I love this so much!! These kind of races are the ones that make all the training worth it. I am SO glad that you went out there, totally owned it and had fun?!? (we are a twisted sort… lol).
I can’t wait to watch your next adventure unfold!! Now EAT, REST and RECOVER because you got things to do… #FeelingThatFifty
I predict a 15 league, 8 click race to be in my future.
Normal people.. movie this weekend?
Our type.. want to go pick up heavy iron plates then spend multiple hours in the forest seeing how bad it can hurt?
Doing this like a hobbit. I’ve had breakie, a snack and lunch. It’s 11am. I’m still hungry. Could eat raw broccoli and chicken hungry.
Seriously, why does this sound fun? 50k? Let’s turn that kilometer into a Mile and see how that goes.
Tuesday 6/24
Homemade Plan, W4D1
Standing Bench Press
6, 5 x 120, 10 x 105
T-Bar Row
20 x 45, 4 x 100
SA DB Preacher Curl
8 x 17.5, 10 x 15
Low Row Cable Face Pulls
3 x 12 x 40
OH Cable Tri Ext
12, 6 x 25, 6 x 20
SA Delt Fly
12, 9 x 35
ABS - Cable Crunch, Leg Raises
5:00 Row
Feeling a bit better. Not 100%, but good enough for this upper body lift. No headache this time.
Legs will be rested until they stop being sore, or until next week. I’m still walking funny, my calves, especially the left, is so tight. They are also tired, basic things, like walking upstairs, get them burning.
Great workout though, better than I thought it would be. Reps or weight continue to increase. Nothing in particular to highlight, I’m happy with how this went.
A few things going forward:
Lifting - Going to continue this homemade plan through the summer. The intent is being met. Keep the legs reasonably fresh for outdoor activities while still building muscle slowly. Winter will be the time to hit lifting hard with a surplus to back it up. Around November, I’ll switch to 4-5 days a week of lifting again.
Running - Taking the rest of this week off. I’m walking a lot still, and planning on some bike rides to keep things moving, with recovery being the top priority.
I found a great-looking, trail half-marathon in September. Put on by the same folks who organized the 50k. It’s a mostly downhill, point-to-point course. Not signed up yet, but registration increases on June 30th, so I need to decide soon.
Diet - I’ve been in a surplus for months, with the running mileage and performance in mind. I gained a few pounds, I was 139.6 on Jan 1 and 142.8 today. That’s a hell of a slow bulk.
The idea is to be on maintenance calories for the next week to aid recovery. Then I’ll roll into a 12-16 week cut. I’m carrying more fat on my upper thighs, triceps, and back than I’d like. I also want to see what these abs can turn into after a cut. I would not turn down a 4-6 pack. Summer is perfect to cut since I am always cold in a deficit. I don’t want to do one in the winter again; that was awful. Hence, the running plan cut WAY down on mileage. A 50-miler is on my horizon, but it will be next year.
Saturday 6/28
Homemade Plan W4D2
Smith Machine Incline Press
10, 10 x 105
BB Row
12, 12 x 95
Lat Pulldown
12, 10 x 100
Incline DB Curl
12, 12 x 15
SS
Skullcrusher
10, 9 x 40
Cable Lateral Raise
2 x 12 x 10, 12 x 7, 4 x 3
Feeling better. No headaches or dizziness finally. A few days of just walking did me a lot of good.
This all went better than expected. Weight or reps to on most things. Feeling ready to hit the gym hard.
Hubby received his updated program from his coach this weekend and is excited to do it. He wants to hit the program and his meal plan hard for the next 12 weeks to see if he can get a noticeable results (mostly fat loss related) by being on point. He kind of let things slide the last few weeks with the move and new job and isn’t super happy with his progress.
So, he asked me if I also want to do his program while on my cut and I agreed. He knows I am a monster when it comes to keeping a schedule and checking boxes, so accountability is built in with us on the same program.
So I’ll be doing a 5x a week body part split starting next week. Next week because we have a trip planned for the 4th and will use our program this week.
I’ve also decided to not do the half marathon in Sept. I need to get better at focused training cycles. Taking on a new lifting program AND trying to PR a half AND do both in a deficit seems like a horrible combo. I’m smart… sometimes.
So lift 5x a week, run 1-3x a week for fun, then lots of walking and mountain biking. This cut is intended to get to a point I feel comfortable with a surplus again, and to prime to gain.
