(Road Racing and) Time Trialing and Training Thread - Week Ending 6/14/20

I meant to add. My Vit D was low so taking some of that. When I remember. But to JBs point about running in the mornings. My D test was in March after not running for 5 months so got very little sun. After I started taking it the on and off phantom pain in my groin from the double break went away. But could have been a conincedence.

Facebook reminded me that today was the two-year anniversary of my first marathon.

June 16, 2018 - Grandma’s Marathon

Did I unknowingly cross paths with anybody from RR&TT that day? I’m very curious.

I had NO idea what to expect going into my first - or even when I was training for it, as my training plan was laughable - but coming out, I learned that I truly loved the distance! I guess I’d have to love it - or be crazy (This is probably more like it) - to do two more in the next 10 months after that.

@hhw - Sorry to hear about the injury! The best thing you can do is keep your head up & know it’s just a small blip. You won’t lose too much fitness. I think my running group is doing the Gambiotta (sp?) circuit three times per week during their pre-marathon base build, so that might be something to look into.

Tyler_Runs_Lifts wrote:

Facebook reminded me that today was the two-year anniversary of my first marathon.

June 16, 2018 - Grandma’s Marathon

Did I unknowingly cross paths with anybody from RR&TT that day? I’m very curious.

I ran it that year. Ran 3:02:58. Perhaps we were near each other?

RRR - I find pulling stuff easier than pushing. I think it's probably due to my background riding horses, where you have to have a lot of pulling strength (biceps), but triceps don't get used much.

I suspect that's also one of several reasons I find parallel grip pull ups (and bent over rows with my thumb pointing forward) so much easier than other versions. My biceps are much stronger than my lats.

HHW / RS - Rough start to the week, but doesn’t sound too bad in either case. Hope you’re both on the mend soon.

Pull-ups - Can’t really do these, since they cause pain in my left rotator cuff. Same with lat pull-downs. Not sure what the root cause is, and not a huge deal.

darkwave wrote:

Tyler_Runs_Lifts wrote:

Facebook reminded me that today was the two-year anniversary of my first marathon.

June 16, 2018 - Grandma’s Marathon

Did I unknowingly cross paths with anybody from RR&TT that day? I’m very curious.

I ran it that year. Ran 3:02:58. Perhaps we were near each other?

There is a VERY strong chance we were close by, especially at the start. I finished in 2:48:37.

You probably ran in proximity of my friend who I traveled up there from New Orleans with. She finished around that time, IIRC.

ajhahn wrote:

Coach Jeff ROC wrote:

Sorry about that. I just meant your maximum heart rate. I was trying to get at a percentage to understand what your values mean. No big deal. Just curious. I do a lot of HR-based training and I know the beats-per-minute numbers can mean different things for different people. For example, my maximum HR is around 200 beats-per-minute, so my usual easy runs are at around 145... about 72% of my maximum heart rate.

No worries. I have no idea what my HRmax is. I suppose there's a test I could run to figure it out, or at least get an idea of it?

That protocol JTA suggested looks pretty good, or you could just wait until you run your sub 20 5k and hammer it at the end... but it's not necessary for you to know your max if you are just noting your HR for each run rather than using it to guide your training. If you were going to train using HR zones, you would need to know it in order to set up your zones. In general, HR can just be a good data point to see how your pace vs HR changes as you get more fit. Have fun!

Working Harder wrote:

The true way to do pullups is via hangboard.

If you're a rock climber.

If you're anybody else, then that's stressing your fingers unnecessarily.

Unless your goal is to be good at hangboard pullups....then yeah go for it

darkwave wrote:

Pull-up bars - yup - I have one of those that inserts into a door frame. I really have no excuse not to throw in a few every time I walk past... I can't leave the bar there full time, since the door needs to be closed at times.

There ya go!!!

I'd try to find a door that you can leave open (if possible!) and just keep the bar there for convenience's sake. Then you'll be cranking out sets of pullups all the time!

DW I prefer pulling exercises for some reason. Upright rows wide and close drop and bent rows wide and close grip are my favorites. People don’t realize how much both work the Biceps. Rarely do I do many curls.

I also like the pseudo planch pushups on my knuckles. It gives the back a really good squeeze at the top.

I have an I beam at work I can jump up and grab so that’s good for some pull-ups. I’m much better at chin ups tho.

Also +1 to the gambiotta circuit. Did this quite a bit over the winter and it seems to have helped my speed quite a bit as my rep work has been faster than ever before even toting around a lot more weight. It’s simple and easy but the results are great. Thanks to Pewow for telling me about it.

Off to the track to crank 400s

[Haven't posted last week yet - been so busy in work!]

I'm the opposite! I can currently hit 10 pull-ups (with my palms facing away) but would struggle to do 2 with my palms facing forward. Hardly ever try them, they feel very weird. I have actually bought a free-standing parallel bar during the lockdown as I found the door frame bar a bit unstable.

