March 21st- March 27th

 

“Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself.” - Thomas a Kempis

 

Love this quote as I am trying to get back into the groove of training and life a weeks post Covid... been a struggle with the brain fog, yes it is real, and energy levels.  I have detailed a lot of my workouts below to the point that it might be to much.  If so, I will cut it back.   

 

Monday:  

9AM: Snowing yet again outside... sigh..... Monday's are usually my day off per week from running anyways. Mayham lifting in the garage... blasted the chest and biceps right after my morning work meeting..

Warmup
3 rounds
10 Perfect Pushups (controlled form)
15 band pull-a-parts
5 PVC Around the Worlds (each way)
10 wall angels

Bench Press
5 sets: 10 reps

Alt. DB Bench + Double DB Bench
4 sets: 5 alt. reps (each side) + 5 double db reps

Alt. DB Incline Bench + Double DB Incline Bench
4 sets: 5 alt. reps (each side) + 5 double db reps

Flat Bench DB Chest Fly
4 sets: 12 reps

Ring Curls
4 sets: 10 reps

Barbell Curl 21's
3 sets: 21 reps

3PM:  Hit the garage again this afternoon at 3pm.  More cardio base to get the heart rate up some and some strength work too

Warmup:
2 Sets
1:00 Ski (10 Damper)
20 Alt. Leg V-Up
10 Hanging Scap Retraction
5 Strict Pull Up

1 Set (at workout pace):
5 GHD Sit Up
3 pull ups

- short rest-

12 minute EMOM:
odd minute: 15 GHD Sit Ups
even minute: 8 Strict Pull Ups

Front Squat 3-3-2-2-1-1-1
3 Front Squats
- rest 60-90 sec
3 Front Squats
- rest 60-90 sec
2 Front Squats
- rest 60-90 sec
2 Front Squats
- rest 60-90 sec
1 Front Squat
- rest 60-90 sec
1 Front Squat
- rest 60-90 sec
1 Front Squat
- rest 60-90 sec

 Tuesday:  

9AM: Hit the garage gym again while I waited for it to warmup outside.  Did the Mayham Lifting in the garage.  Starting to get into this again since I quit NoCoast.Crossfit at the beginning of the month.

Warmup
3 Rounds
15/12 cal row
10 scap pullups
15 bent over barbell rows (empty bar)

Strict Pull-Ups
5 sets: 10 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row
4 sets: 10 reps

Seated Single Arm Cable Row
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Standing Tricep Extension w/ band
5 sets: 15 reps

Single Arm Standing Tricep DB French Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Power Clean 5x1

5 Deadlifts
5 Bench Press
-rest as needed-
4 Deadlifts
4 Bench Press
-rest as needed-
3 Deadlifts
3 Bench Press
-rest as needed-
2 Deadlifts
2 Bench Press
-rest as needed-
1 Deadlift
1 Bench Press

3PM: 8 miles averaging 7:40pace on the treadmill at Vasa.... Did not feel like dealing with the cold crazy wind so kept it indoors.

 

 Wednesday:  

 

9 AM:  9 miles w/ 1100ft of gain averaging 7:35pace.  Workout was: 3 miles easy, 6 x 2 min hills mod/hard, 3 miles easy.

Parked at King Soopers on Table Mesa and ran up to NCAR around the parking lot and down the hill for a warm up.  Intervals done on the top part of the NCAR road ending at the parking lot then the same warm down doing a lap of the parking lot then downhill to Kings.  First few intervals were rough but then I got my head straight and got them done.  Got done just as the wind was picking up so that was great. 

3 PM: Was going to go to the Runners Roost Wed run in Louisville at 5:30 but since Donnie was out I really lost motivation to run again today.  Plus this was my first "workout" day in a while this morning.  Hit the garage gym instead for a leg day, figured I could make them more sore.  LOL

Warmup
3 rounds
15/12 bike erg
5 Cossack Squats (each side)
10 Kang Squats (empty barbell)

Back Squats
5 set: 10 reps

Deadlifts
5 set: 10 reps

Rear foot elevated DB Split Squat
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Elevated Toe Double DB Romanian Deadlift
4 sets: 10 reps

Weighted Hip Thrust
5 sets: 12 reps

Standing Barbell Calf Raise
4 sets: 15-20 reps

Thursday:   

 7 AM: 3 Skimo laps at Eldora starting at 7am this morning.  Comes out to about 6.3miles with 2900ft of gain.  Great to get back out there skiing again!  Will try to do a couple more times before the Grand Traverse next weekend.

