IM Training Blog w/c 24.01.22

Week 2 – Completed

Last week in my first IM training blog of 2022 I outlined my approach for this 6 month block of training, which will take me from 0 to 140.6.

There isn’t really much to say about this week so on to the specifics:

Mon
9:30am Outdoor Upper Body Strength & Core EMOM
1: 10 Min 3xPull Up, 2: 10 Min 3xPush Up 3: 10 Min 30s Hollow Hold, 4: 10 Min 30s Arch Hold
All with 2 min rest between

12:30pm – CrossFit Class
Mono-structural Cardio day today
30 Min AMRAP – 400m Row, 400m Run, 50 Double Unders
*My goal was to keep every round consistent and hope my foot holds out with the combo of running and double unders – I did, and it did 🙂

Tues – Rest Day
6:30am – “Just Moving” Recovery Session at CrossFit
*Same as last week – without 75Hard I would likely just do the dog walk and that would be but as I need that second workout I went to hang out with the early morning crew again and did an easy (zone 1 max) session. I threw in the Ski Erg as well as the Assault Bike for of 9 x 3 min cardio + 2 Minutes mobility – and I threw in the GHD to work on some deep back extensions.

Weds
6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach)
*Week 6 of the 12 week Program = Get Faster aka Speed Week. I’m a better climber than racer so this is a good week for me to work on my weaknesses.
No brick run post class this week as I had no one to run with (meaning I had no one to store my bag with as I cycle to the gym). I know I could have done it once I got home but I got through the door and Cracker dog was so happy to see me I couldn’t turn round and leave hime again straight away… weak sauce I know but dog owners, you will understand.

12:45pm – Pool Swim
14 x 100m repeats with 1 min rest.
*Building on the positives of my first session last week I simply aimed to add two more 100m repeats. I ended up doing 4 more, with the intention of completing 16 to get the mile but I ran out of time as the session ended. Note to self – find out how long the session is so I can plan accordingly.

Thur
12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class
40 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 3 40sec, Min 4 60sec)
1: Burpee Box Step Up, 2: Alt Ring Row/Push Up, 3: KB Swing, 4: Alt Row/Ski, 5: Rest

6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach)
*Thurs night is the same as Weds morning so a second crack at speed week. It’s always interesting to compare the two efforts and weirdly there isn’t a clear pattern of best performance. One week my morning session will be stronger, another the evening.

Fri
12:30pm – CrossFit Class
Heavy Strength Day today
Every 3 min x 10 = 1 Deadlift + 10 Hanging L Raises (add one deadlift every set)
*The deadlift was advised to be 50/60% of your 1RM and completed in unbroken sets. My current 1rm is 95kg so I went for 55kg. It felt solid, I could maintain good form and consistent pacing on each set and more importantly my grip lasted the workout. I split the hanging leg raises from the start into 2 sets of 5 and held this throughout.

2:00pm – Conditioning AMRAP session with Head Coach Toby
100 Wallball for time + 4 min rest.
*The goal here was to complete as big a set as possible for the first set, same again for second set getting it done as quickly as possible with as few breaks as possible. I hit a set of 50, 20, 20, 10. Toby, because he’s a rock star hit 70, 30!
1 min on, 1 min off: 5 cal row + 2 Burpee over Rower. Add 2 Burpee until you cannot finish.
*A twisted take on Death by Burpee -I got the round of 14 but could only get 12 reps. Toby, again because he’s a rock star got to the round of 20 but got timed out at 19 reps;
EMO2M 5/5 Single Arm Dumbbell Squat Snatch x 6
* I cannot squat snatch a dumbbell I found out. I had never tried before and it did not go well. I cannot even really single arm squat with a dumbbell so I went back to basics, removed the weight and just worked on bodyweight single arm squats. I def found something I suck at which I will need to work on.

Sat
8:00am – CrossFit Class (Partner wod with Simon)
25 Min AMRAP (Run together, split the reps)
400m row, 50 Wallball, 50 Burpee Box Step Over
400m row, 50 Alt Devil Press, 50 Weighted Box Step Up
400m row, 50 Hang Power Clean, 50 Push Jerk
*It was meant to be a run but I cant run in my CF shoes so Simon ran while I rowed. We both decided we wanted to push ourselves so we both went heavier with the dumbbell and barbell. During the warm up I genuinely felt done and was properly worried about how this was going to play out. I shouldn’t have worried. I loved every second of it. I worked harder than I honestly thought I could and thoroughly enjoyed it.

9:00am – 4 Mile Run w/ weight vest
*No Simon to run with this week so I decided if I didn’t have him to push my pace, I would throw on my weight vest and mix it up that way. I ran 2 miles out, 2 miles back, so I couldn’t be tempted to dial it in early. It was practically spring like outside so no layering up required. Shorts, vest top, weight vest – Go.

7:00pm – Yoga Practice via DownDog App
*So I discovered Yin Yoga on the app and let me tell you, I am a fan. I bought a new yoga matt in the week, one with the alignment lines on it (which actually helps a lot) as new kit always helps right 🙂 These two things combined mean that I think I can say, I enjoyed yoga.

Sun
9:00am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class
*Again, not coaching the session I upped my FTP and just let Chris tell me what to do. It must have been a good session as at least twice when he gave an instruction I told him to fuck off (in my head of course). It’s like I tell my athletes, if every so often you aren’t cursing me during a session, I’m probably not doing my job right. No, it shouldn’t be high intensity, max effort all the time but occasionally you need to go to war with yourself and I did that in the class today.

10:00am – 400m Hill Reps
*Post Cycle Brick Run session but this week focussed on building leg strength, cardio endurance and quick recovery. Once again Lorraine was the only one willingly to jump in with me and we spent around 40 minutes running 200m up 200m down the same incline for 3.5 miles. The goal is not to sprint up and jog down, the goal for this run was consistency. Same pace up, same pace down.

7:00pm – Yoga Practice
*The exercise rule of 75Hard, is as you may remember, 2 45 minute workouts (can be longer), 1 must be outdoors, they cannot be consecutive. I’d hit the first two parts of the rule but same as yesterday, they were consecutive so I had to hit a third workout to meet the rules. Let’s face it, Yoga is never going to be a bad thing to do and I am determined to get to a place where I like yoga – yes I enjoyed the practice yesterday but that doesn’t yet make it something I relish and look forward to.
I tried a second Yin Yoga session and I think because it feels more like the mobility sessions I’m used to it’s more comfortable (mentally, not necessarily physically). Again, I enjoyed it and could def feel the pain points in my body releasing a little.