Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/29/16

Short run and core / grip breakdown. One and a half weeks until Battle Frog greater Nashville.  I'm still working on core and grip strength in preparation to meet the platinum rig challenge. If I can just keep my arm band I can place in the Master's division.

Here's how I'm getting ready:

Stretch and rotate muscles and joints
10 burpees x 2
Run 1 mile
10 burpees
Run short distance
10 burpees
Run 1 mile
10 burpees
Run short distance
10 burpees
Run 1 mile
10 burpees
Run short distance
10 burpees
Monkey bars (as many as possible)
Run 1 mile

Be the neighborhood Ninja Warrior:
Carry wreckbag .2 miles
Carry bucket with gravel .1 miles
Hang various handholds from monkey bars and go at it.
Squeeze grip trainers


This is in my kit bag for obstacle rig training:

Grip holds-grip a hold and hang for as long as you can. Change grips and holds.

Hang these from monkey bars and instant platinum rig; kinda.

             

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/30/16

Run a 10k at a moderate pace
10 pull ups
10 chin ups
6 pull ups on rock wall hand holds x 5

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/28/16

Run 8 miles
Do repeats on monkey bars, rock climbing grips, rope hangs and etc. Concentrate on spending time hanging and improving grip endurance.
Pinch dumbbell plates with fingers and thumbs. Hold as long as possible.
10 Romanian Squats x 2
10 squats x 2
Rope climb with arms only x 2
5 pull ups on rope climbing holds (fingertips) with leg lifts x 6

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/26/16

Here's a great question. Does your day go as planned? I mean, can you put your plans on paper down to the hour and have confidence that things will go as planned?  Mine don't go that well either.

Take today for example. It's Friday and I decide not to work out at 5 am and sleep in a bit. I can get my workout in at the end of the day. I pack my running clothes and my kit bag of obstacle rig parts to mount on monkey bars, and plan to workout immediately after the whistle blows.

That was until 1 hour prior to the end of the day and I lock my keys in the car. It was innocent really. I was taking a quick break to load my lunch dishes and my coat into my car so I wouldn't have to carry a lot of stuff when I got ready to work out. I put everything in my trunk and slammed it shut.

Then it hit me. I had put my keys in my jacket pocket. For the rest of the afternoon, my priorities changed from working out to getting back in my car. After calling endless numbers for tow trucks and locksmiths (it's late afternoon on Good Friday), I couldn't get any attention. Finally my wife came through and rescued me.

My plan was to run four miles on a track and do some grip strength training. However, I was able to alter the exercise to running the trail near my office and doing pull ups and carrying heavy weights with my thumbs and finger tips.

Always have a backup plan...

Run 4 miles at a moderate pace.

5 pull ups slow for warm up x 2

Hang from bar and with hands walk 1 step, pull up and repeat for as long as possible x 2

10 Romanian squats x 2

Carry dumbbells or weight plates with thumb and finger tips for as long as possible (don't need too much weight, just conditioning hands and forearms.

This is in my kit bag for obstacle rig training:



Grip holds-grip a hold and hang for as long as you can. Change grips and holds.

             

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/24/16

Run 4 miles. Incorporate sprint intervals.

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/23/16

 Yesterday was a long slow run, today will be a moderate run at a moderate pace with a moderate distance. We are going to add strength training along the way. What does it all mean? Block Party is back, let's get busy.

What you need:

1. Route that repeats on an area that allows you to do strength training.

2. Workout area for strength training; could be your yard, school, circuit training route or playground.

3. Running route should lap at the training area.

Choose a running route that allows repetition. My block is 1 mile wide and I have several routes the repeat at both at my home and the neighborhood playground.

Warm up:

Stretch and rotate muscles and joints

Main set:

5 pull ups on wall climbing hand holds

Rope climb

Run 1 mile

Monkey bars as many times as possible

Plank for 1 minute, push ups for 30 seconds, plank for 30 seconds

10 chin ups

Run 1 mile

Bear crawl

Rope climb

8 pull ups on wall climbing hand holds

Rope hang (grip training)

Bear crawl

Run 1 mile

Bear crawl

Rope hang

6 pull ups on wall climbing hand holds

Bear crawl

Run 1 mile

Bucket brigade-Carry 5 gallon bucket filled with gravel for .1 miles

60 lbs sand bag on shoulders for .1 miles Carry 30 pounds in each hand for .05 miles

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/22/16

In an earlier article I wrote about obstacle or mud run racing research results. All research supported running every day and including both sprint and endurance workouts. The rationale is that the participant must be able to perform technical and strength based tasks while their hear rates are 180 bpm or higher. Mixing running with strength building exercises helps to do just that. Race distances are getting longer and obstacles more technical. Let's get ready to meet the challenges.

