Early afternoon

Box Squats 5 X 5
Load: 195, 215, 215, 225, 235

Situps 5 X 20
*Supersets

HSPUs 4 X Max
12, 9, 7, 7

Weighted Step-Ups (30in box, #30 DBs) 4 X 10

1 mile easy jog followed by

Tabatta Hill Sprints 20s on: 10s off
Speed: 6:58 min/mile, grade=8%
Cooldown walk uphill

Workout comments: Right ring finger still pretty sore from last night so no pulling exercises today. Box squats were done using a Smith machine, which might have defeated the purpose of these. Still, they felt more difficult than normal squats having to unload and reload the legs at the bottom of each squat. HSPUs felt OK, but probably should try to dip further down on each rep. Maybe time to build a sturdier set of paralletes or even a dedicated HSPU station with pipes and 4X4 beams.



Pushups

Strength/Short Run

Late afternoon

Squats 4 X 3
Load: 195, 215, 225, 225,

Strict Chinups (Neutral grip) 4 X 10
*Supersets

3 mile run, stopping each mile to perform max HSPUs.
29 minute run
HSPU: 12, 8, 11, 9

Workout comments: New PR on max HSPUs. Squats felt decent, not like the first time I tried them again a few weeks ago. No soreness afterwards. Almost all of the pain and stiffness in my ankle has vanished, leaving me with what I think is a fresh start to start training for something. Now the only soreness I have to look forward to is after a long weekend run.

Strength, Short Run

Late afternoon

HSPUs 4 X max reps
10, 10, 8, 6

Strict pullups 4 X 10
*Supersets

Power clean and jerk 4 X 3
140, 150, 150, 160

Wood Chop 4 X 10
230
*Supersets

3 mile run
27:00

Workout comments: The HSPUs continue to improve. I'm shooting for a goal of 20 unbroken HSPUs by the end of the year. Maybe it's time to try one of those military push push workouts. Seemed to work pretty well for the pullups.

The power cleans were a little difficult, especially when tacking on the jerk. But not impossible. Amazing how fast olympic movements leave you feeling significantly less sore than power lifting movements.

HSPUs, SU, Run

Early afternoon

Strength

HSPU 4 X Max reps
10, 6, 6, 9

Incline Situps 4 X 15
*Supersets

Easy Run 4.5 miles
42 minutes

Workout comments: After minimal discomfort (in my ankle) after a mile on the treadmill yesterday, I braved the unknown and ran with Paul R. for ~4 easy miles around Malvern. I haven't run in more than 2 months, and it's as though I completely missed a season. Sure, I've been outside walking around and in my backyard pretty often, but when you haven't run outside in such a prolonged period of time, it's as if you are experience everything with brand new eyes. It's not early November, but despite the chillier than usual weather we've been having the past few weeks, I almost expected to walk outside to the sweltering temperatures I left in the middle of the summer. I should have packed a long-sleeved T-shirt.

The route was pretty much the same route as they always take, but it will probably take a few times before I can clear the cobwebs from my brain. The recent rain that came a few weeks back must have totally rearranged the trail at one point, and you could see the spots where the small creek was totally overflowing, debris piled up everywhere. At one point there was a massive piece of lumber, maybe 2' X 2' and almost 35-40 feet long that had become lodged on a tree which hung about 10 feet over the now receded creek. Amazing the power of water.

HSPUs, SU, CU, BP

Early afternoon

HSPUs 5 X max
10, 8, 8, 7, 7

Weighted Incline Situps 4 X 15
Load: 25
*Supersets

Weighted Chinups 5, 5, 4, 4
Load: 40

Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press 4 X 15 (each arm)
Load: 45

Workout comments: After only one session, I noticed a big increase in max HSPUs. Shoulder pain is a thing of the past these days, and I think it's entirely due to the stretching program using the lacrosse balls on my vertebrae and the added stretching that comes with swimming. When in doubt with any sort of upper body pain...swim.

HSPU, SU, CU, BP

Early afternoon

HSPU 5 X max
7, 5, 6, 5, 5

Weighted Incline Situps 5 X 10
Load: 25#
*Supersets

Weighted Chinups 4 X 4
Load: 40#

Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press 4 X 15 (each arm)
Load: 45#

Workout comments: Nothing new to report. HSPUs were not great by any means but the first round felt surpringly easy. I felt like I could have done at least 10, but lost my balance right after 7. Should replace shoulder presses with these every so often.

Squat, Incline Dumbbell Bench, Neutral Grip Strict Pullups, Metcon

Early Afternoon

Strength

On the minute for 10 minutes:

2 Squats (175#-60% 1RM)
5 Incline Dumbbell asdfasdfBench Press (55# DBs)
4 Strict Neutral Grip Pullups

Metcon

3 Rounds for Time:

10 OH Squats (77#)
20 DUs
5 HSPUs
10 Burpees
10 SDHPs

12:25

Workout comments: Need to work more on HSPUs. I would say I lost about 3 minutes of time doing these, probably more. OH Squats felt good without any pain in either shoulder.

Short run

Morning

An easy route through Conshohocken on this route. I took a slight detour off an extension of the Schuylkill Bike Path and found a small rock quarry adjacent to Rt. 476. What was odd was the numerous number of small single track trails that spurned off the much larger open space in the middle. Unfortunately, each of these trails was no longer than a few hundred meters. You could never piece together a decent enough run from these. They looked to be more for motocross than anything, although some of the shrubbery has become so overgrown that it was tough for me to duck under on foot.

On another interesting note, as I was starting out on my run I noticed four guys down in Sutcliffe Park engaging in what could only have been a crossfit workout. There were four guys and four pieces of equipment: a barbell with weight, a tractor tire, a med ball, and a keg. I should have stopped by and found if they were ever coming back or if they had a schedule. I recently put an add in craigslist for a tractor tire. I read that they usually are free if you can find some place that has one, since it costs a lot of money for junk yards to dispose of them. The same goes for kegs, if you don't mind losing the $30 deposit.

This marks the third day in a row for running and I have to say my ankle feels pretty good.

Late afternoon

Workout: 3 Rounds for Time

10 HSPUs
20 Odd Object Front Squats
30 Situps

9:32

Workout comments: First time using the new flip video recorder Brigid and I bought. We figured it would be a good way to document most nights down the shore. In another manner of speaking, it would be a good way of remembering most nights down the shore. Video taping (taping? Is it still called that even though it's not VHS?) adds a certain level of pressure to a workout, because you are only doing it for one of two reasons: studying your form or posting for others to see. Either way, it's added pressure to do well.

The temperature was pushing 90 degrees and I had to make a few adjustments during the workout. First, I think I need to construct new paralletes, since the ones I was using were wobbling just slightly. That's enough to worry me when I'm 12 inches away from a broken neck. Second, I had to lose the shoes because it was getting too hot. Overall, a good workout.