New Old Guy

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21

I forgot about the thin air where you are!
16s per 100 with 40s breaks where you are may
be comparable to 18s with 30s breaks somewhere
else so i guess just go with how you feel.
I do imagine it’s a fairly common thing for most to
feel like the tempo is too easy. It is just for a bit
of general fitness though and shouldn’t take away
from important regular speed sessions. If you’re
thinking about racing distances more than 200m,
then it does become much more important.
Again these are just my thoughts and others might
want to chime in.

Keeping the carb intake as low as possible after
lunchtime is probably the way to go.

22

I do not know at this point what constitutes a good “speed session”. I am sure I need them somewhere in the program. I do not mind doing a couple of these per week, instead of weights. Or do speed first, weight afterwards (I drop my daughter off at school in the am right near where I run, so that’s not a problem at all.

I will get some times next tuesday. Which ones matter? 20m? 100m? 40 or 60?

I am also convinced after thinking about it that I need to just run with 40sec breaks instead of 30, that’s close to the same. ET is unchanged.

I’ll also get a little video so you guys can bust my balls over my form…

John

23

9/18/08 5pm

I have a bug, feel like I’m going to blow chunks any minute. Felt this on Tuesday but when I started running it went away. Not today! Taking the afternoon off, will lift UB tomorrow am, should be fresh for Saturday.

John

24

9/20/08 3pm Ran center on one game, uneventful.

4:30pm Played my game, everything went wrong. Didn’t even run hard but was tired.

9/21/08 Off

9/22/08

4 x 5 Bench @ 135, 1 x 5 @ 145 (no spotter so had to be careful)
3 x 8 Seated Rows @ 140
2 x 8 Assisted widegrip pullups (I’m still too weak to do bodyweight).
2 x 25 Incline situps.
2 x 10 Pull-Thrus w/Rope, 200lbs maxed out the station. Even at 200 it’s still too light.
2 x 10 Glute-Ham Raise w/Bodyweight
2 x 10 Rev Leg Press (200lbs). This is the machine max, there is no way to add more weight, so I may have to buy some bands to add resistance to the machine. But this machine is ideal for what I need to improve, so I’ll make it work.

I feel the workout this afternoon, good soreness in the right places. I did not feel like the gym this am but feel I got a good workout in this morning, even though it was short.

John

25

9/24/08 40min of 115BPM 3.5mph walking. Still sore from yesterday’s lifting.

will tempo tomorrow.

John

26

9/24/08 Played Pickup Soccer for an hour with some new players. Got out of breath 2x, mostly easy work

9/25/08 did my tempo template. Heartrate got up to 168 on the 2x2 leg. I handled them better this time than last week, which was very tough.

Ref/game tomorrow. Will NOT have a game next Saturday, taking family to Disneyland for first time so am expecting to be not training for a week. So I can hump this week knowing I have a week off (and no soccer for 2 weeks), will be killing myself in gym starting Sunday alternating body parts.

John

27

9/27/08 reffed a game (center), then played in my game at 4pm. I was mugged everytime I got the ball. I am normally pretty coolheaded, but I was ready to send someone to the hospital (and at halftime I told them that’s where they’d be going if they touched me again) with a knee that swung both ways. They left me alone after that. :mad: But it still ruined the game for me.

9/29/08 8am a little sore/tired from Saturday. Warmup & stretch. 3 x 30mm bounds. 2 x 10 straight-legged jumps (calf/ankles).

Squats (Full) 1 x 3 @ 45, 95, 135, 185, 225

Then 4 x 4 @ 245

During breaks did Incline BP, 4 x 7 @ 115.

Looked around for another station to do Rev Leg Press, nothing that would work well cause’ I’d be upside down (head below butt). #(*#&)&

2 x 8 rev leg press @ 215. Legs tired. Need to cut out Thursday tempo session, too run down.

Will tempo tomorrow.

Leaving to take kids to Disneyland on Saturday, so will not be playing. This will be a welcome day of rest for my legs. Will hit Gold’s Gym in Anaheim area while I’m there. Let me know if anyone is down there.

John

28

10/02/08 11am

played 1hr of P/U soccer last night. Then had a bunch of contortionistic honeydo’s for the wife. I could barely stand up my knees were so stiff/sore. yikes

am very tired again, not mentally but legs are very heavy and tired. Feel like I have Lyme disease or something, never fresh anymore!:mad:

On the bright side, I’ve dropped around 4lbs in the last 4 weeks by cutting back on my meal sizes. Maybe that’s why I’m tired, I am not sure.

will run 20m isorobic starts and lift tomorrow morning.

John

29

You may need more rest than you currently have to help your legs recover.

