Last 900 For a While: 9/19

It is getting close!  Under 30 days until my first Half Marathon, and I know that I am in the freakout danger zone.  My mind is guaranteed to start racing well before I ever get a whiff of the starting line.  It is unavoidable.  But, I need to be careful because mixed up in the mad scrabble of paranoia, doubt, self loathing, and fear that run ramped through my brain in the next few weeks.  There will be some very real reasons for concern of which I need to be aware.  And as I wrote in my last post over training must be at the top of my list.

The temptation for people to push a bit harder or do a bit more because there big race is so close is pretty common, but it is a trap -- plain and simple.  I have been following a plan for the last two months to get me to point where running 13.1 miles with confidence and as little chance of injury as possible.  It may seem like adding in an extra workout or pushing a little harder on a run might make me stronger, but in reality -- the best thing that I can do is stick with my plan.  If anything, I need to ease up a bit because nearly all of my optional rest/cross training days have fallen on the Cross Training side rather than the rest.  I have no plan to take my foot off the gas and coast in these last few weeks.  That's unthinkable, silly, and just not who I am in the slightest.  But, I need to make wise choices.  Therefore, I decided that this will be my last 900 workout (which is really only a 600) until after the race.  I will continue to cross train, but will do the 12 Days of Christmas workout rather than the 900.

The Workout:
I did two sets.

5 Laps
20 Dips
50 Push ups
25 Bicycles
15 Pull Ups
35 Side Laterals
40 Super Mans
40 arm Extensions
20 Russian Twists with 6lbs weighted ball
25 Standard Crunches
25 Flutter Kicks

The workout went really well, but left me very tired.  I am getting better at the bicycles and the Side laterals, which makes me very happy.  The Super Mans were the worst exercise for me this time.

Digging Deep 900: 9/14

I am halfway through my 10 week Half Marathon Program, and I have maintained a pretty even level of enthusiasm for both my runs and my cross training.  I've been doing more cross training than might seem necessary for most people.  But, following a summer that saw me spend more days in the Doctors office than the gym.  I need to hit the cross training hard.  Wednesday, I was having a bad mental day when it came to the gym.  I was physically pretty tired, but mentally, I had no energy for the gym.  I just wanted to lay on the floor and whine about how tired I felt.  However, I force myself to attempt a 900.  the first Round was gad awful and had me regretting my stubbornness with each rep.  After the first round, I though about calling it a day. 

But as I sat on my mat sweating, I began to think about all the times that I had given up on a workout like this and how I had always regretted it later.  So I picked that thought of didn't make me puke and did them.  25 crunches later, I looked at my list saw 50 Push ups and said to myself, "FUCK NO!"  "How about 10?"  So after 10 pushups I said to my self "How about 20 dips?"  The reply came quickly, "Fine! But still, FUCK YOU!"  After the dips, I thought, ok, what about 10 more push ups?  The response, "Fine, But you're a Dick!"  And so I went on like this, digging deep and cussing myself until I had completed the second round of 300 reps.  By the end I was happy that I had pushed myself to go father than my mind wanted to go.  I couldn't push forward into the third round, but on this day I had done enough. 

The 900

5 laps
20 dips
50 Push ups
25 Bicycles
25 Side Lateral Crunches (each side)
50 Supermans
15 Russian Twists 6lb Ball
10 Pull ups (assisted)
50 Arm Extensions
25 Flutter Kicks
25 Standard Crunches

The 900: 9/7

I changed up my cross-training exercises a bit due to some soreness in my calf that was most likely the result of poor form on my squats and leg raises.  I tend to have sloppy technique on those exercises and right now is just not the time to be getting leg strains, so those exercises are out.  I chose to do a 900 on Wednesday because would need and extra rest day this week for a race on Saturday.  The 900 is  packs more of a punch than the 12 days workout, which is why I decided to do it.  The workout went well, but left me sore for a few days.  Once again I did not hit the 900 hundred reps and only reached 600 hundred in an hour:


900

5 Laps
20 Dips
50 Push ups
25 Bicycles
25 Side Lateral Crunches (each side)
25 Fire Hydrants
25 Bird Dogs
15 Russian twists (6lbs weighted ball)
10 Pull Ups (assisted)
25 Standard Crunches
50 Arm Extensions
25 Flutter Kicks

I completed two sets.  My Pecs hated me!  Here is another of my favorite running songs.

