OW.

The title of this post pretty much sums it up for me today. But I can now say I've seen every single inch of the Sioux Falls bike trail and then some, if that says anything. But every single inch of my body and then some is pretty much is sore. Can you say "walking like a penguin?" Yeah that's me, when I actually manage to walk! I'm glad it's my off day today, I would not be able to function at work today with this painful waddle.

I hate the wind by the way - well today's wind at least, I definitely managed to run for 10 good miles INTO NNE winds SUSTAINED at 28MPH - so I'm pretty sure I ran more than 22 miles, at least it felt like more.

And talk about a mental game - I had to keep telling myself to go the whole way even though there were soooo many places where I could have turned off and gotten back to my place much faster. Kept telling myself "quarter of the way done, halfway done, three quarters of the way done, 5 miles left, 4 miles left, 3 miles left, 2 miles left, 1 mile left..." until I finally reached home! Well I actually stopped by a grocery store quick and bought a 6 pack of Propel water - yummm~ there are 2 left :) I was thirsty!

Crossfit tomorrow morning - and for once, I hope that it's an arm workout, I don't think my legs can handle any more abuse!Happy Training!
~JR

The Long Run

Tomorrow I'm going to run 22 miles unless something crazy pops up in the news department. I'm excited since the weather is supposed to be alright despite the winds - I may just have someone drive me out 22 miles and I'll just run back with the wind at my back :)



To mentally prepare for this I looked around and found some solid advice on this website.

Wish me luck and happy training :)
~JR

"Kelly"

So today we did a workout called "Kelly" 400meter run, 30 box jumps, 30 wall balls - sounds okay but then repeat that 5 times. It was what Chris - our trainer - called the "marathon workout" And boy did it feel like it since it was the workout that just didn't end. I think I finished around 27:34 minutes or something like that. I know that's nothing compared to the 4 hours or so that it will take to finish a marathon, but still - it was intense!

I also had the pleasure of working out in the Des Moines Crossfit box while I was there for a weather conference last week and weekend. It was a huge box!!! It looked like you could fit about 4 fire trucks in there! The trainers were great as well. They had a few big tractor tires in there that I guess they use sometimes in workouts to flip over using manpower - I'm a little scared about the idea of that - but there are some pretty intense and strong people out there that no doubt can handle that just fine.

Hope training's going great, nearly one month left now!
~JR

15 Mile Run

So Mondays are technically my "Saturdays" so I decided to go for a 10 mile run today... I went on the bike trail up North around the airport and was planning on cutting back through town. Well obviously with these insane winds... it was a rough go, so I called Cody Matz who was on the side of town I was running towards to see if he could drive me back to my place, he said yup, so I put my phone in my pocket. Well apparently I can't feel my phone vibrate in my pocket so I just kept running to his place and called him when I got there, needless to say: he had been calling me for the past half hour saying he had been called in to help Aaron with severe weather and was no longer at his apartment... so I had to continue on running until I caught up with another good friend who finally brought me home. So I figure that overall, I did about 15 miles of running - not going to lie, my knees are KILLING me - I sure hope we don't do squats at Crossfit tomorrow or I will probably fall over since my knees can barely even keep me standing upright as it is. I do feel better about the race now that I've got a 15 mile run under my belt, I just wish I would have been ready for it!

Happy Training!
~JR

Wow, so today's race was crazy and fun! But the wind was HORRIBLE!!! We ran through Falls Park and as soon as we left the park, we headed South on the bike trail and HOLY COW did the wind just whip right through me! I think my legs just froze up or something, it felt like I hit a wall... had to tell myself to keep going. I was also feeling under the weather today - so with that and the wind along with the hills . . . my time was not where I wanted it to be at all.

Here are my stats from the race:
Finishing time: 25:40 - 3 mins slower than my last 5K I ran on my own - SAD!
Mile pace: 8:10 - this is a slower pace than I ran my first marathon, so I obviously need to step it up to get a better time in the Brookings marathon
Division Place: 9 out of 70
Gender Place: 18 out of 167
Overall Place: 86 out of 284

I feel better about the placement as far as runners go - but I really hope I can increase my pace and hold it for the 26.2 miles in May. This race somewhat makes me concerned about Crossfit - I think my breathing and cardio was fine during the run, but my legs and arms didn't respond as well to the race because I'm not running as much as I would have if I did a running only program, but we'll see. I think I'll just kick up my running on the days I don't go to Crossfit just to get my body used to the longer runs again - plus with the warmer temps, I can finally run outside, so that'll be great, I love running outside! It was a fun event though- Cody kicked some major butt - he was flying! And Krystle finished her first race ever - she was so nervous before the start - Cody and I had to calm her down. It was great to go to Monks afterwards too - a lot of runners enjoying the noon hour there!