Run slow for a long distance. Try to run between 1 and 1 1/2 hours.  I ran 8 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/21/16

Last week I overheated after a sudden and singularly warm day of 85 degrees. I decided to begin running in the morning before work to avoid higher temperatures. Good planning, or so I thought. 

So far the temperature has turned cold, involving cold 30-40 degree temperatures. No problem, I'm ready for anything and will dress accordingly. Don't let the weather foil your plans. Pray for the suck to increase during training so that you can increase for race day.

Warm up:

10 burpees x 2

Stretch for 5 minutes

Main set:

Run 5 miles

10 burpees every half mile. Attempt to do a total of 80 (including the warmup burpees)

Do the following twice (Neighborhood playground):

Leap 3 foot obstacle x 5

Monkey bars x 2

Pull ups x 6

Plank for 1 minute

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/18/16

Run 6.2 miles 

Chin ups-As many as possible in 1 minute (I did 20)

10 Romanian Squats

Grip strength exercise-pinch carry 35 pound dumbbell. Pinch each flat surface of dumbbell between thumb and fingers. 

Carry and hold for as long as possible.

Plank hold for 1 minute

rest

Chin ups-As many as possible in 1 minute (I did 15)

10 Romanian Squats

Grip strength exercise-pinch carry 35 pound dumbbell. Pinch each flat surface of dumbbell between thumb and fingers. 

Carry and hold for as long as possible.

Plank hold for 1 minute

rest

Chin ups-As many as possible in 1 minute (I did 15)

10 Romanian Squats

Grip strength exercise-pinch carry 35 pound dumbbell. Pinch each flat surface of dumbbell between thumb and fingers. 

Carry and hold for as long as possible.

Plank hold for 1 minute

rest

100 push ups in sets of as many as possible. I did 20, 30, 25, 25 rest

100 push ups in sets of as many as possible. I did 33, 33, 34

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/17/16

Run 5 miles

30 walking lunges

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/14/16

Run 6 miles at a moderate pace
Pull ups-as many as possible. Keep hanging to complete a minute (I did 20).
Chin ups-as many as possible (I did 16)
Alternate grip pull ups-as many as possible (I did 15).
5 pull ups from rock climbing grips x 3
33 push ups x 3

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/10/16

Run 4 miles at a moderate pace.

20 pull ups

Run two miles on a fitness trail. Incorporate pull ups, chest ups, tire flips, rope climbs, balance beams and 4 foot walls.

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/10/16

Run 3 miles
50 pull ups
30 hanging leg lifts
100 push ups

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/9/16

Run 5 miles at an easy pace on a hilly course

Pull ups-as many as possible

Romanian dead lifts x 10

Rope climb (hands only)

Balance obstacle x 2

Home Rig x 2 (Pipe bomb climbing hold, gymnast ring, pipe bomb climbing hold, gymnast ring)

Pull cinder blocks

5 pull ups on rock climb grips

Rope climb (hands only)

Balance obstacle x 2

Home Rig x 2

Pull cinder blocks

5 pull ups on rock climb grips

Grip holds-grip a hold and hang for as long as you can. Change grips and holds.

             

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/8/16 Run 4 miles

1/2 mile easy pace

15 spider man burpees

1/2 mile easy pace

15 spider man burpees

1/3 mile fast pace

15 spider man burpees

1/3 easy pace

1/3 mile fast pace

15 spider man burpees

1/4 mile easy pace

1/4 fast pace

10 spider man burpees

1/4 mile easy pace

1/4 mile fast pace

10 spider man burpees

1 mile moderate pace

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/7/16

Pull ups-as many as possible in one minute. Do reps until you can do no more. Continue to hold bar attempting pull ups until one minute is complete Rest for 1 minute 

Alternate grip pull ups- as many as possible in 45 seconds. Do reps until you can do no more. Continue to hold bar attempting pull ups until 45 seconds is complete Rest for 1 minute 

Chin ups- as many as possible in in 30 seconds. Do reps until you can do no more. Continue to hold bar attempting pull ups until 30 seconds is complete Rest for 1 minute

What's your goal for the day? Continue sets of pull ups until you reach your goal.

