Never Miss a Workout

I did not want to get up this morning at 5:15. I was exhausted. I hadn't slept enough. I ran 11 miles yesterday and my body still hurt. It was still pitch black out. It was cold, and my bed was so very warm. Most people would stay in bed for one of those reasons.

I sat up and turned the light on and turned off my alarm. I never hit snooze. Then my cat, seeing that I was awake, started going crazy. I got up, fed her, and brushed my teeth. After that I didn't go back to bed. This all happened pretty slowly, as my body really didn't want to move. But by 5:30am I was downstairs with my coffee and started lifting.

I wasn't motivated. Motivation has nothing to do with it. My motivation is a big zero right now. But this was the 16th day of my deadlift challenge. I didn't have a choice. I had to lift. At no point is exercise something I "want" to do. It's something I have to do. Because if it's not, I will fail. Period.

It's tempting to stay in bed. Missing "just one day" won't kill me. Or I could do my workout "later". In fact, my lifts took longer than I thought this morning, so I wasn't able to go swimming afterward. But I went swimming at lunch time. Staying in bed after you wake up though has no value. You don't get any more meaningful rest.

It's just comfortable.

Fitness isn't about comfort. It's the opposite. Exercise pushes you far outside of your comfort zone. It causes you pain and fatigue, so that your body heals stronger. It makes your mind stronger too, as you become better capable of handling hardship. But every time you cave in and skip a workout, you go backwards in your progress. You teach your brain that it's ok to give up. And your brain definitely loves laziness.

"Ugh, these stupid abs better be worth it."

The only way to stick to a workout plan is with a routine. Make a plan and DO it. You can't wait until you want to work out, because you never will. Oh occasionally you'll feel energetic or inspired and will go on a hike, but that's rare and undependable. Anything you want to succeed at requires a daily ritual of hard work. And this isn't just for exercise; it applies to everything.

A lot of this is about attitude. Many folks - without being too rude I think I can say most folks - have trouble sticking with a workout or diet plan. Deep down they know that they don't really need to exercise. That sleeping in, eating junk food, and being fat and jolly are totally OK. Nothing "bad" will happen to them, at least not right away. And when it does... That's what they have overpriced health insurance for!

I know, because I was the same way. I would eat, drink booze, party, and have a grand old time. I'd exercise once or twice a week, but always with a feeling like, "well, it doesn't really matter." I'd stay out too late and get trashed, or eat a whole container of potato chips in a sitting because it made me feel good. I convinced myself that the best you could hope for out of life was to feel good as much as possible.

I was wrong.

What she says.

Today, I feel proud. Genuinely proud. Even though I'm my own harshest critic, I can still point at some of the things I've done and say, "ya know what, me? That was kind of awesome." Or, "that was brutally hard, and I did it anyway." I feel powerful. Because I've learned that challenges are not insurmountable, and that I can achieve pretty much whatever I want if I work hard enough.

I also have love. I've learned how critical this is to a happy and healthy life. When I was younger, I had plenty of friends. But most of them liked me because I fed them booze and made things exciting for an evening. The friends I have now respect me. They appreciate the pain and suffering I've gone through, and they can entirely sympathize with it. We share the kind of deep connection that fellow warriors do after surviving a battle together.

We inspire one another. My friends and fellow exercise nuts blow me away with their accomplishments. Often times, seeing one of them post something amazing online is what gets me out the door. I don't want to let them down! And in return I inspire others to work harder as well. And in this way we all bring one another up.

Friends make everything awesome!
Photo Cr. MarathonFoto; courtesy of Meghan

Exercise is usually a solitary activity though. And if you're only just starting, it takes a while to build up that sense of community. There's other things to keep yourself on track though.

Think of the things you do that help you unwind and bring you joy: Relaxing, reading, eating a delicious dinner (or ice cream!), watching Netflix. Now turn those things into rewards. You don't get to do those things until after you've worked out. Period. If you don't run, you don't eat. If you don't bike, you don't get to watch TV. If you don't swim, you don't get to lie down and relax.

A lot of the times I exercise is exactly because I'm hungry. Or I'm tired. I know - KNOW - that I'm not "allowed" to eat or relax until I've done my workout. So the faster I get myself up and moving, the faster I get to the reward.