Time to kick up the runs for me . . . hope training is going well!
~JR

Finally Back on the Horse

We did "AMRAMP" today - As Many Rounds As Possible - for 20 minutes alternating between 12 "hang squat cleans" and 7 pullups. I actually had a granola bar before the workout since I usually lose a lot of energy during the Sat. am workouts since I normally just roll out of bed and head over to the Crossfit box and eating made a total difference, or maybe it was the fact that I got some more sleep last night. Anyway, I finally felt like I was somewhat back on the horse since I completed 11 rounds in that 20 minutes and I didn't fall when I was doing the pullups. It still is kind of scary doing pullups since I keep thinking that my hands are going to slip and I'll fall again, but I guess I'll have to get over that mental game.

We're running in the 5K next Saturday in the Sioux Falls St. Patrick's Day 5K - Register here! Hopefully we'll see ya there!

Happy training!
~JR

Time Will Tell . . .

Tried the grips out - not too bad - they pretty much make it so your hands don't slip from the bars. We didn't actually do pullups in the workout on Saturday since there were sooooo many people, but I tried a few after the class - and I wasn't afraid of falling, so that's good news. We'll have to see how a workout that DOES involve pullups actually pans out. I'm wondering how my fingers and wrists are going to be afterwards.

Anyway, swim workout Monday tomorrow, happy training!

~JR

Grips!

So I got the hand grips in the mail today - tomorrow's the big test if they work or not - we'll see at 9am... I'm not going to lie here - after that fall, and doing another crossfit workout this past week, I have to admit I was a bit scared to start the pullups again. Even Krystle said my workout wasn't up to what I normally do. I guess I did feel a bit sluggish and not quite up to my work as hard as possible mentality.It didn't help that we did a workout including jumping rope - I don't think I'm coordinated enough to jump rope - much less to do "double unders". (A "double under" is your basic jump rope routine but you have to have the rope go around you twice before your feet jump again - it's tough, try it if you don't believe me) Anyway - I hope I can jump back on the horse as they say for the workout tomorrow.

Happy Training!

JR

Concussion - Don't Worry, It's Minor

Well I've got kind of a sad/funny story... we did a Team Tabata workout on Sat. (20 sec on, 10 sec off x8 rounds for each type - pushups, squats, situps, pull ups, etc.) Anyway, I've get really clammy hands, especially when I work out, so I was doing pullups and my hands slipped from the bar. I used the chalk they have there, but chalk doesn't last for too long on my hands :( Anyway, I ended up falling flat on my back and head - went to the doctor and they said I probably had a minor concussion, so now I'm taking a muscle relaxer for my back (so if I seemed a little tired this weekend doing the weather, you know why. So the funny part about this was that I had just ordered palm grips like they use in gymnastics at the beginning of the week, and sure enough, when the mail came on Saturday, they grips were in my mailbox... too bad they came then instead of 24 hours earlier - would have helped!

I ended up taking another rest day today just to let my body try and recuperate from the fall, but I'll be doing a swim workout tomorrow, the doctor said my head is normal (as normal as it can be ;) so that's good)

Safe training!
~JR

5K and Couples Workout

I re-ran my 5K yesterday (pretty close to one month after my first 5K time trial) and I was pretty happy with my one month progress. January 14th, I ran the 5K in 25:33... February 13th, I ran it in 21:22! So I dropped 4:11 in one month - and I felt like I could keep going at that pace for a few more miles... which was really weird since that's about a 7:07 minute mile!Now if you missed the Crossfit segment on Thursday, we explained the McMillans Calculator... it's a fun tool where you choose a distance you've run, enter your time and it estimates the time you could complete pretty much any distance you want. So based on my 5K time - I could run the Brookings marathon in 3 hours 28 minutes. Which would be really cool, but I of course did do the 5K indoors on a tredmill - which means no hills, corners or any other element that would be encountered during the race... so there's still a lot of training to be done.