3 PM: 8.5mile run w/ 1900ft of gain averaging 10min miles.  Easy cruise up Chapman Drive to Realization Point then up Flagstaff road until I felt like turning around. Super chill even hiking a bunch up hill, especially on all the snow the last .75miles of Chapman. Such a great fucking afternoon out there!

Friday:  

7 AM: Easy loop of Santias... up the ridge and down Lions... Just a hike up the ridge and an easy jog down. Did not push at all, just enjoyed the chill morning. Had the summit all to myself, now that is rare.

 3 PM:   Easy garage lifting session of just over an hour focused on shoulders and lower back.  Afterwards headed out to Front Range Brewery for dinner and a bluegrass band with Paula before heading over to Rails End Brewery to meet up with George and family. 

Warmup: Skierg and shoulder mobility work.

Shoulder Press
5 sets: 10 reps

Standing Alternating DB Shoulder Press
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Plate Front Raise
4 sets: 10 reps

GHD Hip Raise
5 sets: 20 reps

Band Pull Through
5 sets: 12 reps

Single leg DB Romanian Deadlift
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

4 Rounds
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
30sec recovery

 

Saturday:

9 AM: 13.4miles w/ 3200ft of vert...  Easy cruise up Santias east ridge, down Lions, over Red Rocks, up Flagstaff trail, down Flagstaff road and back over Red Rocks to the truck.  Super chill today enjoying the shirtless warm sunshine this morning.  Legs were actually toast today anyways, had no power going up hill so lots of hiking.  Ran into Darian who I did the Grand Canyon coming down Flagstaff while I was going up. Spent the rest of the day on the couch trying so hard not to nap,

Sunday:

8 AM:  10.6miles with 2400ft of gain averaging 12min miles.   Done with Rebecca at Sanitas.  Up the ridge, down Lions to the road then back up Lions to the summit then back down Lions to the car.  Did the intervals as we were heading back up Lions.  Little slow with her today but kept it easy for sure.  Went a little over but was easy enough figured it was good.  Great morning out there! 

In the evening I ordered Reel Rock 16.  Had Paula, Rebecca, and Brad over for a showing.   So damn good!!

March 14th- March 20th

 

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” - Khalil Gibran

 

Monday:  AM: 2.5 mile ruck w/ 20lb vest on.  Just getting out for some sunshine this morning.  Of course even this wiped me out a little bit.  The energy levels just are not there yet.  Nothing else the rest of the day.  Was thinking of hitting the garage gym in the afternoon but ended up running errands for work and stopping at Crumble Cookie and getting coffee instead.

 Tuesday: AM:  Garage lifting session this morning.  No WOD just lifting upper body, mostly chest and arms.  Can't believe how much strength I have lost in the last 2-3 weeks with Covid.  Weak...  One hour of lifting and ending with a tabata on the Airdyne to get the heartrate up some.

PM: 5.4 miles w/ 1400ft of gain... Easy lap of Santias this afternoon going up the ridge and down Lions.  Just super chill enjoying the sunshine.... so much better than than Sunday's cruise health wise.  All the ice that was on Lion's on Sunday is gone today, perfect conditions.  Feeling good but tired of course afterwards.  Long way to go to get back to where I was.  Tested out the new Atreyu Base Trail shoe which is a prototype that is will be on pre-sale soon.  This is a company out of Austin, the owner ran the Grand Canyon with me a few weeks ago and gave me these.  They are the bomb on the downhill, super cushioned like Hoka but much cheaper and love supporting people and not large companies when I can.  https://www.atreyurunning.com/pages/base-trail-the-list.  The road shoes are great as well, they remind me a lot of a lighter version of the old Pearl Izumi N1 running shoes back in the day.  I have not tried their Carbon Road shoes yet.  That may be next.

