 sets of 5

TRX squats into TRX single leg squats - x 12 and then x 8 each side

Open chest arching pull-ups - BW to fail

BB loaded split squats - x 6 each side

Bent over BB loaded close grip rows - x 10

Crunches on stability ball x 15

DB split press x 4 each side (do all 4 on one side and then switch)

Wed (WOD) - HIIT Tabata Style 6x through with 2 mins rest after 3x

1. L hand on med ball push ups

2. Plank

3. R hand on med ball push ups

4. Hamstring letdowns (sets 4-6 RDL's in place with a 72lb KB)

5. Dynamax fwd slams (sets 4-6 added a jump before the slam)

6. Bench jumps on left

7. Bench jumps on right

8. Horizontal pull-ups

9. 45lb bar hold leg raises

10. Med ball shuffle jumps

Fri (WOD): 3 sets unless noted

Decline DB bench press - x 8-10

SL hamstring curls on stability ball x 12 each side

Seated underhand pulldowns x 10

Lateral plate lunges x 10 each side

Skullcrushers - x 10

Cable swimming pulls - x 10 each side

Vertimax squat jumps 4 x 4 for each set

Decline pulse abs and hold - 30 pulses and then 15 sec hold

Carol 2.0

Pictures are coming, but Carol 2.0 is here and kicking... not my first choice in cars because the Impreza 5dr has not come in yet but they expect it later in the year and I, unfortunately, needed a car now. It is my first American car, and perhaps my last, but for now I'll give it a fair shake and see if the Ford Focus 5dr can hold its own against the rigors of a working triathlete dad of two boys. The upside, I'm doing my part to stimulate this abysmal economy by keeping the money in the good 'ol US of A and more importantly in the state of Michigan, which has been in steady decline over the last few years. I felt good about that fact and the 40 mpg doesn't hurt either... the downside, I still had to fork over $20,000 spread over 3 years... booo. Need wheels and have to just move on...

Had a great weekend of hanging my my old college roommate who is now the team physician for the Louisville football team and then come golf with Tom on Sunday to cap it off. Not very productive at all and wished that they both weren't on the same weekend but oh well, I am thankful for the time with each of them.

Here's the week going into a short sprint race to close out the 2011 racing season for me at this point:

Monday (10/11) - R: 0.5 mile up, 1 mile ins/outs, 400m repeats with 400m RBI (1:20, 1:24, 1:20. 1:16), and then 0.5 mile down; W: 6 sets (30 mins) of Tabata style work with 10 exercises (perfect push-ups, jumping slamballs, Russian twists, KB swings, Step-ups, KB dips, reverse hip hikes, horizontal pull-ups, split press, and seal-ups), and then a Pilates reformer class with Anna to finish off my lunch

Tuesday (10/12) - S: WU 150, Drill 4x75 (25 right arm/ 25 left arm/ 25 dist per stroke) 15 secs RBI, 2x400 (20 secs RBI), 2x100 (15 secs RBI), KSS 2x25 (15 secs RBI), CD 100; B: 1:15 EM 2 x (3x3 min PI) 2 min RBI/ 8 min RBS

Wednesday (10/13) - W: 30 min Tabata, R: 40 min ER

Thursday (10/14) - OFF

Friday (10/15) - S: WU 100, 6 x 50 dist per stroke, 6 x 50 (10 secs RBI), CD 100; B: 30 min EM

Saturday (10/16) - Race

Sunday (10/17) - OFF

Washed the Spider Out

Last week was a week that had to be adjusted constantly due to the significant rains that came down almost every day. I was able to get 2 full lifts in and a decent bike on Saturday morning (9/24/2011) but otherwise had to scramble on the swims and hit the trainer and tread for the other bikes and runs.

But alas, "out came the sun and dried up all the rain... and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again..." or training resumes. Week reviewed up to this point and going forward:

Monday (9/26/2011) - R: 1 mile up, (200m (<40secs), 200m RI, 400m (<1:20), 400m RI) x 5 last one I cranked out a 1:14 with Rachel charging and hitting 195bpm at the finish, W: 60 min WOD with Ben and Charlie

Tuesday (9/27/2011) - S: 200WU, 100KSS, 100 catch-up, 2 x (200 + 3x50) transition into B: up Sinai to lactate loop (see previous posts for the loop on LIVESTRONG.com). Hit 19.6mph for the 1st loop and then 21.8mph on the 2nd loop. Roger helped for the first and then I pulled the whole 2nd.

Wednesday (9/28/2011) - OFF Seminar in Raleigh

Thursday (9/29/2011) - B: 14 miles hard TT style, R: 4 miles ST

Friday (9/30/2011) - Laura called in sick (2nd day in a row...grrrr). Had to go in to open at 6am and then cover her load of personal training clients at the same time seeing my overbooked physical therapy clients. This ended in a big mess and no training got down. Wasted day and not a happy man at all...

Saturday (10/1/2011) - OFF Seminar in Raleigh

Sunday (10/2/2011) - B: 100 mins on trainer BEFORE seminar in Raleigh