And if I don't exercise, I feel guilty. Actually, at this point I feel guilty for even thinking about not exercising. A lot of people probably suffer this as well. But here's the difference. They decide to skip the spin class, or crossfit, or their run, or the gym, or whatever. They relax and feel, "man, I needed to rest." But then later, the guilt creeps in.

Even during the winter I won't let myself slack off.

I don't wait until later. I feel guilty immediately. And I hate feeling guilty. It sucks big time. So I get up and I go do the thing I don't feel like doing. And then not only do I not feel guilty anymore, I feel good. It may sound weird, but what I'm saying is don't delay the negative emotions. Use them to drive you to work, and then turn them into positive emotions as a result.

For me, it's not enough to just have a daily plan. I like to challenge myself. I've currently completed 16 days of my 80 day deadlift challenge. Last year I did an 80 day deadlift challenge as well. I challenge myself by registering for races that force me to keep training. I've signed up for my first Ironman. It's still still 10 months out, but that actually feels like very little time to get my swimming and biking to the level they need to be at! I made sure to go swimming today because even missing one session would feel like a big setback.

"Must. Hold. 345. Pounds. For. Photo."

Ignore pain. Ignore exhaustion. They'll always be there, and they don't matter. Find your inspiration. Fill your life with people who support you and raise you up. Challenge yourself regularly. Measure your successes, feel proud of yourself, and then pushes yourself to even greater ones. Try new things; don't stagnate. Crosstrain, sign up for new and different challenges, do something your friends are doing.

Claim the identity you wish to have. You don't want to be successful. You ARE successful. You don't want to get into shape. You are already an athlete! You don't wish to be a better person. You are already amazing!! And successful athletic and amazing people work hard every day. And that's who you are.

Claim it.

"Claim it.... or I'll eat your face."

Love and Masochism in Baltimore

I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to write today, and struggled with the title. I finally settled on something that sounds like it was written by Hunter S. Thompson. Hopefully it'll make sense... eventually.

My friend Brian had signed up to run the marathon in the Baltimore Running Festival a while ago, along with about a thousand other marathons. I ran Wineglass with him, and wrote about him before that. I had actually wanted to do Baltimore too, purely because of the ridiculously awesome medal, but I already had about a thousand back-to-back races scheduled, and hate driving.

The medal freakin' OPENS. Photo cr: Baltimore Running Festival website.

After Wineglass, Brian said he was done racing, and I foolishly believed him. But about a half hour later, he totally changed his mind. We were all very worried about him. Of course he's an epic badass, and would run a marathon through a wild cougar preserve (the toothy clawy kind, not the lecherous lady kind). But we care about him, and his lungs hate him.

Meghan signed up to run the marathon with Brian. Because she's amazing, and takes care of others even if she herself is falling apart (which was true; her hip had barely recovered, and she had a gnarly head cold all weekend). I was relieved. I had: run Lehigh Valley Marathon, done a triathlon, run a half-marathon, run Wineglass Marathon, and run Empire State Marathon. All in consecutive weekends. Without a break.

I was happy to know that Brian would have an epic friend like Meghan running with him and supporting him in yet another brutal trial. I would finally have a weekend off. My toenails were all the wrong colors, I had trouble walking up stairs (or on flat surfaces for that matter), and had just started my deadlift challenge.

And then it happened.

Geoffrey told me had signed up to run Baltimore too. He was going to go down with Meghan and surprise Brian. I stared at him dumbfounded. I quivered a bit. My organs started to pre-emptively shut down. I went upstairs and signed up too. It was the last day of online registration.

That's a lie. I didn't sign up immediately. First I txted Meghan and said I was almost tempted to go. I was hoping she'd say, "well actually, Geoffrey and I were going to double this up as a romantic getaway, and you would totally cramp our mojo." No. Instead she said, "Do it!". The rest of my vital organs quietly turned off, conserving the scraps of energy that remained in my body. Then I signed up.

That made 3 back-to-back marathons in a row, and 4 within 5 weeks of each other.

And Haiko has been there for most of my races.

Of course, as soon as I did that, I was glad. I enjoy doing stupid things and destroying my body. And it would be awesome to surprise Brian and run the marathon with him. And then there was that medal!!! We all kept the secret from him, weaving delicate webs of lies upon lies to confound him.