 

 Wednesday:  AM:  5 miles w/ 1500ft of gain.  From the Ranger Station up Flagstaff, around the backside and down Gregory Canyon..  Gregory was holding a lot of ice still so was much slower coming down than I thought which is fine, need to be going super easy this week, still struggling with energy level swings from the Covid shit.

PM: Some light lifting in the garage this afternoon, trying to get back to it.  The lifting I did yesterday made me sore as shit in the chest and arms so went even lighter today so the legs don't get to sore. Spent the rest of the evening watching Yellowstone.  Through season 3 now and waiting for season 4 to be released 3/28 to stream.

Warmup
3 rounds
15/12 bike erg
5 Cossack Squats (each side)
10 Kang Squats (empty barbell)

Back Squats
5 set: 10 reps

Deadlifts
5 set: 10 reps

Spanish Squats
4 sets: 10 reps

Split Stance DB Romanian Deadlift
4 sets: 10 reps (each side)

Seated Dumbbell Calf Raise
4 sets: 15-20 reps

3 Rounds
20sec calf raise
10sec hold up
20sec calf raise
10sec hold up
30sec recovery

 

Thursday:  AM: Snowing and shitty outside again this morning.  7.25 miles done on the treadmill at Vasa... just an easy cruise with the hills at the end of the workout.  Tired today but everything else is on par.

PM:  Skipped doing a garage gym session today and went to celebrate St. Pats day with Paula.  Hit up Clancy's Irish Pub in Wheatridge for happy hour which is the oldest Irish Pub in Colorado then heading up to Rails End to watch GZ play.  Fun evening!

Friday:  PM: Hungover this morning so did not do anything until after lunch.  On the way to Frank's house in Erie this afternoon stopped and ran 4 miles at 8min pace in Louisville then hit a WOD with Frank.  Here is what we did at his home gym.  My chest and arms are smashed.

Warmup: Mobility and Crossover... little Echo too.

27-21-15-9
Echo Bike Calories
100ft Farmer Carries after each set of calories
-Rest 1:1-
27-21-15-9
Echo Bike Calories
Dumbbell Bench Presses (2x50)
-Rest 1:1-
27-21-15-9
Dumbbell Bench Presses (2x50)
100ft Farmer Carries after each set of bench

Saturday: 10 miles with 2100ft of gain averaging 9:15pace.  From the Ranger Station up Flagstaff road 5 miles then back. Did some walking on the way up to keep it easy and easy cruise coming down so not to blow my legs completely up for Sunday.  Super wiped of course which seems to be the norm lately since the Covid shit so ended up taking a nap.

In the evening Paula and I heading to Acreage for dinner to get some Corned Beef and Cabbage but of course they were sold out... god damn it.  Hamburgers and cocktails it is then...

Sunday: 10.5miles w/ 2400ft of gain.  Done with Rebecca at Sanitas. Up the East ridge, down Lions to the road then back up Lions to the summit then back down Lions to the car. Did the intervals as we were heading back up Lions. Great morning out there!

 Spent the rest of the day (weekend) on the couch tracking Don at the Ohio Big Backyard.  Solid effort!  Damn! 

March 7th- March 13th

 

 

“Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.” - Jackie Robinson

 

Feel like the past 2 weeks with this COVID shit all I have been doing is wasting my life.....  

 

Monday:Thought today was going to be a good day and I would be starting on the backside of this COVID crap but about 9am it hit me hard and I had to go lay down.  So much for that today.  Think I will be bailing from the Salida Marathon this weekend.  Will retest for COVID again tomorrow morning.

 Tuesday: Tested again this morning, still positive.  Going on 10 days of feeling sick and 7 days of testing positive.  Yay me!  At least the line is not as dark and took longer to show up.  Not sure if that means anything or not.  Was going to try and jog some today but body will not allow it yet.