Monday 6/30
Homemade Plan W5D1
Leg Extension
12 x 75, 19 x 70
Leg Press
10x335, 4, 4x380
Smith Machine Incline Press
10, 10 x 105
BB Row
12, 12 x 95
Lat Pulldown
12, 10 x 100
Incline DB Curl
12, 12 x 15
SS
Skullcrusher
1 9 x 40
Cable Lateral Raise
2 x 12 x 10, 10 x 10, 9 x 3
Leg Raise
3 x 10 x 5(held btwn feet)
AMRAP, 15 min (40lb KB)
200M Row
25 KBS
15 Goblet Squat
10 OHP
Can confirm, legs are still tired. Had to drop a plate off my last leg press weights. Humbling. Not surprised, but I had to tell my ego to settle down, it will come back.
Not a lot of movement on reps or weights, but still a great workout.
That finisher looks okay on paper and absolutely kicked my butt.
Tuesday 7/1
Homemade Plan, W5D2
Standing Bench Press
6, 5 x 120, 10 x 105
T-Bar Row
20 x 45, 5 x 100
EZ Bar Preacher Curl
2 x 30 x 12
Low Row Cable Face Pulls
12 x 45, 2x12x40
OH Cable Tri Ext
12, 10 x 25
SA Delt Fly
12, 10 x 35
Easy run, 20 minutes
This went surprisingly well. Tired going in, but had a lot of pep throughout.
Run was okay. Didn’t feel good, didn’t feel bad. I’ll take it for the first run after a 50k.
Wednesday 7/2
Homemade Plan, W5D3
Hack Squat
12, 12 xM+20, 6xM+50
Hip Thrust
12, 12 x 165, 16 x 135
Seated Leg Curl
9 x 80, 18 x 60
Cable Crunch
2 x 15 x 70
Hip Abductors (Machine)
2 x 15 x 80
3 Rounds, 2x30lb DB:
8 Front Squat
20M Farmer Carry
4 Bulg SS (ea leg)
Then: 8 Rounds Tabata assault bike
Every workout went better than the last this week. Always nice when that happens.
Legs held or added reps, way better than expected. They are back to about 90%.
Thursday 7/3
3 mile easy run, 34 minutes
Felt good to get out and early and start my day with a run before work, it’s been a bit.
This run started to feel good about 15 minutes in. Recovery continues to happen.
Life stuff: I’m a few days into a new job. Same stuff I have done for years, with new faces, more pay and amazing benefits. Not a bad gig. If things stay as good as they have been this first week, I could see myself here for a very long time.
Sunday 7/6
Upper/Lower Split, W1D1
Belt Squat
8 x M+90, 7 x M+95, 7 x M+100, 5 x M+90
Smith Machine Deficit Bulg. SS
3 x 12 x 70
Leg Press
12 x 245, 12 x 255, 11 x 270
Leg Curls
11, 12 x 70, 13 x 60
Hip Abductor
12 x 90, 14 x 80, 14 x 70
Standing Calf Raises
15 x 90, 15, 15 x 110
Finisher, 14 Min AMRAP:
10 Dumbbell deadlifts (2x25lb)
10 Farmers hold lunges (2x25)
10 Pull Downs (90lb)
10 Leg Raise
7 Cal bike
Made it 4 rounds in 14:31
Doesn’t look bad on paper. Real doozy in reality. Left the gym walking like a baby deer.
Hubby and I revised his plan for 4x a week instead of 5. Five days is a bit more than I care to spend in the gym during summer. We’ll likely add a day come cold weather and bulk season.
Holiday weekend we went out to the Columbia River Gorge, then drove part of the 101. Came home early. We are finding that, when we like where we live, we would rather be home. Fantastic feeling.
Also, a 4th July REI sale got us. We ordered SUPs to enjoy all the awesome bodies of water we have here. They will be here next weekend!
Monday 7/7
Upper/Lower Split, W1D2
Machine Press
10 x M+70, 10,8,7 x M+80
Incline DB Bench
12 x 25, 12, 8 x 30
SS
Bench Pushup
3 x 15
Machine OHP
12 x M+20, 11,10 x M+30
Tricep Pushdown
14, 13, 10 x 20
DB Lat Raise
15, 14, 12 x 10
Finisher, 15min AMRAP
400m Row
50ft Suitcase carry
40 Crunches
30 Bicep Curl
20 Renegade Rows
10 Pulldowns
Made it through the curls on round 2
This went great, liking the program so far. Huge chest pump on this one.
The finisher was underwhelming, but probably what I needed to not get overcooked. I just pick random WODs that sound good for the day anyway.
