Adarq.org

ok so my only mission during this week off.. is to get my calves to loosen up, left especially. Left is just tight as fu*k.

ice helped it calm down it seems.. felt good.

about to go get some compression sleeves specifically for calves, just to see how that affects them.

this calf tightness is really bugging me.. need them (left) to relax.

edit: btw, I think it has to do with something going on behind my left knee. I think that triggers it.

2017 strava stats

https://blog.strava.com/2017-in-stats/?utm_source=strava&utm_medium=dorado

The Georgia/Oklahoma playoff was epic.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khPnyFoppk4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khPnyFoppk4</a>

happy new year folks. i'm going to sleep b4 12 AM, tired af. maybe the first time i've done that.



now my week off starts.. yaaaa.

Took the entire last week off. Didn't intend it that way but it just happened. Was meant to be my 95% week but I didn't feel that my body was up to it with all the celebrations going on. Back and hips were sore and I figured I'd take that as a rest week instead of this week. No biggie.

Started the next cycle- training maxes are up by 5kg except bench which I've left the same.

31/12/17
Strength session 70%

Warm up- ido's squat protocol, HF stretches, calf stretches, dynamic leg swings

Squat-
bar x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 5, 5

Bench-
12.5 DBs for 10 - bench wasn't free to begin with
60 x 5, 5, 5

NG pull up
bw x 5, 5, 5, 5

Dips-
bw x 7, 7

Cable Rows-
130lbs x 10, 10

Plank x 30s x 2
Back ext iso x 30s x 2 +10kgs

KB Swings- 24kg x 100 (20 rep sets with 1 min rest)

Stretching

Almost had a maxent moment. I had already planned to use my oly shoes and knee sleeves for this cycle. Show up to squat and there's some big dudes around me throwing some decent weight around. Two guys squatting 140 for reps like it's nothing in bare feet and I almost went with them given how little I was squatting. In the end I figured who cares and did it how I was going to do it anyway. Had the sleeves on around my shins but didn't end up using them as the knees felt pretty good anyway.

hah nice. stickToThePlan, well 50% considering the knee sleeves but ya,

sH*t think I forgot to hit post.

race!

adductor issues were gone when i woke up.

12/31/2017

bw = ?
bw before bed last night = ?
soreness = none
aches/injuries = none
cramping = none
morning quad flexibility = loose
morning hamstring flexibility = loose
morning calf flexibility = loose
feel = good

wakeup = 04:00 AM
- eek

log:
05:00 AM: food: black tea
05:15 AM: food: 2 x small pizza slices, 2 x chicken wings, water
06:45 AM: food: water
07:05 AM: workout: warmup
07:30 AM: race: Boca 5k Race: 6th overall & 1st for 35-39: BIG PR's  : First sub 18 5k @ 17:55 official / 17:50 watch (5:45 mm pace), coopers test @ 2.11, 2 mile @ 11:19 (-1s lmao), finally a decent 0.1 mi sprint to finish a 5k race
10:30 AM: food: french toast, eggs, sausage, orange juice, toast/butter .. (insane meal)
03:00 PM: nap: 2 hours
08:00 PM: food: 10 chicken wings, 1 small slice of pizza, left over french toast

stretch:
icing:
self massage:
leg drain:
contrast showers:
naps:
03:00 PM: nap: 2 hours


workout: Boca 5k Race: 6th overall & 1st for 35-39: BIG PR's: First sub 18 5k @ 17:55 official / 17:50 watch (5:45 mm pace), coopers test @ 2.11, 2 mile @ 11:19 (-1s lmao), finally a decent 0.1 mi sprint to finish a 5k race
- https://www.strava.com/activities/1334954253
- http://accuchip.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=16337&RId=199&EId=1

not what i wanted to do for 2 miles but whatever, turned out decent. happy with it. On to bigger things in 2018!!









easier PR objectives achieved.

first sub 18 5k (17:55 official / 5:46 min/mi, 17:50 watch / 5:45 min/mi) .. 2 mile PR (11:19 -1s lmfao).

cooper's test (2.11 miles) in 12 minutes (5:41 min/mi).

5 km minus 3 mi = 1s speed up over the last 0.1 mi !! So, 5:46 min/mi pace for 3 mi, 5:45 min/mi pace for 0.1 mi.. lol. Had a nice sprint at the end.