30

I feel like a wuss, but am tending to agree with you…

no soccer on saturday, leaving for big family road trip to Disneyland for the kidlets. No Gold’s Gym near where I’m staying down there (45 min away), so I’ll have 9 days of mostly rest, that should help. Will bring my Isorobic and do a couple days of starts to prevent getting stale. Should be fresh when I arrive back home.

John

31

back in town, didn’t do ANY training while away. Will resume tomorrow am.

John

32

10/15/08 11am

this am warmed up in gym, then did

stretch
2 sets skips
2 sets bounds
2 sets x-overs

Squats

2 x 45, 95, 135, 175, 225

then

4 x 4 245
1 x 5 245

not bad. I THINK I may have been able to do 5 x 5 @ 245, but this is the first time back in the gym in 2-3 weeks.

rev leg press “stations” were all busy ($)#(&#)(&), so had to skip them. Instead I did 2 x 7 Rev Leg Curl (170lbs/2 leg) to get SOMETHING in here on the backside.

been thinking about my speed, my acceleration is pretty good, but am pretty sure my top speed is less than what I want. I’m convinced my stride length needs work (need to be stronger, my hamstring/glute tie in is noticeably absent). So I’m going to do some speed work on the field, and hit the rev leg presses more than I have been (which hasn’t been much til’ recently) to improve this weakness. The Rev Leg Press will be a staple of my workouts over the winter, and I hope the increased strength will lengthen my stride a bit (even 6" per stride would be fantastic) while keeping my turnover.

Will do UB tomorrow am.

John

33

10/16/08 11:30pm

Lifted UB this am.

Bench 5 x 5 @ 135, 1 x 5 @115 (was fading fast).

Assisted widegrip pullups; 3 x 8 @ (BW-50). Slowly gaining strength on this.

Rows; 3 x 8 @ 150 getting stronger here too.

2 x 25 Incline situps (hate these)

Workout cut short because I had a run in with one of the “trainers” at the gym working with a client. Apparently it’s ok for them to Hog 3 stations at a time (sitting idle for 10 minutes at a crack because it’s one client) but if I try to cycle between 2 they make issue of it. WTF ever happened to working in? I pointed out (I was pissed) that THEY butt into my workout, and I didn’t mind sharing the stations so WTF do they have to be so selfish? Why are there assholes EVERYWHERE? And why do the knuckle-dragging mouth breathers never EVER take the weights off the equipment after they are done, they just leave the plates on for some skinny female to have to deal with… $)&#)(# People… Glad today is over…

John

34

ahh the joys of commercial gyms…did I mention I train at home :stuck_out_tongue:

35

Yes - only way to go !!

36

10/30/08 9am.

been sick as a dog for the last week (nasty cold), but did feel good enough to run 4-5 sprints last night, around 90m at 85%. I hit the gym a couple times in last week also, nothing notable.

John

37

11/3/08 Still have this miserable cold.

but Reffed 2 games, and played one, last Saturday. Felt good.

This am I hit gym; my hips have been tight/sore lately. Not flexible here at all right now, working on it. I warmed up for almost 30min, and still did not feel ready to do my 20m starts. I did a few at 80%, but didn’t go full out. I knew going 100% here was asking for it, so didn’t risk it. Then did a couple sets of bounds. Did 5 non-measured SBJs. Felt a little weak on these again. Still stiff so chalked it up as ok.

Then Rev Leg presses (stacked machine), and did BP (5x5 @ 135) and Tricep Pushdowns (3 x 5).

It was clear to me that I need more resistance on the Rev Leg Press Station, since 10 reps/set ain’t gonna cut it anymore. Regardless I did 3 x 10 today.

So this afternoon I ordered a couple 40" (50-120lbs) Woody Bands to Amp Up the resistance. I will never be able to run both bands and the full stack. But if I can get one stack and one band, I’ll be very happy! My goal is that this added resistance, which will drop my reps down to 5-6 from 10-12 will result in some significant strength gains again on the P-chain and my speed will increase once again.

I just want to get another 6-12"/stride improvement without changing my stride, and I know the only way to do that is to get stronger. I do feel my calves need a little work, but I know that will come as my PC gets stronger. Calves are easy, right?

On another note, my right leg is 2 reps stronger than my left one on most every exercise.

John

38

11/12/08

it’s actually the 13th, but I’ll pretend I wrote this last night. :wink:

The resistance bands worked PERFECT. I dropped 50lbs on the rev leg press (RLP) weight but added a Medium Band (Green), and now I’m at 3 x 6.

Feels nice and smooth, and I like the feeling of a progressive resistance as I extend back. My calves actually feel fatigued from the RLPs for the first time ever too, go figure.