Tuesday 7/8
Intervals
10 minute warm up
3 x 800m w/ 800m recovery (7:50-8:00/mi pace)
4 miles total w/ cool down
Did this on a track, as I have one across the street now. Been a long time since I have been on a track. The springiness was nice. Pace was not too bad to hold, I was pleasantly surprised.
Wednesday 7/8
U/L Split, W1D3
Hip Thrust
4 x 12 x M+95, 100, 105, 115
RDL
12 x 40, 12, 12 x 50, 12 x 60
Leg Extensions
12, 12 x 70, 12 x 80
Power Squat Machine, Glute/Ham focus
9 x M+45, 15, 13 x M+25
Conditioning, 4 rounds:
10 cal assault bike
10 goblet squats
20 KBS
10 Leg raise
I went too light on the hip thrust and RDLs, I’ll fix that next week. Start light, right?
I was still sore and tired from the first leg day. I see why a rest day is recommended after the first two days. I’ll also do that next week.
Tried a new squat machine, it’s fantastic. Love all the machines at my new gym.
Finisher was a good one.
Wednesday 7/9
U/L Split, W1D4
Assisted Pull Ups
10x-55, 10x-45, 7, 7x -35
Bentover Row
10,9,8,8 x 75
Machine Low Row
12 xm+50, 12 xm+70, 9 xm+100
Cable Face Pulls
15x20, 15x25, 15x30
Incline DB Curls
9x17.5, 11x15, 11x12
Conditioning:
Tabata Assault Bike (10w/20r)
+5 minutes easy
+Ab circuit
I really struggle to feel my back and lats engage on pull day. But, I’m already getting sore the day after, so it’s hitting the right spots. My mind muscle connection has always had a bad signal with my back and lats. Anyone else this way with certain muscle groups?
Biceps were fried by the time I got to curls.
Conditioning was a “good enough”. I wanted something simple and low impact. Feeling pretty tired and beat.
Great first week of the new program, I like it so far. Feels good to be doing more compounds and minimal accessories.
Thursday 7/10
Easy run
3.5 miles, 37:07
Another beautiful, 50F morning. I can’t get over how perfect this summer has been so far. Supposed to be 90+ this weekend, in time for the SUPs to arrive.
Good run, got a little lost, still mapping my new neighborhood. Every run is an exploration adventure, it’s great!
Hoping to get some dirt therapy on the bikes this weekend, it’s sounding fun.
Sunday 7/13
U/L Split W2D1
Power Squat Machine
10 x m+50, 8, 10 x m+60, 10 x m+70
Smith Machine Deficit Bulg. SS
10 x 55, 10 x 50
Leg Press
3 x 12 x 270
Leg Curls
15, 14, 13 x 60
Hip Abductor
13 x 90, 15, 14 x 80
Standing Calf Raises
3 x 15 x 110
Conditioning:
4 Rounds
80ft Sled push/pull
15 Heel Elevated GS
15 KBS
10 Skater Jumps
3 Rounds
10 cal assault bike
10 cossack squat
10 hanging knee raises
I may have waddled out of the gym after this. Okay, I definitely waddled. Tired the rest of the day too, didn’t end up feeling like doing anything other than coffee chop crawling.
Great day though, solid work put in. Reps and weight added.
End of week 2 on the cut. It’s going okay, though the scale has not budged yet. This might be a photo progress only cut, we’ll see. I am grumpy and get dizzy easy already. On the right track. The other day I ate still partially frozen, raw broccoli, so that’s how this is going. First few weeks are the hardest for me.
Did some Stand Up Paddle Boarding Saturday. I did not fall in the water, success! Had a blast, love that the hobby list is expanding.
Monday 7/14
Upper/Lower Split, W2D2
Machine Press
10,9,8,6 x M+80
Incline DB Bench
12, 12 x 30, 12 x 35
Machine OHP
3 x 12 x M+30
Tricep Pushdown
15, 12, 11 x 20
DB Lat Raise
15, 13, 13 x 10
Conditioning:
3 rounds, 25:07
40cal row
40ft carry
30 KBS
20 Push Press
10 Lat Pulldown
+Ab circuit
I had Olive Oil arms after this one. Felt awesome, had a good “pop” left when it came to conditioning. Just a good session.
Tuesday 7/15
Sprints
10:00 easy jog + plyos
8 x :30 Sprints, 1:30 walk/jog
5:00 easy jog
It’s been a while since I have opened the taps like this. Felt awesome to send it. Figured fat loss meant I should bring sprints back. I’m not expecting to build to performance in a cut, but if I could hold on to some of my cardio and get a little faster, that would be amazing.
