I remember the old days when I was hooked on weight training and particularly the bench press. I would tend to start each workout by trying to surpass my pr for one lift, using this as my indicator that I was getting stronger. I had periods of time when, for three or four consecutive workouts, I would set a new pr for this lift and others where I could go weeks with no improvement. Plateaus...maxing, recovering and building towards climbing to the next one is a normal pattern for any kind of intense training.
I’m going through one now, it would seem. I have put the weight room in the rear view mirror, but use the push-up in the Survival Workout as my bench mark for improvement. I pay close attention to both my one and three-set pr’s as a reinforcement that the program is working and to encourage myself to try harder. Over the past two weeks, I’ve pushed my one-set pr to 74 then 78 and two days later...80. I started thinking that maybe I could him 100 before the year ends...a number I’ve never come close to hitting at any time in my life and one I never thought achievable when I struggled to reach 25 the first time I did the workout.
So...having done 80 on my final set and 216 for my three-set total on my last workout, I was expecting to be a little off that total as I began my last workout. I was completely surprised when I busted 85 in my first set. I managed only 72 in the second, but finished with 83 and a new three-set total of 240. Amazingly, I broke my previous single set record twice in the same workout and only two days after I’d set it. I’ll keep pushing myself since I only have a month to achieve 100 before the year ends, but I think it’s doable and having the goal helps tremendously.
My knee is slowly healing, but only about 50% back I’d estimate. Still, I felt compelled to do some running up the steep hill I normally reserve for my cross over’s. Any side motion with a torn meniscus is agony and ill-advised, but straight ahead seems to work. I did three short 10-second bursts up the hill, which was the hardest thing I did for the entire workout. Uphill sprinting is extremely intense and offers tremendous benefits in very little time.
The trails are becoming almost impassable as the rains of 2011 continue to pile up new records each day. I’ve been using the bridle trails for 30 years now and can’t remember ever having to leave the trail and move into the woods so often to navigate around lengthy mud areas. I could plow through them, but then my shoes stay wet into the next workout...and stink like hell. And it’s just a little too cool to submerse in Clear Creek to clean them...and me...off. I may rethink that though. I remember spending my ‘Leave No Trace’ training with a man named Hawk Methany. I awoke one chilly morning to watch him dive into water about 50 degrees with extreme delight. He said as long as it was a liquid, he always started the morning plunging into the nearest body of water. Maybe when Kim returns for the Christmas holidays and she and Reza go head to head on the Survival Workout, I’ll challenge them both to a plunge in Clear Creek. Keep it interesting, I always say.
Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.Calories burned during workout: 600.
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