This morning at Crossfit, we did a "Lovers Workout" for V-day.

200 Kettle Balls

200 Lunges

150 KB

150 Lunges

100 KB

100 Lunges

So you do half of each section - your partner does the other half - it was pretty fun and we were done in 20:18 - have to love those shorter workouts!

Here's a layout for this week as far as training goes: (my plan on the left - straight running plan on the right)

Mon: Swim Endurance Workout - 12 mile run

Tues: Crossfit - Cross train

Wed: Crossfit or Endurance Workout - 3 mile run

Thurs: Crossfit - 5 mile run

Fri: Off - 3 mile run

Sat: Crossfit - Off

Sun: Running Endurance - 6 mile pace

Happy Training!

~JR

Core Workout!

Okay, so I had to share this one with you... I've never felt my core/middle section so much during a workout or a run EVER! This was an incredibly intense workout:

400m Run
10 Burpees
30 Situps
400m Run
10 Pullups
20 Pushups

And REPEAT that times 4!!!! So that's 2 miles of hard core running with burpees, situps, pullups and pushups intertwined... wowza - can't even describe! It was a great workout though!

~JR

"Dirty 30" & "Kinda A Linda"

Okay, so on Saturday the 7th, we did a workout called "The Dirty 30" and rightfully named is all I can say... here's what it was:

30 double unders (jump rope with the rope going around 2x in one jump - or 120 single jump ropes)
30 situps
30 Kettleball raises
30 Jumping Squats - (basically a squat where you slap your hands on the ground then jump up)
30 Push Ups
30 Wall Balls
And REPEAT!
This one took me 15:29 and wow did it kick my bum . . . I'm starting to realize that if the workout has a name - it's going to be a rough one!


On Sunday I had an Endurance Day so I decided to swim - this time WITH goggles! And boy does THAT make a difference! The workout was 50meters as hard as you can and time it - however long it took to do that 50m, multiply that by 5 and that's your recovery time. (So it took me 30 secs to swim 50, so I rested 2 and a half minutes) Then you repeat this 10X. Now I'm not the biggest swimmer so I was a little shocked how out of breath I was after each 50m - it was definitely an endurance workout!


I actually am in MN right now visiting family but I wanted to keep up with the workouts - so I looked online and found a Crossfit pretty close to where I'm staying. I went to the 6pm workout which was great - they said any Crossfitter is welcome, so I hopped on with their group. Things work a bit differently there but it was still a fun and hard workout:

"Kinda A Linda"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (so 10 of each of the following, then 9 of each, 8 of each, etc.)
-Deadlift - I did 95#
-Ring Push-Ups (they had their rings a lot closer to the ground)
-Front Squats

(Ring Push-Ups - and believe me... they are as hard as they look - I had to do them from my knees!)

Hope things are going well or you are just enjoying hearing about the pains of training ; )
~JR

Sinking with Swimming . . .

Okay, so I did an endurance workout today in the pool: 6 min time trial, 3 min rest, 4 min time trial, 2 min rest, 1 min time trial, 30 sec rest, 30 sec time trial, 15 sec rest, 15 sec time trial... and I'm not kidding when I say I almost sank! I don't have any goggles, and I thought I'd be okay, but my eyes disagreed! So I ended up doing the front crawl with my head above water most of the workout, which, of course, wastes even more energy... if you end up trying this workout - I recommend goggles for sure, I'm heading to Target right away!The swim workout was a nice way to give my leg joints a rest, I was feeling a little weary from the 2 running workouts that I did, so I figured that a pool workout would be better for my body and give my joints a brake from the track and from the pavement. Plus running outside with the ice and snow melting isn't the safest on your ankles, I kept my eyes on the sidewalk and the bike path to make sure I didn't slip and break something... and that doesn't help your running form.

It's finally back to CrossFit tomorrow - we'll see how it goes... oh and one week from today is another 5K time trial. I'll get to the importance of these time trials in an upcoming post - there's this crazy cool calculator that will blow you away!!!

Happy training,
~JR

Sorry!