Wednesday 7/16
U/L Split, W2D3
Hip Thrust
12xM+115, 12,12,10xM+120
DB RDL
12, 12, 12 x 70, 12 x 80
Leg Extensions
12, 12 x 100, 10 x 105
Power Squat Machine, Glute/Ham focus
15, 13, 13 x M+35
Conditioning, AMRAP 20min:
7 cal assault bike
10 SL DL
20 walking lunges
10 DB front squats
Made it 5 rounds, +15cal bike at 20:07
Solid effort today. Weights are dialed in, time to hit it hard and overload from here out. Still really liking this new program. It’s simple, and allows me to bring the necessary intensity.
Conditioning was hard, some of those rounds I dogged a bit just trying to breathe.
Thursday 7/17
U/L Split, W2D4
Assisted Pull Up
8,8,8,7 x -35
Bentover Row
4 x 10 x 75
Machine Low Row
12, 9, 8 x m+100
Cable Face Pulls
3 x15x30
Incline DB Curls
13, 10 x15, 11x12
Conditioning:
Run home from gym, 3 miles, 34:45
Solid pull day, finally starting to feel my lats in a bent over row. I think that helped increase the reps so much this week.
Run was awesome, beautiful 90F day. Didn’t feel the heat, gotta love 10% humidity and acclimatization.
Friday 7/18
Tempo run
10:00 easy
10:00 @ 8:30
10:00 easy
Fantastic run. I can’t resist slowly building mileage again. Limiting running was causing a slight dip in joy. I’ll still cap it at 20 miles per week, tops for the next few months, as I don’t want to interfere with recovery and then muscle building.
Sunday 7/20
U/L Split W3D1
Power Squat Machine
10, 10 x m+70, 8, 8 x m+80
Smith Machine Deficit Bulg. SS
10, 9 x 55
Leg Press
12, 12, 11 x 290
Leg Curls
15 x 70, 15, 13 x 60
Hip Abductor
15 x 90, 15, 15 x 80
Standing Calf Raises
2 x 15 x 120, 15 x 130
Conditioning, modified Pwn’s Last Castle:
AMRAP, 20 minutes
25 yard farmers carry (80lb)
6 Alt DB Snatch (35lb)
25 yard carry
10 KBS
25 yard carry
10 goblet Squats
Made it 5 rounds + carry
Waddled out of the gym again. Felt great, lots of effort, inadvertently grunting and hitting failure. Solid day.
Forgot how much @T3hPwnisher 's bad ideas sneak up on you.
Weight is coming down, dipped just below 140 this morning. Hopefully that holds for weigh in day, it should, I am coming off of Shark Week. I’d like the scale to match my hunger levels. I can tell I was pretty lean already, my energy and “umph” did not take long to drop.
Tuesday 7/22
Sprints
10:00 Warm up, jog and plyos
6 x :20 hill sprints, :90 walk down
10:00 cool down easy jog
2.5 miles total
Cool 50F this morning. Absolutely love how much it cools off at night here.
Sprints felt amazing, well, awful, but good after. It’s been interesting to focus on speed. Though I am missing long runs in the woods. I may have to do those anyway, for the joy.
Started taking Magnesium before bed. My nightly leg cramps are gone. I used to get them almost every time I would stretch/roll over. Sleep has been so deep since starting it too. Only 3 nights so far. I had no idea it would actually make a difference.
Pre-bed electrolytes and minerals really are the cheat code. They help my sleep as well.
Cheat code for sure. I’m always hesitant to add anything to my pill intake, but wow, it’s nice when you note improvement instantly.
Monday 7/21
Upper/Lower Split, W3D2
Machine Press
10, 10, 10, 9 x M+80
Incline DB Bench
12, 11, 8 x 35
Machine OHP
12, 12 x M+35, 12 x 40
Tricep Pushdown
10 x 25, 13, 13 x 20
DB Lat Raise
12 x 12.5, 15, 13 x 10
Conditioning:
16:00 EMOM, :40 work, :20 rest
Min 1: Alt Hang dumbbell snatch (35lb)
Min 2: DB Curls (20s)
Min 3: Lat Pull (85lb)
Min 4: Row
Then:
10:00 Incline walking, 5%, 3.2 mph w/ weight vest
Press continues to shine and laugh in the face of a calorie deficit. Who doesn’t want big headlights and shoulders?
Conditioning was fun, I like that one. Got it from an Ibex Gram post. I’ll be trying one of their programs someday. Probably the Lift/Run hybrid when Ultra comes to my fancy again. Okay, it hasn’t left. Side bit of honesty, limiting running is hard. But the hunger levels are bad enough as it is.