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