Can't do that many press-ups either. To be honest all of my "strength" has been gained organically through climbing, I've only been doing core work/strength work since the climbing walls are closed. Should probably work on these massive imbalances (added to my long list of things that I should be doing!)

highhoppingworm wrote:

Was able to get in with a sports medicine doc my buddy referred me to and he feels pretty strongly it is just a really bad calf strain/tear. Either way I am out of commission for at least a couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any recommendations for home exercise routines that can help maintain some semblance of shape? Thinking of things that really work core, arms, glutes etc. without putting strain on the calf? I’ve been perusing YouTube videos looking for candidates but thought this crew might have some ideas.

Presumably ill be able to hit up the elliptical in a week or too.

HHW - I'm in a similar boat with my own calf, though probably not as severe (shouldn't have run yesterday, back to square one more or less). I can do some leg exercises without aggravating mine (air squats, lunges), just can't run. I also won't have access to my bike for a few more days. Some formats I dig for bodyweight stuff are things like:

60min EMOM (ie do the 20 pushups, wait until the clock ticks past the minute, then start the squats etc..repeat the cycle for an hour)

Minute 1) 20 pushups

Minute 2) 20 squats

Minute 3) 10 pullups

Pick whatever exercises you like. You can also pick a harder rep scheme and go shorter, when I've been out in the field or similar I've done 10 burpees each minute to failure or similar (20-30min). Burpees may be too much for the level of calf injury you've got, but you may be able to do them with no jump (?).

You can also do "interval work". One I've done a lot is this:

3:00 Interval: 30 squats, 20 pushups, 10 jump squats, then as many burpees as possible until 3min is up. Do 4-5 rounds, resting 2:00 b/w rounds. Takes 20-25min.

I also really like high-volume air squats for maintaining fitness in the legs without impact when I can't run and don't have cross training options. I have strong legs from cycling and I think the effect of the squats is similar to cycling intervals. I've done things like 10x60sec max effort/60sec rest or similar and it gets your heart rate up there.

If you're a rock climber maybe. Otherwise you're just a sadist.

I can't even hang from a pull up bar so take it however you want.

Actually, I recently acquired a pull up bar again (the door frame kind) so looking forward to seeing how quick I can progress. Now if a kettle bell would ever return to store shelves.

I’m also not sure I’d recommend training via fingerboard, even for climbers (until a certain level!). The same for campusboards...

I’ve seen a lot of people pick up nasty finger injuries which never heal properly. I’ve been climbing for 7 years now and only occasionally use a fingerboard (need to train my fingers to climb V6 and above, pretty out of shape now, doubt I could project a V4!)

@Working Harder - You're in the Phoenix area too, right? I have some extra kettlebells that I'm not using and would be happy to sell you at a reasonable cost if you're interested. I have 1 x 36 lb, 2 x 45 lb and 1 x 53 lb available.

@coffee dad, I am and I'd certainly be interested!

I have no intentions of doing pull-ups with a finger board. Using a bar is good enough...

Brakz - not surprised that you find prone grip easier, given your climbing background.

Kettlebells - right when the pandemic hit I ordered a convertible kettlebell - I can dial various weights between 8 pounds and 40 pounds. I also have two ankle weights, each 7.5 pounds. I can loop those through the handle of the kettlebell and get it up to 55 pounds, which is heavy as I'm ever going to use it.

Speaking of which, I'm curious what other people have in their ad hoc home gyms, Here's mine:

-removable pull-up bar

-inflated exercise ball

-convertible kettlebell - 8 to 40 pounds

-set of bands that attach to a door - range from 10 to 150 "pounds" (I believe the true resistance is half of what is claimed)

-15 pound kettle bell

-35 pound weighted vest

-stairs (helpful for elevated push-ups, step ups, bulgarian split squats)

-wooden chair (use instead of bench for rows, also as an aid to learning pistol squats)

-couch (for propping up legs at end)

-yoga mat+2 blocks

-wobble board

-rented treadmill (supplemented with two battery powered fans, a bluetooth speaker, and an internal thermometer)

DW - Mine isn't fancy (most of the stuff was bought heavily used), but I've got enough to do what I need to do. I've got:

-80# sandbag

-25# weight vest

-35# and 53# KBs

-Pairs of 10/12/15/20/25/30/40# dumbbells (most of them mismatched in terms of brand etc)

-Rings

-Pullup bar

-Hex Bar + Enough plates to get up to ~330#

-4 bikes (TT, road, cross, mountain) + direct drive trainer and a fan to make it bearable

This stuff + running = I'm rarely bored. Away from home for a bit right now and looking forward to having access to it again in a few days. Not being able to run and not having my bikes available is a drag.