The drive down was long. I napped in the back seat as much as I could to fast forward through the ride. It was a bit uncomfortable, as I had brought two 70 pounds freeweights and they took up all the floor space (you didn't think I'd miss even a single day of my deadlift challenge, did you??).

We got to Baltimore, and after competing over whose directions to follow, arrived at the Convention center for the expo. We got our bibs. I picked up the bib for my friend Vadim who had signed up for the half-marathon at the last minute. That's what happens when you randomly TXT to catch up. I will invite you to run a race.

And then it was time to surprise Brian. Meghan went into the restaurant first. Geoffrey and I hid in the hallway like a pair of skulking vagrants. Unfortunately Brian was facing the door, so Meghan TXTed and told us to just waltz in. And by waltz I mean we bumbled around the restaurant like a pair of lost tourists. Brian noticed my kilt from afar (it shines like the North Star). But he was still quite surprised!

"You've got to be f@#king kidding me," he exclaimed.

We sat. We met his friends who were also running the marathon (separately). We ate most of their pizza. Brian was pretty overwhelmed, but managed to keep his $hit together. There were lots of hugs and shows of appreciation. It was nice. And we had a gorgeous view of the Inner Harbor. I'd never been to Baltimore. Wow!

We drove through some questionable neighborhoods on our way to the motel. We stopped at a questionable 7-11 to pick up some questionable contraband (er, soda). There were some questionable folks being quite boisterous in the store. I remember when I was young and used to hang out in convenience stores, before social media and smart phones ruined my social life.

We got to the motel, where Vadim had been waiting for about half an hour. I lugged my two dumbbells to our room. Geoffrey and Meghan were staying in their own room, where they could engage in all sorts of inappropriate shenanigans (I imagined). Vadim and I talked about life, the universe, and everything, and went to bed too late.

My alarm woke me up at 4:45am. I fell out of bed and did ten sets of deadlifts. I was done by the time Vadim even stirred. His half marathon started almost 2 hours after ours. He asked if I could demonstrate a deadlift. I said no. I went through the rest of the pre-race morning ritual (including 3 poops). Meghan, Geoffrey and I eventually ended up in the same parking garage near the Convention Center we'd parked in the previous night.

Post lift selfie.

We met up with Brian. It was still cold, but because it was supposed to get up to 70 during the race, I decided to leave my shirt in the car and just suffer for an hour. The four of us were somewhere on the spectrum of excited to "I'm going to die in this race." Brian in particular had about eight things wrong with his body. We swept it away like so much debris and told him (lied) that he'd be fine.

We joined the obscenely massive crowd of people near the starting line and milled around, freezing. The race was ridiculously well organized and coordinated. 4500 folks left the starting line for the 5K. I walked a few blocks trying to find a place to pee and gave up. I did spot one vacant stretch of sidewalk that looked promising, until I spotted a woman who had already laid claim.

At the starting line.

Meghan, Geoffrey, Brian and I heard the air horn. 2500 folks streamed across the starting line for the marathon, many more cheering on the sides. The mood was ecstatic! And the spectators would remain amazing throughout the entire race.

Geoffrey had planned out the race ahead of time to give Brian the best shot at finishing. Brian didn't want to do the walk breaks early on, but Geoffrey hammered on him like a drill sergeant. That didn't stop me and Brian from occasionally sneaking ahead like a pair of deviant kids, until Papa Geoffrey reined in the leashes.

The race course gave us a great tour of the city, and with our leisurely pace we had plenty of time to explore our surroundings. Early on we got to run through the zoo. The zoo! Meghan got a selfie with a penguin. This 100% happened.

Photo Cr: Meghan

We had warned Brian ahead of time that the three of us complain a lot. Even though he's the one dying a slow and terrible death, he still said at one point, "you sure do b![ch a lot!" We also talk about food a lot, but that was a no-no with Brian's sensitive stomach. But most of all, we make highly inappropriate comments about, just, everything. I even got a police officer to shake his head at me with a well-timed, "that's what she said." Oh, I remember now. The officer was telling us to, "mind the gap."

Blink.

At mile 9 we passed the half-marathoners starting their race. All eight thousand of them. It took a really long time for all of them to cross the starting line. I strained my neck looking for Vadim, but it was hopeless. It was amazing passing by a crowd of over ten thousand runners and spectators.

