I like running trails. They are a microcosm. The world changes faster than you can realize it. Right now your cells are changing themselves from what they were to what they think they will be used for later. The trail changes every time you run it: limbs fall, leaves blow, and trees give way to the forces of the wind.
When you demand of the body sitting on the couch, then the body adapts to the "rigors" of sitting on the couch: it adds some fat, the muscles become weaker, digestion slows, and cravings change. When you demand work from your body then the body changes to adapt for that work: it adds muscle to what was overworked, it reduces the fat that slow the work and it speeds digestion so there is less to do during a given effort.
On the trail Nature needs to adapt. A tree that can no longer stand in the wind will fall and decay to strengthen the roots of the trees still standing until the cycle repeats itself. Leaves blow over rocks making your footing more difficult for running. Limbs fall from trees and make the trail just a little more challenging than the last run. Sometimes rocks settle into soft soil and make your run easier.
The lack of predictability is what makes trail running enjoyable. The constant focus on the new terrain is what allows my mind to stop thinking about the day and the struggles of life and focus on the task at hand. It is meditative to run trails. It sharpens your focus on what needs to be done right now, not the possibility of what MAY happen in the future. You only get right now! The past is gone and the future may never get here.
The take away:
It is fine to prepare for the future. Buy accident and life insurance to protect yourself and your family. The focus on the now is more important, Be Present with what you are doing.
You can adapt to what you have overcome and be stronger for the now. A life lived is greater than a life worried over.
The Workout for the week: Once or twice this week do the following:
Run your the distance of your longest run in the last 6 months. At every mile or every 8-10 min do - 20 Body Weight Squats, 15 burpees(30 if you are training for a Spartan Race), 20 situps. If you run for an hour you will do be challenged enough to complete your "average" Spartan Sprint.
Go Prepare yourself for life! Get out on the trail and run!
Showing posts with label extreme workouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extreme workouts. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Race Report - Spartan Super: Hurricane Heat
For those who have been following this blog you have seen a few of my workouts. I love training and challenging myself. I like to work too but I love a vacation. this was about a goal event. This was where we put the training to the test.
This was all about the Hurricane Heat.
This was about teamwork, Joe Desena, Tommy McCormack, and a bunch of other people who wanted to come out and finish the race. There are no clocks. There are no timing chips. There are no losers. At the start there was not any daylight. There are only people out challenging themselves against their mind and body; overcoming that voice that says "STOP". And of course there is always the founder of the Spartan Race, Joe, telling you "30 Burpees" or "Jumping jacks until your team gets here. No standing around."
To start the day off right I woke up 30 min later than I had wanted to, 3:45AM. I grabbed a to-go breakfast and hit the road out to Staten Island, the boro I have been to the least and only for races. I showed up late but in enough time to prepare for the start.
After a final head count and safety check we were instructed to choose a team of 15-20 people we did not know (flash networking) and come up with a team name. There were 18 of us on "Team Badass", so named for the t-shirt I was wearing. 6 active duty military, 2 defense contractors, and 10 crazies started and finished together.
At 534AM the warm up, led by the founder of Spartan and Death Race, began with 30 burpees, 30 walking lunges, 30 Jumping Jacks, 30 pushups, etc. set the tone for the day. With our headlamps on and teams assembled we followed Joe out of the parking lot and on to the beach for the first obstacle, over a low wall and under a low beam thru a net that obstructed our view and sent a large clump of beach sand into my right eye (it would stay there until Tues). After the first obstacle we were tasked with reassembling the team and doing 30 burpees( are you noticing a theme yet?). 400 yrds later we were on to the next obstacle, the mud crawl (6 inches of stinky mud) under barbed wire 2ft above the mud followed by (you guessed it) 30 burpees. Did I mention it had rained quite heavily the night before the event?
The next obstacle was the famous over/under/through walls followed by 30 burpees(we are up to 120 burpees if you are keeping count).
I won't bore you with the details but here is a list of the remaining obstacles (assume 30 burpees after each and 400-800 meter run between):
Cargo net climb
50lb block hoist
Run through fire (Awesome! no burpees)
River run (beginning to wait longer for some team members)
tire drag (we had to press the tires full of water over head)
enclosed space with water/tunnel crawl through water
trail running
back through another tunnel
400m river trudge (I fell once)
Steep hill run (we did not have ropes)
appr. 2 mile trail run
Uneven monkey bars traverse (Collin was cramping really bad about now)
Balance Zig-Zag walk (after the burpees and jumping jacks as we waited for more team mates) We were told the finish line is 40 min away(mindf&$@k)
longer run
Ocean Wade with a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of water.
