Day 19
A while ago a friend asked me to help her lose some weight for her wedding dress. She was already very pretty and in quite fit, but she just wanted to tone up for her most photographed day.
We did a thousand gym classes a week and entered some 10km fun runs. Neither of us liked running, but the fun runs were good little short-term goals.
One day at work I was talking to a dude who was a totally accomplished marathoner, and he suggested that to train for longer distances, I should find a steep hill and sprint up it.
I was stunned, flummoxed, weirded-out... how good I get good at one thing but doing a totally different thing?
It didn't make any sense to me... if I wanted to run long distances, then I had to train by running long distances... ah, hello, that is super logic.
Anyway, the hill sprints punched us in the lungs so hard with their mega-intensity, we smashed out some hated 10kms and at her wedding when the music started, the church doors opened and everyone around me said things like "Aww, she's so beautiful" and "Look at her waist, it's so tiny", so victories all round.
This is lovely, but talk about ninja training dammit!
May I introduce to you.... our driveway.
It goes way up in the top right corner... it's about, ah, something something feet or like 150 meters and I guess 35 degrees.
Talking to @bethwheatcraft on Day 17 made me realise that I really need to kick up the intensity of my cardio to take on multiple obstacles. So, I'll be doing hill sprints a couple of times a week... this should also help get my quarter-mile time down to the suggested 1:30 for ANWE.
Today, I tried to sprint up it 5 times. "Tried" because my heart was all explodey by half-way... and I was barely moving by the top. It's so steep that you feel like you're running on the spot unless you really, really push. It's a great exercise and I'm so lucky to have access to such a dramatic hill. I'm a lucky duck.
Today's exercises
Warmup
5 minutes of jump rope
5 minutes of Cross-trainer cardio
Death hill
5 hill sprints (also put the bins out... so, ah, + 1 weighted slow hill slog?)
Tendonitis eccentric exercises
15 pounds on the cable machine; pulling it every which way for 15 reps each.
Grip Strength exercises
Mixed it up today, played on my pipes, lache bars and climbing grips until the forearms felt pumpy/got too hungry.
Injuries & sore spots
Felt great today... not sore at all so was ready to punch all the hills.
Goals for December
Get back on track to all my tendonitis exercises
Beat that last rung on the double salmon ladder
Get the 14 foot warped wall (I used to do it easily but my technique was "cheating" so now I'm trying to do it properly but haven't got it yet).
Image provided by Google Image Search of 'Australian Ninja Warrior' and my phone.
This sounds like torture. Probably very healthy torture though.
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Hahahahaa, it really is.
I don't enjoy it at all... and the heart explodingness is not at all fun... but it's a tiny cost to pay for the fitness I should get from all this.
The sucky thing about fitness... you never stop feeling like you're about to explode, because you always push harder.
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ay don't forget. if you come to california to the bay area in san francisco any cities close to that let me know!!!
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Of course man! It won't be for a few months... but I can't wait for some Steemit-crossover action!
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I continue to not be an expert in this sort of thing but I would totally rate the weighted slow hill slog. LoL Death Hill XD I think the guy that told you to sprint up the hill might have a point, something about lung capacity/stamina building maybe?
I could never do long distance. I did sprints for sports day at school and sometimes just to get around, and these days when I used to take the dogs for a run (when I had the running dog, who is sadly no longer with us, the other two one likes running but is little and old with stumpy legs and runs out of puff after a while, the other dog is gangly and can't run for long periods but we could walk forever) I would be walking interspersed with bouts of RUN BE FREE.
Glad your friend was able to get into the shape she wanted for her wedding, sounds like you're a good training buddy :D
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Hahahaha, thank you! Lugging up those massive bins should count! I'm sure I burnt a heap of calories... if not for the swearing at least.
I'm a sprinter at heart too... I think it's because I never learnt to breathe properly/sportingly so a sprint I could just hold on and punch it. Or maybe I'm just 100% fast-twitch muscles. Or maybe long distance is super uncomfortable and a sprint gets it done with fast... who knows, all I know is there is nothing greater than bouts of RUN BE FREE!
Honestly, she was incredible. The whole year leading up to her wedding she was so motivated, she was definitely dragging me around... which was a massive reversal to our usual training-buddy relationship. It was amazing... and neither of us have ever trained that hard since.
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Keep up the good work!
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Thanks dude! Appreciate it!
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wow hill sprints sound super hardcore! I am a bit of a sad runner... I can run a block and then my lungs hurt and I usually stop to walk, definitely lots of room for improvement there. :P
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Isn't that weird though... you'd have such good lungs from working the pole... but running just feel so different and hurts in weird places... and is generally unfun.
Hill sprints are so hardcore... I'm not even strong enough to do them properly yet. Goal 1 : reach the top without walking.
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Haha and actually I used be on swim team back in the day, but at that time I still couldn’t run.. who knows!! Wish it would correspond with out me having to put the time into running itself haha
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It's crazy right? The officer overseeing our practice runs had us do interval training after taking the practice test and it always involved running uphill.
Upon acceptance into the academy, half of the training was jogging up one of our most steep mountains in Phoenix (South Mountain) so he wanted us to be prepared to do that. More importantly though, when I started running trails and stairs (I found a few parking garages downtown and went to town on them) while it killed KILLED my knees, it dramatically improved my run times. The heart feeling like it's going to explode thing is super real though. Man, it never really feels easier!
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It never ever feels easier!
I think to really be good at fitness-ing you have to get to a point where you like/need your heart to get to explodey-levels. I'm certainly not there... and am just hanging on until I can stop... but I'm at the point where I recognize it's a good place to be and the stopping will be oh so good the more I push.
Ugh... why are knees always the first things to go? Don't they know how useful they are? They are so useful... knees, be more invincible... please!
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@aussieninja WoW .. you must have really good discipline :) You outta give a mud run a try...is mainly fun with some obstacle :) Best wishes to you always.
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I did a couple of mud runs back in Australia but haven't done any since I got to the States. There is usually a bit of running involved, so hopefully these hill sprints help on that front! I really should get something happening though, get some mud runs on the calendar to aim towards.
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@aussieninja. This is a great series, ive been meaning to get back into it, and your post have given me some ideas on what to incorporate in my routines.
I am a terrible runner, and find it a real choir to smash out any real distance. The only time Ive ever been able to run for extended periods is with a partner or at parkrun. Super embarrassing at these runs because 60+ year old kick my ass. Damn those seniors got some pace!!
But I am committed to changing that fact and making running a more regular part of my life. Aiming just to complete thr 10km bridge or brisbane in 2018.
It was great to finally read one of ur post AussieNinja, and to finally discover your true discord identity!!!
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THANKS MAN!
So rapt you read my post... this is so exciting! I love it when Discord and Steemit - collide!
I haven't posted on your blog because I don't really know either of those games... but I love games so much so when we have some cross-over I'll be right there man!
The 10km Bridge will be so fun! I did a couple of those in Melbourne, and when you're actually running across the bridge, it's so pretty and you get to see so much (obviously way way way more than just zooming past in the car)... every time I drove over those bridges later I'd always think back to those fun runs... it really is a great way to get to know the city.
Hahahaha, don't forget those seniors have so many running-hours on you... they deserve that pace!
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