Houston is burning!

OK, not really.  But a boy can dream.  So I'm back from another trip to H-Town.  My digestive system is completely FUBAR and I'm exhausted.  Nothing new.  I did go for a run at Memorial Park which was kind of cool.  It's this huge wooded park with all kind of trails sprawling out everywhere.  I had no idea where to run so took the 3 mile "running trail".  It was like running a marathon, except people were going it both directions.  Very weird experience for me.  I'm used to running where you can see in every direction for miles and no humans can be seen anywhere.  This was the exact opposite of that.  Extremely humid, hot, and no wind.  I mean not even a little feminine poofy fart kind of wind.  I don't think I've ever sweated that much in my life.  I was planning on nine miles, but barely made it three.  I couldn't get my breathing right.  My low back was completely seized up.  My feet, back, butt, legs, arms, teeth, and hair were hurting.  It was a horrible run, but a good experience.  That's closest I've come to exercising this week.

yesterday

Yesterday was a healthy day.  Did a hard hours run in the morning and then for the first time in many, had a good deadlift workout.  I have decided to depart from the 5/3/1 method for deadlifts.  It's still a great all around program, but my deads have been stalled for a while so I wanna try something different.  I've decided to do Andy Bolton's 16 week cycle.  In case you're wondering, Andy Bolton is the first guy to ever pull over 1000lbs in competition.  So I figure the dude knows how to get a monster deadlift.  The template mostly consists of a lot of heavy rack pulls from just below the knee and speed deads from the ground.  I've often wondered if  I'm stalled because I have no explosive power off the floor.  Hopefully, this will prove me correct.  I want to try to journal this progression as well as possible.  I could be really interesting if I'm pulling over 550 by this winter.

Rack pulls (from just below the knee)
135 x 10
225 x 8
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 3
475 x 3 x 3

Speed pulls from the floor
245 x 3 x 3  ( these sucked worse than I expected.  shows how terribly slow I pull)

Pullups
BW 10, 5, 6, 5, 5

Side bends
65lbs x 10 x 3

Tire flip
1 x 10

shower

gorge on grilled meat!

Blue Cheese and scrambled eggs.

Had this nice little combo of Blue cheese crumbles in my scramble this morning.  Probably the first time ever I couldn't finish four eggs.  I tried this with feta not long ago and it was quite nice.  I just couldn't shovel this combo down after a hard run this morning.  Didn't taste so bad, I just couldn't make myself swallow it.  maybe a brunch type dish...I don't know.  So now I've an hour till lunch and I'm starving.
Did a pretty rad squat workout on Saturday. Worked up to 430 for 5 then we drug the sled for about five sets in the heat.  Monday was militaries to kick off the the 5/3/1 cycle of this program.  160 x 5, 180 x 3, 200 x 5.  Got up and ran this morning.  I was pretty sluggish to start, but picked up the pace and got in just over five miles in 1 hour.  I completely forgot to goldbond my yam sack, so I'm sure I'll be reaping the consequences of that oversight for a few days.  "I am the Fire Starter!"   Happy Wed. everyone.

Unicorn Meat is the Best!

found out a couple days ago the one hour run I've been doing is 4.5 miles.  That's kind of sad so i got up at 5am yesterday and ran it by moon light.  I wore my monitor but my watch doesn't have a backlight so I couldn't see my heart rate or time.  Ended up finishing the distance in 49 mins.  That's getting me closer to 10 min miles and I can live with that for now.  Still slow, but not quite as close to walking backwards as I have been.  Wed I did a bench workout with Meg that went pretty well..  280 x 3, 300 x 3, 315 x 7.  Why not?
Just dropped 150 quid on the ToughMudder. :)  Yip.  That got a smiley face.  Its not that I'm so excited about the event (although I do think its gonna be pretty kick'en)  I'm just pumped to have something to shoot for again.  I've never trained for anything like this before, so it should be really interesting.  I think most of it is just going to be flat out endurance.  The challenges don't look that hard, just really energy zapping stuff.  So I'm gonna really focus on getting the lungs in shape over the next few months.  I wanna get my run up to a solid ten miles before then as well.

New Revolt against Boredom

Qwik recap: Megan has started lifting with me and is doing well.  did Squats last Thursday, Military on Sunday, and a really crappy deadlift workout yesterday.  Ran 1 hour this morning.  That was nice.


OK, so I've decided to do a Tough Mudder on Oct 8th in central texas.  Should be a hoot.  I've asked a couple folks to join me, but haven't really had any takers so I'm going to register as an individual.  anybody that wants to come along is more than welcome, but I'm afraid it will sell out before anyone commits.  I need a challenge to shoot for, and powerlifting and strongman stuff just aren't really doing it for me right now.  this isn't really a race.  there's no prize for finishing first.  Just a whole lot of folks trying to finish a course without dying.  Anyhoot, that's it.  I'ma start "training" for it immediately.  Cheers.

Another Holiday

Well, I was gonna gripe about my diet over the long weekend, but i'm tired repeating the same junk over and over.  so I did a 30 min run this morning.  Kept my heart rate between 165-170 the first twenty minutes and brought it down the last ten.  Sweaty run, but good.

July One

Quick recap on a week that started out fairly unhealthy and has evolved into something else (at least).  Wed morning did a 40 min run.  Hit the gym last night just to force myself to deadlift..  Decided just to work up to a single to try and get my head back in the game.  Ganked 455 off the ground like a sack of fluffy down feathers.  Decided to throw another 50 on just to see.  I pulled it up to my knees and had to let it go.  Somehow I was ok with that.  I walked outta the gym with bleeding shins and big smile.  Deadlifts have been kicking my ass for months now.  I've decided to drop the 5/3/1 bit for deadlifts only and go back to pulling up to a max single on deadlift day.  I've been stalled for too long and its time to start seeing the numbers move up again.  Everything else will remain the same.  Did an hour run this morning.  It was awesome.  C, I'm praying for you this weekend.  Give me a shout when you get to the mother land!