Lifting The Distance

Elk Island Run #2 The last two runs have been much more successful since the first. The biggest change was introducing electrolyte mix into my camel pack and carrying more nutrition on me. Here is a quick over view of my first three runs. Run Distance Time Pace Elevation 1 River valley 21km 3:12:45 9:11/km 408m 2 Elk island 20km 2:27:41 7:14/km 224m 3 River valley 29km 3:49:13 7:54/km 474m Along with breaking my speed record for most distances during these last two weeks I also broke my dead lift personal record from when I was training for football able to do 380lb for two sets of 4 a few days before my last run. This is a very promising sign that our theory is going in line with our projections. Elk Island run #2 Day after my runs the main pain that is noticeable is coming from lateral knee joi...

Today was my first day out on the trails. It was muddy, rainy, I got lost twice and it was so much fun! I set out from the science park and just followed any trail I could find. It ended up being a 21km trek up the river valley in just over 3 hours. My main goal was just putting some hours on my feet so I didn't push very fast, walked on steep uphills and just enjoyed myself. Some lessons were learned one of which is that cramping for the last 3km was a real drag and I need to be smarter about my electrolyte intake. I was also very impressed with the trail shoes ability to hold the ground. There was still slipping and slidding but not nearly as much as I expected with the muddy conditions. I look forward to my weekly lesson on trail running. Hope the legs are ready to bike tomorrow! Here are some pics from the run.  That is one huge wasps nest! I tested it and decided that my 200lb butt had best keep to the trails.

August brings the concurrent phase of training when the feet hit the trail. Our strength goal for July was to be in the territory of 275lb 1RM front squat, 400lb 1RM back squat and 400lb 1RM dead lift. I feel that we surpassed in dead lift, fell a little short in back squat and hit it on front squat so overall it was very successful. Now the goal is to maintain strength for the next 7 weeks as best we can while also cranking on the neglected cardiovascular system. Monday: Holy cow we are going to run. First run is August 7 and our goal is between 25-35km on the trail. Tuesday: Bike 15-25km Wednesday: Hill intervals continue Thursday: Rowing/Stairclimbing interval working on V02 1- 500m x6 60sec rest 2- 800m-700m-600m-500m-400m-300m 60 sec rests  Max speed to 2000m goal under 8min (current best 7:15) Friday: Dead lift 4x4 Hip Flexor 4x10 Good Morning 4x10 Glute med walk 4x20m Dorsi Hops 4x20 Skipping Rope 3min on 1 min off repeat This plan is buil...

A few days late but it is time for the run down of what happened in July. The goals for July were to build strength while controlling body weight. The month had it's ups and downs both weight wise and health wise so here is a summary. Body Weight Start Finish 205lb 205lb This was actually a struggle. Mid month my body weight started to climb going up to 209lb and I had to get more serious about my diet. Cracked down on carbohydrate intake after lunch and increased my vegetable intake. No craft beer for me.. Exercises: Due to a lot of changes that happened during the month I am going to address each exercise separately. Lower Body   Front Squat: Beginning of the month we had one week of 6x6 sets where I peaked at 245lbs. After that we went to 3x6 sets with monday being no tempo then on thursday we used the resting rack to deload at the bottom of the squat losing the elastic potential of the muscle then having to push from...

I figured it was time to replace my old runners with the increasing miles I will be putting on in the coming weeks. After hearing such good things about Fast Trax from both my brother and the Edmonton Trail Running community I decided to head there. I have always had issues with fitting running shoes due to having such wide feet and the Altra Lone Peaks I purchased are the closest I have found to a perfect fit. I excited to start piling the miles onto them and see how they hold up!