The 900: Cross Training -- 8/29

The goal of this workout is simple: pain . . . lots of pain.  Pick several exercises (most of which should cause you tons of dread) then assign rep totals to each exercise until you total the 300 total reps.  The try to complete three rounds of 300 in 45 minutes.  You should FAIL to reach 900 the first few times you attempt this workout, or you have not selected a hard enough group of exercises.

My 300 rep breakdown:

5 laps on track
20 push up
10 Chin ups (assisted)
10 Russian twists with 6 lbs weighted ball
25 Dips
40 side lateral crunches (20 each side)
10 Bird dogs
10 fire hydrants
50 arm extensions
50 lunges w/ 10lbs weight (each leg)
50 standard crunches
10 step ups each leg
10 prisoner squat w/steps

I did two round of this in just over 45 minutes.  Then I went home and thought about crying.


Oh By the way, this is the song that has been stuck in my head for three days.  Enjoy.

Plyometric Core (Plycore) Monday 5:45-6:45 AM: The 900

This class is the class that I enjoy most. It is intense and tests me in ways that no other class does. I really like our instructor, Dan. His classes are run heavy with a diverse selection of exercises, but he breaks up the reps in to manageable sets. You will still do a ton, but it is really rare that you find yourself passing 50 consecutive reps on any one exercise. Dan's classes were the first morning class that I took a the Y. Back in October, I went to his Thursday morning Plycore class; it nearly killed me!! I couldn't even do several of the exercises, but I did manage to stay for the whole 45 minutes. I doubt that anyone in the class that morning thought that I would return, but I was there the following Monday, and what awaited me was not pretty. My first 900!


The 900 is a series of exercise set up in rounds that Dan writes down on a dry erase board or gives you on a sheet of paper before class starts. The first round will total 300 reps, and each class member tries to do at least 900 reps in 45 minutes of class. If you complete you 900 in 45 mins, you keep going and see how much you can do. Some 900 are harder than other depending on what exercises are included. More difficult ones will involve lots of stairs, military push-ups, burpees, chin-ups, runs outside around the building, or suicides, but no 900 is ever easy. The first time I tried a 900 I skipped several exercise out right, and I skipped several reps of the exercise I did. Afterwards I felt like dying elephant! Before my second 900 Dan explained to the class that he didn't care how far we go, but he didn't want us to skip exercises. If it took you 5 mins. to do your pushups, then take the time but don't skip, you are not competing with the other class member. You are competing with yourself. Another thing that I like about this class is that Dan will often have on half of the class begin at the top of the page working their way down the list, while the other starts a the bottom and works up. This allows the Alphas to all go nuts, while the rest of the class does not feel like they are falling behind.

Today’s Menu:
warm up: 2 Laps around the track 1/15 of a mile

10 Chin-ups (assisted)
50 Lunges
20 Push ups
5 Box Jumps
50 Seated Crunches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LVkKDebR8w
25 Dips
30 Squats
34 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms straight in the air and bend at the waist.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms at an angel towards your knees and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, extend your arms towards your hips and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
Progressive & Regressive Suicides 4 lines each way
2 laps around the track.

X3 to equal 900!

Today I did this 4 times in 60 mins and made it to 1,200. It was the best I have done since I started going to the Y. When I finished I was dizzy, my foot was bleeding, and my upper lip had dried and cracked. I felt great!  We had not done one of these since early Dec. and this was the first time that I reached 900.  However, I wonder if I would have made it that far if this 900 had stairs.  Either way this was still impressive for me considering how far I've come in such a short time.