Sorry I haven't been updating this lately, I went on vacation and didn't have access to the internet so I'm finally just catching up. By the way, if you do go on vacation during this whole training process, don't go overboard with the workouts - just do a bit of physical activity every day or do a slightly more intense workout every other day... it IS called vacation for a reason :)
Anyway - since I've been back I've been getting back on the CrossFit workouts, I did CrossFit with Krystle this past Wednesday where we did as many rounds of this workout as we can in 20 minutes: 300 single jumps on the jump rope, 20 Kettleball raises, and 20 pull-ups. Krystle and I both completed 3 rounds of that in the 20 minutes and then started on round 4, but just got into the jump roping part. And if you haven't jump roped in a long time... wow - what it does to your wrists - OUCH! I went to a friend's later that night and tried to play some Rock Band . . . and I usually can play guitar on hard but my wrists hurt so much that I couldn't!!!!
Thursday I did one of the workouts I posted last time - the one where you do 5 rounds of: 1 min hard, 1 min rest, 1 min hard, 1 min rest, 1 min hard, 1 min rest. That equals 30 minutes of running, 15 of which were hard core - and if you don't run the same distance during each hard minute... you have a foul which means 1 min of max push-ups... and boy do my arms hurt, I did 2 rounds of those for fouls and I was honestly shocked I only had to do 2 of those! But it did feel good to run again though I was indoors.
Finally today I got to run outside!!!! I can't believe how amazing it felt outside, I went for a 5 mile run and it was so nice outside that if I didn't have to come into work, I would have kept on running!

Hope training is going well for ya!
~JR

New Workout Plan

Some of you may have noticed that CrossFit Sioux Falls is now sponsoring our "Stay Fit With KDLT" segment on Thursdays. They are an incredibly intense workout program that's all about preparing your entire body for pretty much any activity. If you want to know more about their programs and if you'd like to get involved yourself, click this link to their website.
The program that we put up last week will still work and perfectly prepare you to run a marathon, that's the schedule I followed pretty much for my first marathon. However, since CrossFit is a sponsor and their method of training is a bit different, we're going to be trying it out to see if our times really do drop. This is an intense program, but our trainers:

Chris Mello

and Kristian Voth assure us that we're going to see an incredible improvement as far as our overall shape goes as well as our times.

This fellow is called "Pukie the Clown" - he honestly scared me a bit at first since I thought getting healthy was about staying away from throwing up... but honestly after some of the workouts... you really do feel like you have to hurl, so I'm not shocked that "Pukie" is the mascot for CrossFit. These workouts really push you, but I can already tell that I'm getting into a great training program that will produce amazing end results.

So if you want to follow along with similar workouts that we are doing... here's this week's workout plan:

Workout #1:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)-Choose ONE Of the following Sports then do:-Swim, Bike, Run, C2 (Rower)-5 Rounds of:-1min on 1 min off, 1min on 1min off, 1min on 1min off (that is 1 round)-Hold distances as consistant as possible, Bike and Run, do this as an out and back. C2/ swim measure meters.-Foul if you go over or under your 1st round distance. RPE of no less than 16.-Foul= 1 min of max rep push ups

Workout #2:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)-Do ONE sport for the following:-Swim: 12 min @ 95% RPE 18-19-Bike: 30min @ 95% RPE 18-19-Run: 20min @ 95% RPE 18-19-C2: 12min @ 95% RPE 18-19

Workout #3:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)-Choose ONE of the following sports-Swim, Bike, Run C2-Goal is to use maximum effort for 2 min interval.-120 sec :60 sec x 6 or (2 min on 1 minute off x 6)

Workout #4:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)-Choose ONE of the Following Sports:-Swim, Bike, Run, C2-Cover as much distance as possible in each of the specified time intervals.Go through down the list twice:-6min TT (Time trial)-3 min rest-4 min TT-2 min rest-1min TT-30 sec rest-30 sec TT-15 sec rest15 sec TT

Workout 5#:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)Choose ONE of the Following Sports:-Swim: RPE of 12 for 15 minutes... Do not exceed 12 RPE for the first half of this effort. If you feel good, increase RPE as to how you see fit... Just never go below 12 RPE.-Bike : RPE of 12 for 30 minutes... Do Not Exceed 12 RPE for the first half of this effort. If you feel good, increase RPE as to how you see fit... Just never go below 12 RPE.-Run: RPE of 12 for 30 minutes... Do Not Exceed 12 RPE for the first half of this effort. If you feel good, increase RPE as to how you see fit... Just never go below 12 RPE.-C2: RPE of 12 for 20 minutes... Do Not Exceed 12 RPE for the first half of this effort. If you feel good, increase RPE as to how you see fit... Just never go below 12 RPE.**RPE (Rate per exertion) to learn more: http://www.smccd.net/accounts/mcgill/RPE.html