Brian's lungs started to betray him around this point. We alternated between giving him encouraging remarks, and making terrible sexual jokes. I'm not sure which helped more. He felt guilty that we were running so slowly because of him, but we told him that was ridiculous. It was an honor for the three of us to run with such a strong individual, and we quite enjoyed the experience throughout.

Geoffrey asked me to take this photo for some reason.

Around mile 12 I tripped and did a karate roll to prevent a face plant. Brian didn't believe that that was a thing I actually did until he saw it. I'm surprised he didn't trip himself. There was a surprisingly large number of bananas scattered along the course, and if you recall from my interview with Brian, bananas are his arch-nemesis. He would point out each one like it was a ninja about to strike from the shadows.

Brian continued to struggle and the race became harder and harder for him. Geoffrey and I lent him our arms to lean on. We stopped when we needed to so he could catch some air. It was our mission to get him across the finish line, even if we had to carry him (or as Geoffrey said, drag him by his heels). And Meghan: The cold medication she'd taken (which made her hilariously loopy early on) had worn off, but she still ran up ahead several times to bring back coke for Brian. And the stores she had to go into..... Sketchy as heck.

Unbelievably, the miles ticked down. I'd say we refused to allow Brian to surrender, but the fact is that he would never surrender. We told him it was OK if he had to stop, but he never did. Brian gives us a lot of credit for helping him finish, but really, that man does not know the definition of quit. His entire body was failing him, but his will drove him onward.

At about mile 23, he seemed to get a second wind out of nowhere, and started pulling us along. A number of folks who passed us were quit impressed by his perseverance. It's an absolute inspiration to run with him. After over six and a half hours of running, and with a final epic push, we crossed the finish line together.

I frantically searched for our medals, immediately forgetting all about the marathon or Brian's health. I finally found the right person. These things were MASSIVE. Each medal weighed as much as small Volvo. And they had all these claws and pincers that got caught on just everything. Occasionally the medals would bounce off a piece of nearby furniture and break it. It was awesome.

We milled around the finishing area for a while - not because we wanted to, but because our brains weren't working anymore. Vadim was finally able to find us and we piled into his pickup truck. I rode in the back.

Riding through Baltimore in Vadim's pickup.

Brian went back to his room to get an oxygen tank. We all went to lunch. I had a crabcake sandwich and crab soup, because duh. We ate a lot of food. Finally, with many farewell hugs, tears, and genuine love and appreciation, we left. Meghan drove first and I slept. Then Geoffrey drove and I slept.

We pulled off somewhere in PA so Geoffrey could get coffee, but he was wiped out. I had slept for about 3 hours by that point and offered to drive. And immediately got us lost. With the headlights off in the dark. I finally spotted the correct on-ramp and drove through some cones to get to it. I finally turned the headlights on and we made it home more-or-less intact.

At home we ate a ton of ice cream and crashed hard.

Before I started writing this post I was thinking about why we do what we do. Brian. Geoffrey. Meghan. All of us. We push ourselves far past our breaking points. We run when we're sick. We run when we're injured. We run no matter how exhausted or sore we are. And Brian in particular runs even though it lands him in the ICU afterwards every time.

I did more deadlifts and bicycled almost 38 miles the day after the marathon. Yesterday I lifted, swam for an hour, and ran 13 miles (a half marathon). Just two days after a full marathon. There's a bunch of reasons I could come up with for why.

We want to be successful, and we train hard to be the best we can be. And the community is amazing. Our weekend at Wineglass was full of love and adventure. And our weekend in Baltimore was more of the same. And we connect over our shared passion. We know what each of us goes through in our training, and that creates a tremendous amount of respect among us.

But the real reason, I believe, is this: It's an addiction. When we don't exercise, even when we have a really really good reason for it, we hate ourselves. It's not just guilt. We beat ourselves up fiercely, emotionally, for taking a day off. At least I know I do. And yeah, that may not be the best thing. But running, and fitness, has been a massive benefit to us.

Most folks have a lot of self-doubt. A. LOT. We have fears and insecurities. A feeling that we are letting down ourselves and our loved ones. A feeling that we're not living up to our potentials, and that we're wasting the opportunities life gives us.

But when we're outside, pushing our bodies, all of that vanishes. And it really is an addiction. Because when we're "on" it, we feel amazing, but when we're "off" it, we feel terrible. But we do it because when we feel good, we feel really good. And there's just nothing else in life that compares.