Also got my new EMS toy (4000R) and played with it last night on the feet and hamstrings. That’s some weird #$)*#&!!! Feeling contractions like that was bizarre. But now I know why guys use it! I swear I got 1/2" taller when I did my feet, I could feel my entire body move up and then down when it turned off. And the hamstrings, talk about a contraction!

On a side note, I’m JUST starting to feel a little spring in my stride that I’ve never felt before. I am assuming that is the “hip height” that I’ve been missing. I obviously have to be able to maintain it for longer than the 20-30m that I can feel it (then it disappears as I fatigue), but I can definitely feel it, since I’m slowly getting stronger.

Have a Futsal game tomorrow night, then outdoor game on Saturday. I will do more EMS Saturday night or Sunday, don’t want to wreck it before the games, they are very tiring and don’t want to go into them fatigued.

Does EMS work on the abs/obliques also?

John

39

12/1/08

Belated Post, but not much to report. Entire Family has been sick, and wife contracted Bells Palsy, so I’ve had more “housekeeping” than normal to keep things going well at home. Wife is pretty upset, we are working thru it. For those that don’t know, Bells Palsy is a condition that causes

any/all of the following.

Loss of taste (100%)
Paralysis of the face, normally isolated to one side. One result is that everyone in public looks at you like the Elephant Man, which is rough on anyone. One incident was “smiling” at a young child in a supermarket which resulted in the little one crying and running to mommy after seeing ‘the monster’. Yikes. So it’s tough on her mentally, and I do not mind sacrificing a gym time to keep things smooth at home.

the main problem with the paralysis is that she can’t blink. This doesn’t sound like much, until you realize a lot of folks go blind when their eye dries up! Sleeping without being able to close an eye is also a problem. We tried taping it shut, but (of course) she’s getting reactions to the adhesive on the tapes. We can’t win!

Hopefully she’s getting better now. Her sister had it in August, for 6 weeks. Our nephew got it YESTERDAY, he’s 13 and obviously pretty upset.

so I have not been training much. Still playing soccer, but it’s getting cold (low 40s (F) are the highs now). I’m new to this training thing, I can say conclusively that when I run in that cold weather (remember I’m 43yo) I get sore as hell. Last week I was sore for a week after the game.

but I’m close to having things at home tended to, and ready to clamp down on training in preparation for the spring. I went to the gym and walked for 40min after my soccer game, I’m not as sore as last week (when I didn’t do this). I did some minor squats the day after my game, but stopped when the hammies started to protest @ 225lbs. I’m not stupid anymore, I listen to my body! I also stepped up the RLP, adding another 20lbs for 2 sets of 6. Very tough but I did it.

I need help laying out a schedule to follow, given that I’d like to diet a couple days a week to get rid of my doughboy stature; I want to drop 15lbs by March, which would put me at 170lbs), and that I play soccer on Friday Nights, at least until Mid March. I don’t mind fasting for 1-2 days/week to accomplish the goals, just no more than 1 day at a time and as long as the fasting isn’t on a weekend (at work is no problem).

so my constraints are

Soccer Fri Night.
No weekend Fasting
Gym has to be attended in the mornings

I’d like to lose weight and get stronger (don’t we all). Hitting the gym 4-5x a week is not a problem. Finding a place to RUN is a problem until March, and all my running outdoors is on grass (tempos done barefoot), though I am working on using an indoor track. I have use of a basketball court (wood floor), which is fine for short accellerations and bounds/skips, but no speed work obviously. Unfortunately the T&F scene here sucks. There is a great facility 15 miles away at the Olympic Speed Skating Facility in Kearns, but not sure what they’d charge me and running the Expense past the wife would be a tough one.

Also, I’m still a little unclear on the periodization system, I can’t find the charts that were in the video I bought from CF.Com, and they are too small to read on the video for me to make sense of them. Lastly, I do not know where to work in the Med Ball (I have a 5Kg ball) in all this.

This is what makes the most sense to me so far, though I do worry about too much work since I’m almost 44yo and I have noticed recovery IS a problem now, especially if I overdo it.

LB = Lower Body
UB = Upper Body
EMS is on Abs, Lower Back, Glutes/Hams/Calves/Feet.

Mon - Treadmill Walk for 45min (adj incline for 115BPM heartrate); DIET

Tues - Heavy LB/Light UB, EMS in evening; Eat Normal-Heavy

Wed - TEMPO; Eat Normal

Thursday - Treadmill Speed Intervals (remember no track available til Mid March); DIET

Friday - No morning work. Soccer in Evening; Eat Normal

Saturday - Plyos & Medium Weights (LB). Evening EMS LB. Eat Normal

Sunday - Heavy UB; Eat Normal

Rinse, Repeat. :smiley:

Feedback is greatly appreciated.

John

40

good luck in your journey man! only advice I would give is not to fast if you can. Your body needs food to recover, starving it will just slow your metabolic rate.