This year, I plan to have a very full race schedule: A few triathlons, a 1/2 marathon, a full marathon, a century ride, and hopefully a 1/2 Ironman race as well. This is all in preparation for the big race year: 2012! Next year, I hope to participate in (and finish!) my first full Ironman race. The goal is to do Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! Before I can entertain visions of crossing the finish line in Idaho to some announcer saying, "John Courtney, YOU are an Ironman!!" I have a bit to go in my training.
I do about half of my training with a local Triathlon/Running Club called Team Fitness Evolution. The team is headed by my friend and mentor Luis Leonardo (an accomplished triathlete from Guatemala and former co-worker at Sports Basement), and Kyle Leto (a professional Triathlete and friend of Luis). Needless to say, I am surrounded by quite a bit talent and knowledge of the sport of Triathlon. All of the workouts with TFE, with the exception of the swim workouts, are lead by Luis (Kyle, a former UC Davis Swim Team member, leads the swim workouts). When I am not with Luis and TFE, I take what they have taught me and apply it to my own workout concoction.
This morning, Luis kicked it up a notch. We met at Heather Farms Park at 5:30 a.m. as usual, expecting another (grueling) strength and core workout (typically a 20 min. warm up run, followed by an assault on our legs, butt, and abs). But this morning was different. We warmed up in a similar fashion, with a mild run to the new Iron Horse Trail bridge crossing over Treat Blvd. in Walnut Creek. But this time, we did not turn around. Luis jumped right in to the workout, starting with 2 minutes of Body Squats. Okay, not so bad, as we had done 3 minutes at a time last week. Then came the twist. We were going to forgo the adherence to our heart rate monitors (having previously tied to stay below a certain HR threshold) and sprint to the apex of the bridge and then jog down the back side.
Maintaining a regimen of "base" oriented workouts had made today's workout a real kick in the pants. Immediately following the first sprint, I felt different. It felt great! I was not instantly explosive, but I felt as though there was a lot of potential deep down somewhere that Luis had insisted to all of us was growing during our base training. I was starting to feel what he was talking about.
Jogging down the back side of the bridge, we went immediately in to 15 bench push-ups, 10 standard push ups and approximately 60 seconds of side/oblique leg raise holds (this one is difficult to explain, mostly because I don't know what it is called. On all fours, raise one leg straight out to the side, like a dog doing its business, and hold. After 30 seconds, move that knee up toward your head slightly, holding for 15 seconds. For the final fifteen seconds, crunch your knee up as far as you can towards your head and hold. Man, does this one work!). Immediately following this, we popped back up, sprinted back to the top of the bridge, and jogged down the other side. All of that made for one repetition.
This morning, we did four repetitions.
Although this workout does not seem like much on paper, I can tell you that it was one of the most complete workouts I have had in some time. There was explosiveness, core work, endurance, and muscular endurance. My hat goes off to Luis and Team Fitness Evolution. Awesome workout!
John
No comments:
Post a Comment