And Brian.... At the risk of ending on a depressing note... There's a good chance he doesn't have much time left. But despite what everyone would say, despite what his doctors say, he knows he can run a marathon. It should be impossible for him, but he refuses to accept that. If it wasn't for running, there's a good chance he would've died when his doctors originally predicted. But he's still here, kicking ass. Running is probably the last thing he has that gives him a feeling of strength. And it gives him the love of some very supportive and dear friends.

Because otherwise he would be suffering alone.

In Baltimore, none of us were alone. We shared a powerful and close bond. We gave one another our love and generosity. We didn't obsess over our insecurities. We had a singular mission: To cross that finish line. And when we did, we were bathed in a wash of euphoria that can't be duplicated with any drug.

It was an exceptional experience. And thanks to running, it won't be the last one.

I can't believe I almost forgot about the Cheesecake Factory!!

Deadlift Challenge #2

Last year I did a deadlift challenge, and it went pretty well. Here's the post for that: http://www.crushingpavement.com/2015/10/80-day-deadlift-challenge.html

I made some mistakes and learned from that experience. Here's that post: http://www.crushingpavement.com/2016/01/80-day-deadlift-challenge-lessons.html

I've decided to do another deadlift challenge. But I'm going to vary the format pretty significantly. Most of it is stolen from this T-Nation article: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-deadlift-daily-to-get-stronger

Here is my current plan, although I may adjust it as time goes on. Edit 11/18: I'm going to insert more rest days. The combination of daily deadlifts, running, biking, and swimming is destroying my legs. I'm not going to make any gains if my legs are perpetually shredded. I won't be following the schedule below exactly.

Monday -  Max Speed lift. 8 sets of 3 at 60% max weight, trying to get the weight up as fast as possible.

Tuesday - Near max lift. 10 sets of singles at 90% max weight.

Wednesday - Pause x 2 lifts. 6 sets of 5 at 75% weight where I pause the lift at two points.

Thursday - Do a single rep every 30 seconds at 85% max.

Friday - PR day. Work up through some sets and attempt a new max lift.

Saturday - Tension lifts. Do 10 sets of 5 at just 135 pounds, but maintain maximum tension the entire time.

Sunday - Crosstraining. Squats, pull-ups, and maybe something else.

For more details on these, check out the T-nation article above. By following this routine, I'm hoping it will be more engaging than last year's challenge, where I did the same thing every day. It should also help prevent injury.

After I finish the deadlifts, I'll finish out the workout every day with some kind of upper body lift, time permitting, and then some reverse crunches.

On top of all this, I will continue doing cardio. I've signed up for the Mont Tremblant Ironman next year (http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/mont-tremblant.aspx#/axzz4MmrflOlm). That means I have to swim, bike, and run.

Swimming will be the most challenging to schedule, as the best time to hit the pool is in the morning before work. On those days I'll probably have to get up at about 5am to do the deadlifts and have enough time to swim. The biking and running I'll do after work, and I'll do long workouts on the weekends.

Empire State marathon

I ran my 4th marathon of the year this past Sunday (10/9), the Empire State Marathon. I started my lifting challenge on Monday. My training schedule this year is going to be pretty tight due to the triathlons next season, so I don't have the luxury of a prolonged rest break (although I'm sure my friends will yell at me for this). I will update this post with my daily progress.

Monday 10/10 - Day 1
Deadlift: Warm-up x16; Max Speed 10 x 3 at 225lbs.
Chest Fly.
1 mile swim.
3 mile post-marathon shake out run.

Tuesday 10/11 - Day 2
Deadlift: Warm-up x12; 225 x 10; Near Max 8 singles at 350lbs. I cut the last two as my legs are still sore.
Bench press, incline press, decline press, reverse crunches.

Wednesday 10/12 - Day 3
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Pause 6x5 at 275lbs.
Reverse crunches.
4 mile run.

Thursday 10/13 - Day 4
Deadlift: 2 sets of Warm-ups x12; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 325lbs. This was tough!
Reverse crunches.
2/3 mile swim.

