The New Hotness

So I'm deployed again. Once more I've taken "a little time off" and allowed myself to get pretty out of shape. About this time last year I was in peak condition and completed a marathon while still retaining a pretty decent amount of strength. Here on deployment I simply don't have the time or space to get back into distance running. Not to mention when I do go running it either has to be on a treadmill or next to giant army vehicles spewing pollution. It's questionable if running here does more harm or good to my lungs. Shortly after returning from this deployment I have aspirations of joining a different unit, so with that in mind I have very specific fitness goals.

Goals
Bench Press 1.5 X BW
Push Ups (2 Minutes) > 100
Sit Ups (2 Minutes) > 100
2 Mile Run < 13:30
5 Mile Run < 40:00
10 Mile Run < 90:00
12 Mile Ruck with 40 lbs < 2:45
Pull Ups > 20

The biggest issue however is to avoid injury. I don't want to ride the bench because I was reckless with my training. Aside from my fitness goals I have very specific aviation goals for this deployment as well. These goals actually over ride the fitness ones.

With all this in mind I'm trying a new fitness approach. I found a program called SEALfit that is basically crossfit with a greater emphasis on endurance. The first 5 weeks are body weight only and then there are 8 weeks of mixed training following that.



WOD:
Day 1 - Intro to Air Squats
Warm-up: Watch video and practice 25 squats.
Work Capacity: Perform 5-sets of 20-reps with a 200 meter run
after each set. Log your time to track your results.
Cool Down: 1-mile walk and long stretch.
Coaching Notes: The air squat is performed with feet at shoulder
width apart, heels firmly planted into the ground, extend your arms
directly in front of you and pretend someone is pulling on your
wrists. Now push your bottom slightly backward and sit down
without bending your back. Keep your lumbar arch engaged and
tight, keep your heels firmly planted, get your hips below the knee
line. At the bottom wiggle your toes to ensure your weight is on
your heels.
Upon standing, stand up in an explosive movement and push your
hips slightly into hyper-extension. Full depth, open hips at the top,
engaged lumbar arch and firmly planted heels is the key.

This workout only took about 10 minutes, which is good because I woke up late, but it was still tougher than I thought it would be. I tried to keep good form and to run at a good pace. I saved the warmup 25 squats for the end to drive the nail in the coffin. I think this was a little light as a workout but my thighs are still burning so we shall see.

Day 39 - Running

Two of my friends went to Raven Rock with me yesterday and we ran 4 miles along some trails that whipped me pretty soundly. I swear those stairs are the devil. The problem is even once you get up the stairs there is still a hill to climb. I actually ran in shoes yesterday which felt kind of strange after doing so much training in my vibrams but it did feel much easier than running in the vibrams. I think I am improving pretty well but I should really do more speed work. Maybe some intervals would be a good idea.

Day 37 - Got All Fern Gully On That Ass/Plyometrics

I have the day off of work so I drove up to Raven Rock and ran random trails for 52 minutes. Based on the campground map it was a total of somewhere between 4.5-5 miles but I also hit the devil stairs and kinda just wandered around so who knows. I was the only one at the park so it was very peaceful and relaxing to just run through the forest. I was pretty tempted to wear a thong and paint myself blue so that I could run through the forest while singing about Eywa, but maybe that's taking it a bit far. The park is 15 miles from my house if I take a bunch of sleepy back roads. After the baby is born I'm gonna talk my buddy Matt into riding our bikes up to the park doing a run and biking back. 30 miles of cycling, and 3-5 mile run should be a freakin smoker. I need to study today but I think I'll do plyometrics later on this afternoon.

----Update-----
I did plyometrics before dinner. I was having an urge to eat some peanut butter so I figured I better at least earn it. This workout is getting pretty easy for me. I didn't do all the excercises the way the crazy guy in the back does them but then again that asshole probably didn't run five miles this morning so I'd say we are pretty much even. This is Kyle's favorite workout by far and he was jumping around like a crazy baby for a good portion of it.

Day 35 - Half-Assed Cardio/Recovery

My buddy and I wen to Raven Rock State park this morning and ran some trails for 3.75 miles. The pace was relatively slow since both of us were feeling relatively beat up, but a strange thing happened during the run. I actually enjoyed running. I've been running for years, mostly forced to by work, but I don't think I've every actually enjoyed running. The whole run I didn't feel any pain in my feet or knees and I just enjoyed the feeling of soft dirt under my feet and the forest scenery around me. The trail started out with some gravel which was kind of painful to run on with vibram fivefingers, but about a half mile in it turned to softer dirt. The entire first half of the trail was a gradual climb until you reach an scenic overlook with a great view of the river valley.

Further down the trail there are some stairs that take you down the face of the cliff. The rock walls were pretty fun to poke around in and the stairs themselves were a smoker to run up. It's been along time since I ran off the pavement, with no time schedule and no where that I had to get to after the run. All in all a good recovery run.

