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.