 

 

 

 Wednesday:  Another day of not leaving the house and of course it was snowy all day again.   Feel like I am living in Ground Hog Day.

 

 

Thursday: Retested again this morning..... positive still... sigh... At least I am breathing better than I have in the past week.  Might try and hit the garage gym later today for an easy session to see what happens.  I need to do something.

Friday:   6am: Still tested positive yet again this morning.  Basically testing everyday now wondering when I will get out of COVID jail.

9am: 4 miles averaging 8:15pace- Easy cruise from the house, first mile was a walk/run with lots of coughing fits but breathing got better the last 3 miles.  Did not have anymore coughing fits until I stopped. that lasted for about an hour.  My blood O2 only dropped 5 points from the start to the end of the run so that was good, went from 97 to 92 so super excited that it never dropped below 90 which I was most of last week just laying around.  My bum knee hurt worse than it has in a long time and of course everything was super tight, guess that is expected for not running in 2 weeks.  Slow rebuild is on.

Saturday: 9am: First morning that I tested neg on a Covid test today.  YAY!!!!!  4.7 miles around Louisville.  Headed over to Davidson Mesa to do an easy loop but it was still closed even though the website says it is open.  Did a road/bike path loop around Louisville instead going super easy.  No coughing fits during the run and a small one when I stopped.  Progress.  Got this mug in the mail today for helping at the Run for Air race a few weeks ago.

 

2pm:  Testing again this afternoon and still neg.  Meet Paula at Coaliton Trailhead for an out and back hike on the Dirty Bizmark loop.  4.75miles.  Great to be around others again!!!  Of course my friends doing the Salida marathon that I bailed on due to Covid have to rub it in.

 

Sunday:  10am: Tested again this morning just to make sure but still neg.  5.4 miles doing a loop of Sanitas with Paula and Rebecca. Up the ridge and down Lions.  Super chill and man was it awesome to be back on the trails.  Of course a nap was taken afterwards again, going to be the new norm for a bit I think as I am still having lots of energy swings.

Feb 28th - March 6th

 "When you focus on you, you grow.  When you focus on shit, shit grows." - Dwayne Johnson

 

Monday: Feeling better today but still not quite there. Tested neg on Covid rapid test again so that is good. Still coughing and tired.  Did nothing today but work and nap.  Did get this awesome kit from Atreyu Running out of Austin TX, 2 shirts, hat, Road base shoes, and the new protype trail shoe which is not released yet.  Can't wait to check them out.  https://www.atreyurunning.com/.  The owner of the company ran the Grand Canyon with us last week which is how I came across them.

 Tuesday: Spent all morning trying to decide if I am doing Pikes this year or not.  It is 2 weeks after Grand Traverse so plenty of time to recover. Pulled the trigger in the afternoon on the Double.

AM: Got out to with the intent of running 8 miles today but pulled the plug at 5.5 miles in a coughing fit... walked the rest of the way home.  Guess I am not over it yet but was great to be outside for the first time since Saturday.  Thought about doing more in the afternoon but decided not to.  Need to keep healing up. 

Wednesday: AM: Woke up feeling even worse today so took a home test.  Fuck me... at least I know I wasn't just being a pussy yesterday...  did nothing today but work as much as I could.

And I have plenty of food to hold me over for a day or two...

Thursday:  Day of not leaving the couch all day but at least I got some work done.  A co-worker's brother in law who is a doctor gave me this supplement routine to help out.  Figured what can it hurt?

Friday: Retested again this morning, of course it was positive.  This was the worst day so far.  I only made it until 9am until I was back in bed until bedtime.  I was totally wiped today and was actually puking in the morning.  This shit sucks ass.....

Saturday: At least I was out of bed today but did not do anything yet again.  Have not left the house since Tuesday.  

Sunday:  Starting to feel a little bit better over all so retested again.  Still positive, hell the positive line showed up before the control line did, guess I was really positive.  Going to retest every other day so Tuesday will be the next test.  Decided to go for a drive to get out of the house a little bit but that just wiped me out and ending up napping the rest of the day.  Did get this delivered yesterday and looks great in the living room.