3 km @ 10:30 / 5:38 min/mi.

 

---

Monthly Tracker: 2017

December (12) 2017

TODO:

Bodyweight: [(01,138),(04,139),(05,141),(06,140),(07,142),(08,143),(09,140),(10,141),(11,142),(12,142),(13,143),(14,142),(15,143),(16,142),(18,142),(19,144),(20,141),(21,143),(22,143),(23,143),(25,144),(26,142),(28,143),(29,143),(30,142)]
- FORMAT: (day, weight in lbs)

Total Jumps per leg: []
- FORMAT: (day, # of jumps per leg)
- per leg total:

Max SLRVJ Touch: []
- FORMAT: (day, touch height in ft'inches")
- L-SLRVJ:
- R-SLRVJ:

Total speed interval distance: []
- FORMAT: (day, total speed interval distance in meters)
- total:

Max run speed (mph)/pace (min/mi): [(04,16.3,3:4X?),(06,16?,?),(08,14.8,?),(10,14.8,?),(26,16.4,?),(28,14.5,?)]
- FORMAT: (day, mph max, pace max in minutes per mile)

Resting HR: []
- FORMAT: (day, minutes for this test, average hr, minimum hr)

PR's: [(04,"alone mile 5:11, alone 1km 3:04"),(06, "race mile 5:03, 1km 3:01"),(08,"alone 1km 3:01"),(10,"1.67 mi @ 9:02 / 5:24 pace"),(13,"4:58 official mile, 4:57 watch mile"),(15,"alone 2 mile PR 11:21 @ 5:31+5:50"),(19,"1km PR @ 3:00 (-1s)"),(24,"tons of distance PR's: half 1h32m:xxs, 12 miles in 1:22:0x @ 6:50"),(27,"200m @ 29.4s"),(28,"800m @ 2:18.4")]

Races: [(02,1mile,5:16,5:13),(06,1mile,5:03,5:06),(13,1mile,4:58,4:57),(17,5k,18:37,18:34)]
- FORMAT: (day, distance, official, watch)

Soreness: [(01,"hamstrings barely, quads barely"),(04,"quads slightly (left moderate), hamstrings slightly (left moderate)"),(05,"calves slightly, quads slightly",(06,"calves barely"),(07,"none"),(08,"calves slightly"),(09,"calves slightly"),(10,"calves slightly"),(11,"calves slightly"),(12,"calves slightly"),(13,"none"),(14,"none"),(15,"none"),(16,"quads moderate"),(17,"none"),(18,"none"),(19,"none"),(20,"quads moderate"),(21,"quads slightly"),(22,"quads slightly, glutes moderate, calves moderate, hamstrings slightly"),(25,"quads moderate, glutes slightly"),(26,"quads slightly"),(27,"quads moderately, calves slightly, hamstrings moderately"),(28,"quads slightly, hamstrings slightly, calves slightly"),(29,"quads barely"),(30,"quads barely, hamstrings barely")]
- FORMAT: (day, overall soreness, specifics)

Aches/Injuries: [(01,"none"),(04,"none"),(05,"none"),(06,"none"),(07,"none"),(08,"right big toe"),(09,"right big toe barely, left knee barely"),(10,"left calf a bit tight"),(11,"left calf/back of left knee tight"),(12,"none"),(13,"back of left knee/calf a little tight"),(14,"none"),(15,"left & right big toes a little - lmao, lower back slightly as the day goes on"),(16,"none'),(17,"none"),(18,"none"),(19,"none"),(20,"none"),(21,"none"),(22,"none"),(25,"random "twinge" in right calf, right knee slightly as the day went on (happened after I sat down for a while"),(26,"calves tight (left especially)"),(27,"calves tight"),(28,"calves tight"),(29,"calves tight (left more so))",(30,"left adductor slightly (think sleeping on my side aggravated it .. noticed I was doing that last night which I normally don't do), as the day went on: both adductors (right more so than left - wtf?) ")]
- FORMAT: (day, specifics)