Cinder Bock drag/carry (no burpees, thank god, I hate burpees in the sand)
Spear Throw
Wall traverse
Soap rope wall (a 45/45/90 triangle with ropes that have been coated with dish soap)
No Burpees but 100 situps instead. Those are elbows to knees situps, wimp!
Finish line waitfest(Jumping jacks until EVERYONE finished the wall and the situps and the media got there)
All 160 of crossed the finish line at the same time.
It was one the hardest races I have ever done. Second only to XTERRA National Championship in Lake Tahoe, NV. The NYC marathon is a slog fest. Many other races have been hard; no race is easy(if its easy its a training run). I would not trade it for the world. (Well, maybe for the world).
Get yourself signed up for one of these races. Get yourself to a training session or Spartan Race Bootcamp.
If you are in NYC on a Wed night at 6PM, come to my Spartan Race Workout in Central Park (CENTRAL PARK!). Every Wed at 72nd St and 5th Ave. We workout rain or shine (mud is and only an obstacle). Only $10!
Now shut your computer down and go move your body.
Andy Nelson
917-226-5271
andy@getfitnyc.com
www.getfitnyc.com
myshakeology.com/tricoachandy
teambeachbody.com/tricoachandy
This was all about the Hurricane Heat.
This was about teamwork, Joe Desena, Tommy McCormack, and a bunch of other people who wanted to come out and finish the race. There are no clocks. There are no timing chips. There are no losers. At the start there was not any daylight. There are only people out challenging themselves against their mind and body; overcoming that voice that says "STOP". And of course there is always the founder of the Spartan Race, Joe, telling you "30 Burpees" or "Jumping jacks until your team gets here. No standing around."
To start the day off right I woke up 30 min later than I had wanted to, 3:45AM. I grabbed a to-go breakfast and hit the road out to Staten Island, the boro I have been to the least and only for races. I showed up late but in enough time to prepare for the start.
After a final head count and safety check we were instructed to choose a team of 15-20 people we did not know (flash networking) and come up with a team name. There were 18 of us on "Team Badass", so named for the t-shirt I was wearing. 6 active duty military, 2 defense contractors, and 10 crazies started and finished together.
At 534AM the warm up, led by the founder of Spartan and Death Race, began with 30 burpees, 30 walking lunges, 30 Jumping Jacks, 30 pushups, etc. set the tone for the day. With our headlamps on and teams assembled we followed Joe out of the parking lot and on to the beach for the first obstacle, over a low wall and under a low beam thru a net that obstructed our view and sent a large clump of beach sand into my right eye (it would stay there until Tues). After the first obstacle we were tasked with reassembling the team and doing 30 burpees( are you noticing a theme yet?). 400 yrds later we were on to the next obstacle, the mud crawl (6 inches of stinky mud) under barbed wire 2ft above the mud followed by (you guessed it) 30 burpees. Did I mention it had rained quite heavily the night before the event?
The next obstacle was the famous over/under/through walls followed by 30 burpees(we are up to 120 burpees if you are keeping count).
I won't bore you with the details but here is a list of the remaining obstacles (assume 30 burpees after each and 400-800 meter run between):
Cargo net climb
50lb block hoist
Run through fire (Awesome! no burpees)
River run (beginning to wait longer for some team members)
tire drag (we had to press the tires full of water over head)
enclosed space with water/tunnel crawl through water
trail running
back through another tunnel
400m river trudge (I fell once)
Steep hill run (we did not have ropes)
appr. 2 mile trail run
Uneven monkey bars traverse (Collin was cramping really bad about now)
Balance Zig-Zag walk (after the burpees and jumping jacks as we waited for more team mates) We were told the finish line is 40 min away(mindf&$@k)
longer run
Ocean Wade with a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of water.
Cinder Bock drag/carry (no burpees, thank god, I hate burpees in the sand)
Spear Throw
Wall traverse
Soap rope wall (a 45/45/90 triangle with ropes that have been coated with dish soap)
No Burpees but 100 situps instead. Those are elbows to knees situps, wimp!
Finish line waitfest(Jumping jacks until EVERYONE finished the wall and the situps and the media got there)
All 160 of crossed the finish line at the same time.
It was one the hardest races I have ever done. Second only to XTERRA National Championship in Lake Tahoe, NV. The NYC marathon is a slog fest. Many other races have been hard; no race is easy(if its easy its a training run). I would not trade it for the world. (Well, maybe for the world).