Day 33 - Are we there yet? - Cardio

I just finished my longest run to date in the vibrams. This morning I knocked out 5 miles in 45:50. My goal was 9 minute miles and I just missed that. Total average according to the Garmin was 9:11. Whatever I'll take it. I hadn't run 5 miles intentionally for a while so that in itself felt pretty good. Now time for the excuses. I think I was still a little tired from Monday's cardio fest because I felt like crap from the first step. My form was also pretty lousy today. I was running very "loud", with my feet slapping and I felt like I was impacting harder than I should have been with each step. The calorie deficient diet I'm using is also catching up and I kinda crashed around the 3 mile mark. It's you remember a road as being pretty flat when you drive it all the time, but when you run it suddenly you feel like your in the Appalachians.
Hopefully I only have about a week left of the diet. I'm down from 177.8 to 168.2 as of this morning before the run. I'm almost at the 10 pound mark in less than 2 weeks, and that is much better than I had anticipated. My original goal was to get to 169 by the end of June. I thought that 1000-1200 calories a day plus at least an hour of exercise a day would be to extreme, but other than just prior to meals I feel fine. I am looking forward to being done with it and eating some bread and pasta though. Carbs are the devil, but the devil can be pretty yummy.

Day 31- Cardio-Mania! Plyo + Run

Knocked out 3.66 miles in 30:44 this morning. Felt pretty good and it no longer feels weird to run in my vibram fivefingers. I still get strange looks especially since I wore them in the Army PT uniform, but oh well. It works damn it. Everyone else in my unit is on vacation so it looks like I won't be working past noon for the whole month of June. When I got home I was still feeling froggy so I knocked out a plyometrics workout. I thought I'd be dying since I ran earlier but it wasn't bad at all. My quads were kinda smoked but I felt like taunting the TV the whole time. "Screw you Tony! I don't need a water break. Let's do this!" My 1 year old son just learned to jump a few weeks ago so he just thought I was playing with him the whole workout. I even taught him to go flex in front of his mommy when we get done. Had a protein shake for breakfast and two chicken soft tacos for lunch. Hopefully I'll drop another 5 pounds this week and I'll be at or near my body fat goal.

Shoes? Where we're going, we don't need shoes.

My parents came into town and saw my new house for the first time last night. They stayed until fairly late and of course the rest of my free time prior to their arrival was spent cleaning the house to the wife's exacting specifications. As a result I didn't work out. I'm sorry Tony Horton I don't mean to neglect you I'm just not ready for that sort of commitment. It's not you, it's me. P90X is pretty enough. Plus running is the priority since that is my weakness at the moment and my core and upper body strength is pretty decent at the moment.

I knocked out a barefoot 3 mile run this morning. I didn't go terribly fast, just a 9 minute pace, but I felt pretty strong. My form is improving and I feel that next time I'll go longer or faster. The limiting factor is no longer calf strength when I do the barefoot running but is now arch strength in my foot. I think that will come in time. I really wish I would have got into the barefoot running earlier. When I think of how many painful years of running I've done for good ole Uncle Sam, it's kind of depressing to think of how simple of a fix that barefoot running is to my form. Now when I do wear normal shoes it feels like I'm walking around on giant foam stilts that are bungie corded to my feet. My running shoes feel the way that my dress shoes used to feel.

The diet is still going well. I weighed myself before I went running and I'm down to 172 for a total loss of 5 pounds since Sunday. Not bad. As a bonus my wife said that my abs and hip flexors are coming back in already. So motivational merit badge is awarded to the wifey. The diet makes me feel a little tired just before meals and bed time, and I tend to be dreaming of food just before bed time. The first time I realized I was kinda zoning out and thinking about food it made me feel like I was back in Ranger school for a second. As long as I limit my carbs I don't really get hungry though. It's more of a desire to snack. Kind of like when you watch a movie, you're not actually hungry but you still wanna munch a whole bucket of popcorn. Anyways I'll knock out some P90X tonight or tom morrow depending on my schedule.

Side note, my stepdad and I are going to the spec op/airborne museum today. That should be pretty sweet.

Day 16 - Cardio

We had thunderstorms last night so when I knocked out my 2 miles this morning it was pretty muggy and dreary. It felt like I was running through a Tim Burton movie. I felt pretty slow and started getting tired before I should but on a positive note my form seems to be improving. My feet didn't slap as bad as normal and my strides were shorter. My calves are pretty tired from the run but I think that the vibram fivefingers are starting to affect my running style. Hopefully I can stop being so incredibly inefficient. I considered knocking out some interval training as well but since I have a PT test in 2 days I didn't wanna over do it. Since I don't have to work today, my original plan was to start building the boy's swingset and go fly for about 2 hours but it looks like the weather will not permit either. Oh well I need to study anyways.

Day 6 - Cardio

Whew that was much more painful than it should have been. I ran two miles and some change in about 18:00. My legs felt pretty tight the leg workout yesterday and the cardio I did earlier this week. I've been wearing my Vibram Fivefingers pretty much all the time when I'm not at work and my calves haven't got used to that yet either. I think that my calves and stabilizer muscles have really been weakened over the years by being pampered by running shoes. When running my calves really felt like the thing that was slowing me down so hopefully the Vibrams will get them built up. Actually running in shoes felt kinda strange. After I mow the lawn I might do slow mile in the Vibrams just to really punish my calves

Day 4 - Cardio Cause I hate Yoga

Played "Ultimate" frisbee with some guys from work for about an hour. It basically ended up being intervals. Lots of sprints. The fog when I left the house was so dense that I couldn't see stop signs until I was about 25 feet away. This made it incredably muggy and everyone was pouring sweat. Really seems like a game with the word "Ultimate" in the title would involve land mines, or carniverous rabies infested baboons or something. It should at least be a contact sport to rate the "Ultimate" title. Following the frisbee knocked out a mile and some change. All and all I'd say pretty good chunck of cardio.