Morning Quad Flexibility: [(01,"loose"),(04,"loose"),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose"),(08,"loose"),(09,"tight"),(10,"loose"),(11,"loose"),(12,"loose"),(13,"loose"),(14,"loose"),(15,"loose"),(16,"tight"),(17,"loose"),(18,"loose"),(19,"loose"),(20,"tight"),(21,"loose"),(22,"tight"),(25,"loose"),(26,"loose"),(27,"tight"),(28,"loose"),(29,"loose"),(30,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Morning Hamstring Flexibility: [(01,"loose"),(04,"loose"),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose"),(08,"loose"),(09,"loose"),(10,"loose"),(11,"loose"),(12,"loose"),(13,"loose"),(14,"loose"),(15,"loose"),(16,"loose"),(17,"loose"),(18,"loose"),(19,"loose"),(20,"loose"),(21,"loose"),(22,"loose"),(25,"loose"),(26,"loose"),(27,"tight"),(28,"tight"),(29,"loose"),(30,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Morning Calf Flexibility: [(01,"loose"),(04,"loose"),(05,"tight"),(06," left tight / right loose"),(07,"loose"),(08,"loose"),(09,"tight"),(10,"tight"),(11,"tight"),(12,"tight"),(13,"left tight, right ok"),(14,"loose"),(15,"left tight, right ok"),(16,"tight"),(17,"loose"),(18,"loose"),(19,"loose"),(20,"loose"),(21,"loose"),(22,"tight"),(25,"tight"),(26,"tight"),(27,"tight"),(28,"tight"),(29,"tight"),(30,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Cramping: []
- FORMAT: (day, symptom)

Wakeup: [(01,08:30AM,9),(04,07:00AM,6),(05,07:45AM,6.45),(06,09:00AM,7),(07,08:00AM,7),(08,09:45PM,8.5),(09,10:00AM,8),(10,09:30AM,7),(11,08:30AM,8),(12,09:00AM,8),(13,09:00AM,7.5),(14,10:00AM,8),(15,08:30AM,7.5),(16,08:00AM,7),(17,05:15AM,2),(18,09:00AM,10),(19,08:00AM,8),(20,08:00AM,8),(21,09:30AM,9),(22,09:30AM,8),(24,05:00AM,4),(25,08:00AM,8),(26,08:00AM,8),(27,08:30AM,7.5),(28,10:00AM,10),(29,08:30AM,8.5),(30,09:30AM,9)]
- FORMAT: (day, wakeup time, hours slept)
[/quote]

Quote from: adarqui on December 30, 2017, 07:58:03 pm

In a nutshell, racers make more progress than time hunters, from what i've seen with people on the local scene. Racing mentality is very different: it's considerably more aggressive. Time hunting with safe/precise pacing is fine, but there's usually much less risk. Taking huge risks can wreck you or pay off big. If you play it safe, you're always in the middle. If you take the risk, you may have the run of your life unexpectedly and perform well beyond what you thought you were capable of.

Hmm. I definitely see your points but for the sake of argument I'll go against your point of making more progress with a racing mentality, I think most progress would be made during training not the actual race. I could be underestimating how much the higher intensity of a race can actually help you improve though.

Sure but, you can train all day and be horrible at competition. You have to "train competition". If you have a great training group, you can try to stimulate that environment outside of official competition, but it still falls short. Better than nothing though that's for sure. However, you just can't stimulate the pressure of real racing, just like you can't stimulate the pressure of a official basketball/ultimate game/tournament, boxing match, dunk session in front of random people/fans etc.

One can make incredible progress outside of competition, but then fall apart during the actual competition.

So training needs to extend itself to competition -> if you don't have alot of experience competing, you need to "train" it more. Once you acquire years of experience competing in your chosen field, then it becomes a different story.

I do see your point that your potential is different day to day. I guess I was thinking more of anaerobic training where if you don't pace properly you can end up really burned out at the end and end up with a really suboptimal result.

well it's the same in a 5k race or mile etc.. if you step outside of your comfort zone, it becomes more anaerobic and you can start to tank, or you might be able to battle more than you expected in a competition environment. Adrenaline & competition stimulation (chase) is a huge difference maker.

Which is what would happen to me conditioning during practice and burning out early because I would start too strong. Terrible feeling and you look silly for not knowing your limits. Endurance running is a completely different beast from that

Right but, the difference between training & competition:

In training, you are more likely to quit when you surpass your thresholds. In a race, you are more likely to keep going, though perhaps in a more debilitated state. For example, i've quit on myself hundreds of times in training, especially when training alone. I've never once quit on myself in a race, even when PR'n my mile in the very first mile, then holding on the last 2.1. I wanted to quit, but I didn't. The race itself & competition stimulation keeps you going. So, in such an environment, you have a few new weapons available to push your limits.