Friday 10/14 - Day 5
Deadlift: PR day!
Warm-up x15
225 x 12295 x 9
345 x 3365 x 1
375 x 1375 x 1 ... I forgot to add 5 pounds, but I'm glad for that because this was def my max (with proper form)
Reverse crunch

"I can't believe I'm doing this before 6am."

Saturday 10/15 - Day 6
Deadlift: Max tension. 10x5 at 140lbs.
Reverse Crunch
Baltimore marathon (26.2 miles)

Sunday 10/16 - Day 7
Cross training day
Squats: 135 x 15, 225 x 12, 275 x 9, 295 x 8, 305 x 7
Pull-ups 3 sets; reverse crunch x 30
37 mile bicycle

Monday 10/17 - Day 8
Deadlift: Warm-up x20; Max Speed 8 x 3 at 225lbs.
Curls, rows, reverse crunches
1 hour swim
13 mile run

Tuesday 10/18 - Day 9
Deadlift: Warm-up x12; 225 x 10; Near Max 10 singles at 340lbs.
Triceps, reverse crunches.

Wednesday 10/19 - Day 10
Deadlift: Warm-up x12; Pause 6x5 at 280lbs.
Reverse crunches.
3 mile run.

Thursday 10/20 - Day 11
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x 10; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 320lbs.
Reverse crunches.
1000 meter swim.
9 mile interval tempo run.

"That run sucked."

Friday 10/21 - Day12
Deadlift: Max tension. 10x5 at 135lbs. I've been sick all week and was feeling awful this morning, so I swapped today's workout with tomorrow's.
Reverse Crunch
1 hour spin

Saturday 10/22 - Day 13
Deadlift: PR day
Warm-up x20
225 x 15
295 x 9
345 x 4
375 x 2
380 x 1
385 x 1
Reverse crunches

385 pounds!

Sunday 10/23 - Day 14
Crosstraining
Squats 135 x 20, 225 x 15, 295 x 8, 315 x 7, 325 x 6
Pull-ups x10, x9, x9
Crunches
2500 meter swim
13 mile run

Monday 10/24 - Day 15
Deadlift: Warm-up x12; Max speed 10 x 3 at 230lbs.
Curls, shrugs, crunches.
11 mile run

Tuesday 10/25 - Day 16
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x 10; Near Max 10 singles at 345lbs.
Crunches
1200 meter swim

Wednesday 10/26 - Day 17
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Pause 6x5 at 290lbs.
Reverse crunches.
4 mile run.

Thursday 10/27 - Day 18
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x 12; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 325lbs.
Reverse crunches
1200 meter swim
Hour and a half bike trainer

Friday 10/28 - Day 19
Deadlift: Max tension. 10x5 at 135lbs.
Reverse Crunch

Saturday 10/29 - Day 20
Deadlift: PR day
Warm-up x22
225 x 16
295 x 10
345 x 5
375 x 3
390 x 1
395 x 1
10 mile run

Sunday 10/30 - Day 21
Pull-ups
10K (10 miles total running)
1 hour bike trainer

10K. Photo Cr. Brian Simpson.

Monday 10/31 - Day 22
Max Speed
Warm-up x15
235 x 3, 10 sets
Chest fly
Curls
1 hour bike trainer

Tuesday 11/1 - Day 23
Warm-up x15; 225 x 10; Near Max 10 singles at 355lbs.
Hanging knee raises
1250 yard swim

Wednesday 11/2 - Day 24
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Pause 6x5 at 295lbs.
Reverse crunches.
4 mile run.

Thursday 11/3 - Day 25
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x 12; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 335lbs.
Bicycle crunches
1000 yard swim
12 mile run

Friday 11/4 - Day 26
Deadlift: Max tension. 10x5 at 135lbs.
Max lift at 400lbs.

Saturday 11/5 - Day 27
Warm-up x20
225 x 15
300 x8, x8, x8
2 min plank
135 min bike trainer

Sunday 11/6 - Day 28
Warm-up x15
Clean & press 60lbs x5, x6, x6
Pull-up x9, x9, x9
Reverse and bicycle crunches

Monday 11/7 - Day 29
Max Speed
Warm-up x15
240 x 3, 10 sets
Chin-ups
Crunches
1 hour 20 min bike trainer

Tuesday 11/8 - Day 30
Warm-up x15; 225 x 12; Near Max 10 singles at 360lbs.
Hanging knee raises
1300 yard swim

Wednesday 11/9 - Day 31
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Pause 6x5 at 300lbs.
5 mile run.