Get yourself signed up for one of these races. Get yourself to a training session or Spartan Race Bootcamp.
If you are in NYC on a Wed night at 6PM, come to my Spartan Race Workout in Central Park (CENTRAL PARK!). Every Wed at 72nd St and 5th Ave. We workout rain or shine (mud is and only an obstacle). Only $10!
Now shut your computer down and go move your body.
Andy Nelson
917-226-5271
andy@getfitnyc.com
www.getfitnyc.com
myshakeology.com/tricoachandy
teambeachbody.com/tricoachandy
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Spartan race WOD - Sat 08/27
Spartan Posts the Workout Of the Day on their facebook page. Yesterday, just 2 days after heavy Deadlift, I did this workout. It was fun for me.
This past Saturday with hurricane Irene bearing down on New York City I set up into Hudson River Park to do the Spartan race workout of the day. It was broken down into those going long and those not going as long the workout was either 8 to 10 miles with 20 burpees( each mile or 12 to 16 miles with 10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxah7HxCFbg&feature=player_embedded) each mile.
Here is the route that I took. I warmed up from point a to point B to point where I started the workout with 20 Burpees and set off for point C. Point C only did 15 burpees, as soon as I set off away from them I really felt like a pansy.
I managed to force all 20 Burpees at the remaining points. When I got to point age I did my 20 Burpees except point G where I did not find grass. At point G, I did 4 rounds: 5 squat thrusts and 6, 7, 8 and 9 push-ups.
At Point H I did 10 Burpees, 50 meter Bear Crawl and 10 more burpees. I finished with a 100 m grass crawl on my elbows.
I was wiped out but I found a new place in myself, I learned something about myself on this workout. I learned that I can push myself past the point where my mind says "Stop". I found that if I pushed myself past that 15th Burpee I wasn't going to stop until 20. You can use your workouts to effect true change: "Change comes through movement". When you do a workout that breaks you down, you come back stronger- more capable.
View Larger Map
This past Saturday with hurricane Irene bearing down on New York City I set up into Hudson River Park to do the Spartan race workout of the day. It was broken down into those going long and those not going as long the workout was either 8 to 10 miles with 20 burpees( each mile or 12 to 16 miles with 10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxah7HxCFbg&feature=player_embedded) each mile.
Here is the route that I took. I warmed up from point a to point B to point where I started the workout with 20 Burpees and set off for point C. Point C only did 15 burpees, as soon as I set off away from them I really felt like a pansy.
I managed to force all 20 Burpees at the remaining points. When I got to point age I did my 20 Burpees except point G where I did not find grass. At point G, I did 4 rounds: 5 squat thrusts and 6, 7, 8 and 9 push-ups.
At Point H I did 10 Burpees, 50 meter Bear Crawl and 10 more burpees. I finished with a 100 m grass crawl on my elbows.
I was wiped out but I found a new place in myself, I learned something about myself on this workout. I learned that I can push myself past the point where my mind says "Stop". I found that if I pushed myself past that 15th Burpee I wasn't going to stop until 20. You can use your workouts to effect true change: "Change comes through movement". When you do a workout that breaks you down, you come back stronger- more capable.
View Larger Map
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Today's Spartan Race Workout
Today was a rough one! Working on running and endurance. I have not been doing lots of pull-ups lately so I kept them down to 8 per round. Burpees kill me so I made them even tougher today. So here is the rundown:
1mile warm up with some run over rocks and forced changes in body position
5 rounds of -
8 Chest to bar Pullups
8 toes to bar
10 Burpees w/180 turn
1/2 mile run.
1.5 mile run.
Totals: Running 5mi, 40 Pull-ups, 40 toes to bar, 50 180 burpees
i did this in New York City's Central park by the Great Lawn where they have pull up bars for the public.
it was awesome! and took me just a little under an hour.
I finished up with a P90X Results and Recovery Formula drink so I got some protein, creatine, electrolytes, and carbohydrates to help me recover for tomorrow's workout.
1mile warm up with some run over rocks and forced changes in body position
5 rounds of -
8 Chest to bar Pullups
8 toes to bar
10 Burpees w/180 turn
1/2 mile run.
1.5 mile run.
Totals: Running 5mi, 40 Pull-ups, 40 toes to bar, 50 180 burpees
i did this in New York City's Central park by the Great Lawn where they have pull up bars for the public.
it was awesome! and took me just a little under an hour.
I finished up with a P90X Results and Recovery Formula drink so I got some protein, creatine, electrolytes, and carbohydrates to help me recover for tomorrow's workout.
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