Run 7 miles at a moderate pace

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/4/16

100 pull ups in sets of 10
Run 4 miles

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/3/16

Run 4 miles through trails. If you don't have trails, run in the grass between sidewalk and road or through neighborhood lawns.

Bucket brigade and sand bag carry for .2 miles

Romanian Dead Lift-10 reps x 2

100 push ups

150 air squats

10 Russian Twists x 3

50 pull ups alternating grips (pull up / chin up / alternate grip)

25 poud plate carries

Grip squeeze 10 times each hand

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/1/16

Run 7 miles at a moderate pace.

5 pull ups x 6 using rock climbing hand holds

10 pull ups x 3 on pull up bar

Rope climb

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-Mud Run Gear Review

I just received my Under Armor compression pants and my Reebok All Terrain shoes. I've got about 5 weeks before my first race of the season, so I want to break them in slowly. I mainly wanted to test the shoes out and see how they performed. It is cold and rainy, so I used the product review opportunity to motivate me to get out in the rain.

First of all, let's review the shoes. I bought the Reebok All Terrain Series shoes from a link on Facebook. They were a great deal at $40. I ordered them in my size and they fit snugly which I prefer.

I wanted to test them on a 4 mile trail run. Since I don't have 4 miles of trails, I ran on the grass strip between the side walks and the streets. I used this route for about a mile until I found the woods. My first impression was that the grip on the ground, grass, mud, and trail was noticeably great. I had awesome traction compared to my street running shoes I have been using the past few years. I found new gear for my next race and I am looking for blowing BattleFrog away. Then onward to Spartan Sprint, Savage Race, Warrior Dash, and more.

The only downside is the great grip in the trails is lost on concrete. I totally slipped and fell on my face transitioning from trail to a driveway. The driveway is slanted and wet from rain, so that's part of it. Not the shoes' fault, just a warning for the runner to be aware.

Great nobbies on these shoes. Wonderful traction

The Under Armor compression pants hugged comfortably and kept me warm. I don't know much about using compression gear, this is the first time. I did like the snug feel and how tough they are. Remember the fall I described earlier? I skinned my knee. However, the pants did not rip; how awesome is that?

I am 5'9" and weigh 143 pounds. Here's a few pictures demonstrating how they fit:

They go all the way to my feet...perfect

Pretty snug yo; good stuff

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-2/29/16

Swag
http://www.cafepress.com/redbikepublishing

Happy leap year day.

120 pull ups
100 push ups

Run 6.2 miles

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/1/16

Run 4 miles with 80 burpees.

Run 1/2 mile easy
10 spider man burpees
Run 1/2 mile easy
15 spider man burpees
Run 1/3 mile fast
15 spider man burpees 
Run 1/3 mile easy
Run 1/3 mile fast
15 spider man burpees
Run 1/4 mile easy
10 spider man burpees
Run 1/4 mile fast
10 spider man burpees
Run 1/4 mile easy
5 spider man burpees
Run 1/4 mile fast
Run .1 miles easy
Run. 1 miles fast
Run .1 miles easy
Run .1 miles fast
Run .1 miles easy
Run .5 miles moderate speed

Farmer carry with 2 x35 pound plates (work the grip).

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-2/27/15

Make up run day to complete weekly goal.

I planned on running 25 miles for the week. I ended up running two miles and exceeded goal by one mile

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-2/26/15

Run three miles with obstacles. Incorporate 1/3 mile sprints every 1/3 mile. I ran on a track and executed two obstacles each lap and sprinted every other lap. My track was complete with the following:

Rope climbs

Walk climbs

Monkey bars

Monkey bars with rings

Monkey bars with ascending rings

Tire flips

Balance beams

Pull up stations

Tire obstacle

Parallel bar dips

Run three miles on a hill course.