Thursday 11/10
Rest from deadlifts
12 mile run

Running in the daaaark

Friday 11/11 - Day 32

Deadlift: Warm-up x20; 225 x14; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 340lbs.
Reverse crunches
1.5 hour bike trainer

Saturday 11/12 - Day 33
Max Tension 10x5 at 135lbs.
405 lbs. attempted max. I got it up but wasn't happy with my form, so I won't count it.
35 min bike trainer

Sunday 11/13 - Day 34
Clean & press 60lbs 4 sets
13.5 mile run

Monday 11/14 - Day 35
Max Speed
Warm-up x18
240 x 3, 10 sets
1 mile swim35 min bike trainer

Tuesday 11/15 - Day 36
Warm-up x15; 225 x 10; Near Max 10 singles at 360lbs.
Leg raises 

Wednesday 11/16 - Day 37
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Pause 6x5 at 300lbs.
4.5 mile run.


Thursday 11/17
Rest. I'm going to take more rest days so I don't destroy my legs. Edited the beginning of the post above.


Friday 11/18 - Day 38 
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x12; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 340lbs.
Reverse crunches
Half hour swim
10 mile run

Saturday 11/19 - Day 39
Max Tension 10x5 at 135lbs.
30 mile bike ride
5K transition run

Sunday 11/20
10 miles of running

Monday 11/21 - Day 40
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Max speed 240 x 3, 10 sets
Chest fly; curls
100 minutes stationary bike

Tuesday 11/22
1250 yard swim

Wednesday 11/23
8 mile run

Thursday 11/24
Turkey Trot 5K. 11 miles total running

All that running made me hot!

Friday 11/25 - Day 41
Deadlifts: Warm-up x20; 225 x 15; Near max 10 singles at 360.
Reverse crunch
8 mile run

Saturday 11/26
2000 yard swim
2.5 hours stationary bike

Sunday 11/27 - Day 42
Deadlift: Warm-up x20; Pause 6x5 at 305lbs.
410 x1
415 x1. New max!
11.5 mile run

Monday 11/28
Chest fly; curls; reverse crunch
80 min stationary bike

Tuesday 11/29 - Day 43
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; 225 x12; 85% every 30 seconds for 10 mins at 350lbs.
1/2 mile swim

Wednesday 11/30
6 mile run

Thursday 12/01 - Day 44
Deadlifts - Max Tension 10x5 at 135lbs.
Reverse crunches; regular crunches

Friday 12/02
Half hour swim
Half marathon (13.1 miles run) 

Saturday 12/03 - Day 45
Deadlift: Warm-up x15; Max speed 250 x 3, 10 sets
Reverse crunch
1 mile swim
2 hour spin 

Sunday 12/04
17 mile run

Monday 12/05 - Day 46
Deadlifts: Warm-up x20; 225 x 15; Near max 10 singles at 360.
Reverse crunch

Tuesday 12/06
1000 yard swim

Wednesday 12/07
6 mile run

Thursday 12/08 - Day 47
Deadlift: Warm-up x20; Pause 6 sets of 5 at 310lbs.
Reverse crunch
8 mile run
Half hour run

Friday 12/09
Half hour swim
5 mile run

Saturday 12/10 - Day 48
Deadlift: Max day!
Warm-up x20
225 x15
315 x 8
365 x 4
420 x 1
425 x 1
Reverse crunch
1250 yard swim
110 min stationary bike

Sunday 12/11
11 mile run

Monday 12/12 - Day 49
Warm-up x15
225 x10
295 x8
320 x6
345 x6
395 x3
Chest fly 3 sets
8 mile run 

Tuesday 12/13
Half hour swim

Wednesday 12/14
10K run
Thursday 12/15
10 mile run

Coooooold

Friday 12/16 - Day 50
Warm-up x15
225 x 12
295 x 10
365 x 4
365 x 4
365 x 6
Half hour swim
Fast 5k run
1 hour stationary bike 

Saturday 12/17
1 mile swim

Sunday 12/18
15 mile run
25 mile stationary bike

Monday 12/19 - Day 51
Warm-up x 18
225 x 15
295 x 10
345 x 7
365 x 6
365 x 6
Curls 3 sets
Reverse crunch