My splits for my PR 5k (18:22 official, 18:16 watch)) last year were like, 5:15, 5:55, 6:35 (just off top) something like that. That's still my best two mile EVER (11:20). So, not even 2-mile attempts on my own have beat that time, though i've come close. Nor has my 5k PR of 18:05 official (17:51 watch) beat that time either. My strategy that race was to last 1.5 with the fastest guy there. I think I made it ~1.1 or so before he started pulling away. After the race he told me I really "scared him", he didn't know who I was, he wanted to win. So I pulled him into a faster mile than he was expecting. He finished running ~16:30 IIRC. IMHO, that's a great example of it.

So by racing you are gambling on your body to be at its best and if that ends up the case you end up with the best possible result that you couldn't have achieved by strict pacing.

nah .. body doesn't have to be at it's best. Just need to push yourself. It may or may not be at its best: the idea is to find out. If it's not, no problem, just keep trucking. If it is, you've now tapped into this new potential that was made available to you. You leveraged the "release" of a certain level of inhibition. Huge opportunity for growth, have to be ready to grab it.

I bet its a lot more fun to race with the top runners too

yup, definitely. You learn alot about them and yourself, while it's happening. You listen to how they breathe, see their cadence, watch how they adapt/force pace changes, watch how they use the course (where they run), how they round turns etc.

As for the 2 mile PR in a race setting.. If you were PB hunting you could go all out in the 2 mile and walk the rest of a 5k lol

Yup.. nothing wrong with that IMHO .. Ideally, you'd PB and just coast it out. To gut out the remainder of the race, is a great tool. It's not easy, it's absolutely brutal. So I take advantage of that. However, I tell myself that if I need to walk in order to get the PB, i'd do it.. Just to try and convince my body to give me more resources when I request them.

Alot of my theories lately around improving performance center only on reducing inhibition. So, that's why you see me trying to leverage competitive environments (races) as one of the biggest tools to push my limits. If my goal every time were to run a "strict race", well within what I think i'm capable of, based on training sessions & such, that would be fine but it's not aggressive enough to get to the elite level IMHO.

My racing strategies are alot like how I dunked. I loved throwing lobs high as fu*k and trying to catch them. Now my lob is someone faster than me that I have to catch.

Finally, I linked this in one of the previous posts, it's the guy who came in third place last year at this same race:

https://www.strava.com/activities/816857463

He's an "old fart" (46?) who is a local legend (probably could be competitive masters nationally). Has top 3 (many #1's) in so many races around here. He's beat me every race but that might be ending fairly soon, hopefully. I have mad respect for him, he's consistent af and he knows how to win. He has so much experience it's crazy .. can pace exactly, can do negative splits, can do whatever he wants usually. He's pretty fast. I mean he can drop 16:XX 5k's @ ~46 and beat a D1 college kid home for winter/thanksgiving break, that's damn good.

Anyway, look at his splits:



Those are racing splits. This is a guy who will pace evenly if he has #1 in the bag. So for some reason, he was "worried". He hung with the lead pack for mile 1, then fell off considerably for #2 and #3. That 5.19 was outside of his comfort zone that race, but he got sucked into it for whatever reason. He's in good enough shape to recover from it and keep battling out some nice splits, but you can see he really took a hit.

Anyway he got #3 overall in that race (17:08 @ 5:31min/mi). Had he not gone out with the leader for mile 1, he probably wouldn't have gotten #3 overall because he wouldn't have known how hard he'd have to work to overcome some of the other people in that pack.

Also look at his 2 mile.. "2nd best estimated". This is a guy who has dropped several 16:XX 5k's and that's his 2nd best estimated 2 mile.. Shows you alot. Normally he paces himself better, but that's probably because he's comfortable about his position in the race.

Here's a similar race, from 2014:



Similar first mile split, better 2nd/3rd. That 5k is even faster than the one today, much faster. So he was probably much more prepared to handle it than the traditionally slightly slower one.

So in a nutshell, if you analyze the data of successful "racers", if they aren't THE FASTEST, you see lots of fluctuations in splits etc. Someone who is easily the fastest can just go TEMPO their 5k etc.. no problem. But for everyone else, it's more of a battle usually.

That's just my perspective/experience on it so far.

peace man!!