Workout #6:-Crossfit at the gym and/or: (If you do both wait 3+ hours between each)-Choose ONE of the Following Sports:-Swim: 500m TT rest 3 min, hold 5 x 100m (15 sec rest between) at your 100m pace for the 500m TT... Deviate more than 2 sec and foul-Bike: 3 mile TT rest 3 min, hold 3 x 1 mile (30 sec rest between) at your 1 mile pace for the 3 mile TT... Deviate more than 5 sec (per direction if in a head/tail wind) and foul-Run: 1 mile TT rest 3 min, hold 3 x 400m (30 sec rest between) at your 1 mile pace for the 1 mile TT... Deviate more than 2 sec and foul-C2: 2000m TT rest 3 min, hold 3 x 500m (30 sec rest between) at your 500m pace for the 2000m TT... Deviate more than 2 sec and foul FOUL: 1 min max rep push ups.

Sounds intense right? It is - but it's kind of fun to push yourself and after you are done... it's so much more rewarding than just going to the gym and just jogging for 30 minutes.

More updates later this week, happy training!

~JR

5K

Well it's definitely been a long time since I timed myself on a treadmill at what I would call "race pace" (basically as hard as I can without killing myself) 25:33 was my time - not the happiest with it, but is has been awhile since I've had a routine work out schedule, so I'm sure that I'll see that drop over time. Plus if anyone has seen me on air lately - I'm a bit under the weather ;) (sorry I couldn't resist the pun).
Tomorrow will be my second CrossFit day - these are incredibly intense workouts, I believe we'll have a story on them and Krystle, Cody and my first week on air next Thursday, but I can't promise that... they have a mascot called "Pukey the Clown" and if that doesn't make you scared of the workouts - I don't know what will!
I'm already a bit sore from this first week of training - taking a long break from the gym for the holidays probably wasn't the best idea, but at least it tells me I'm getting a good workout in. If all goes well - we'll have a story on air tomorrow about training woes during your first few weeks.
Happy training!
~JR

Training Has STARTED!!!

So day 1 of training - a nice ease into the 18 week program. Just some light cross training today. Tomorrow - I'm going to run a 5K as hard as I can and time it on the treadmill. This will set a starting point and make it incredibly easy to compare over the next few months. If you are really serious - you may think about starting a running journal or blog. It's a great way to keep track of your improvement over the duration of this journey. Plus, if you keep track of different times you have during the program - you'll feel even better when you see your time dropping.
If Aaron (chief meteorologist) doesn't get stuck in Chicago from the blizzard, I'm also going to go to my first CrossFit class at 5:30pm - to be honest, I'm a little scared. I'll post details if I don't have to fill in for weather tomorrow, otherwise my first class will be on Thursday with Krystle and Cody as well.
Don't burn yourself out too much in the beginning - if you train too hard at first you could overuse your muscles and it's a long recovery road after that, so ease into training - don't do more than your body can handle!

Changing Your Schedule To Work For You

I know it looks like a long hefty schedule . . . but trust me when I say that it's worth it. Picture training for 18 weeks ... getting into the best shape of your life... now imagine 4 or so hours of people non-stop cheering for you. That's just a tiny taste of running a marathon. And if it works in your schedule, once you get that first taste, you'll just keep coming back for more. I am sad to say this is only my second marathon, but it definitely won't be my last. If you are going to take on this big goal, please let me know... I'm going to be updating this blog at least once a week with my training progress, so feel free to ask any questions about training or the marathon or any of the races and I can do the research for you! Who knows, maybe you'll spark an idea for a full spot on KDLT. This schedule above is the recommended routine to stick to, but since my job doesn't give me the weekends off (thus that whole . . . weekend meteorologist thing)

So since my off-days are on Monday and Tuesday, I moved the training schedule around on Excel, so my longer runs fall on my weekends. Feel free to do this to work out for your schedule as well. Stay tuned for the first week of training post - I'm guessing I'll be a bit exhausted :) The good kind though - can't wait for that runners high to return.

~Jesse Ritka

P.S. If you click on either training schedule you can view a larger version to print off.