New Year's Resolutions

Yup. That time of year.

Throw at least 4 days per week.
Brush my teeth at least twice each day.
Keep track of all monetary transactions.
Save 10% of all income in a separate account.

Add those to my preexisting commitments to athleticism and health.

Track Workout

Warmup
400m in 1:04.50
800m in 2:48.28 (1:19.71, 1:28.57)
400m in 1:05.47
100m in 0:12.35

My hamstrings were, and still are, very sore from my workout on Saturday. I'm not sure how much that contributed to my times today, but those long-distance sprints are rough regardless. I could feel myself flagging with each step in the 800m, and it was a bitch to even come close to my first 400m time during the second. It wasn't that much slower, though, really, so despite the brevity of the workout I still consider it a decent showing for the cold off-season.

Tabata Pushups

Quick workout before I went out tonight. A little better this time. I got through 3 full reps with regular pushups, and finished the fourth with girl pushups.

Lifting at Home

8 pullups
2x12 lying pull-up rows
3x12 SL DB RDL 15lb
2x16 upright DB row
2x(4 curl, 4 hammer curl, 4 pronated curl, 4 curl) 15lb
16 hamstring curl
ab circuit

Like A Wimp

I tried Tabata intervals for the first time tonight.

First, I tried pushups. I got through the first two sets with regular pushups, had to switch to girl-pushups halfway through the third, but still couldn't do anything past the beginning of the fourth. Total muscular exhaustion in my upper arms. I wussied out.

Then, I did Tabata squats. This was hard, but I pushed through it and did the full 8 sets. My legs felt like lead for a while afterwards, but by the end I felt more confident and less wimpy than I had after failing the Tabata pushups.

Afterwards, once my arms had had some rest, I did a few more sets for arms:
2x8 pushups, 3x8 bench dips, 2x4 uneven pushups, 8 skull crushers 20lb
3x8 misc. shoulder raises

I also went ice skating. That counts for cardio, right?

Home Workout

8 pullups
6 chinups (then some more)
2x15 curls, 15lb
15 isolation curls 15lb
8 isolation curls 20lb, 8 isolation curls 15lb
8 lying dumbbell row 25lb
2x12 upright row 15lb
long ab circuit

Lift

We were accepted to Trouble in Vegas. The officers met today with the club sports director to discuss the viability of the trip; hopefully, our proposal will be accepted and we will be able to attend the tournament. If we can, we will need to be prepared physically. On that note, I've started a new cycle--a week or two of transition, then back to the endurance phase.

bench press: 8 at 45, 2x12 at 95, 7 at 105lb
incline bench press: 12 at 65, 8 at 85, 4 at 95lb
2x12 overhead squats, 45lb
squats: 8 at 95, 8 at 115, 8 at 135lb
barbell shoulder press: 12 at 45, 8 at 55lb (every other press from behind neck)
dumbbell shoulder press: 8 at 25lb

I had to push-press the last two reps with the dumbbells.

Lift

Whew! Lifting all this light weight is making me tired. Speaking of which, I found an accurate scale. As of tonight, I weigh 146 pounds. I exceeded my weight-gain goal for the semester, and all of it was lean muscle mass.

8 pullups
7 chinups
8 wide grip pullups, 80% body weight
short ab circuit
3x6 hang cleans, 95lb
6 hang cleans, 100lb
6 deadlifts 135lb, 4 deadlifts 205lb, 2 deadlifts 225lb
clean and jerk: 3 at 115lb, 1 at 125lb
farmer's walks: 2 at 45lb

The final rep of hang cleans at 100lb took 5 tries. Deadlifting 225lb was difficult, primarily because my hands didn't want to hold the bar, but also because it was not easy to sustain intra-abdominal pressure. Gotta work on that. The last two clean and jerks took two tries each for the jerk portion, and it's a little scary to lose control of the weight like that. During the second farmer's walk, I dropped the weight in the middle, and dropped it repeatedly right near the end--but I was taking a longer circuit this time. Lifting is a lot more fun now, and I feel my heart rate rise a lot when I'm doing the olympic lifts. It feels good to work hard.

Lift

Anonymous comments notwithstanding, I was in the gym again today.

8 pushups
8 clap pushups
8 pushups with both hands on small medicine balls
8 pushups each side, one hand on medium medicine ball
8 pushups with both hands on medium medicine ball
8 pushups with legs elevated
8 planche pushups
8 clap pushups

8 glute/ham raises each leg, 62.5lb
2x4 overhead squat 45lb
8 overhead squat 45lb

That's 72 pushups, for those of you who didn't count--I've never been real strong in the pushup department, and I really need to strengthen up my triceps to perform the way I want to. I keep having to alter the angle at which I descend. The glute raises just feel strange, and I am not quite comfortable with that feminine feeling. Overhead squats, on the other hand, are straight-up manly. Tonight, the limiting factor for me was my shoulders--keeping that weight above my head was not easy, and my arms fatigued long before my legs (although they started to feel it at the end of my last set). My shoulder flexibility was also taxed, which surprised me--I have always been flexible--but I guess it's a completely different question when you need to be flexible while supporting weight. When doing these kinds of exercises, I start to see why so many guys endorse the Olympic-style lifts. They kick your ass, and it feels good to do oddly difficult things with heavy weight.

Even if I can only do it with light weight right now. Suck it--at least I'm in the gym busting my ass.

The Big Chill 5k

I achieved the goal I set one year ago, to beat my 2006 Big Chill time in 2007. I would like to reestablish this goal: to beat my 2007 Big Chill time in 2008. Here's the rundown:

2006:
22:06 (7:07 pace)
120 of 451 M18-24, 218 of 861 men, 242 overall (59.6% PLP)

2007:
20:50 (6:42 pace; actual splits: 6:20, 7:00, 7:30)
56 of 412 M18-24, 116 of 845 men, 130 overall (62.6% PLP)

Clearly, I did something right this year, if I can break PRs in both the 100m, 200m, and 5k. Afterwards, I did Mio's plyometric workout with a couple other guys, then played durango boot pickup in Buccleuch Park with Pike players and other random dudes. It was pretty fun, but I am pretty tapped out from everything.

It's now the offseason, baby!

Run, Lift

A little bit of both tonight. I also jogged home from Werblin.

9 pull-ups
9 wide-grip pull-ups at 70% body weight
0.25mi warmup (2:30)
1mi in 7:20, 0.25 in 2:20, 0.25 in 1:38
12 wide-grip pull-ups at 70% body weight
8 upright bb row 50lb
12 db curl 15lb
4 supinated grip db curl 15lb, 4 db hammer curl 15lb
12 db curl 15lb
farmer's walks: 1 at 40lb, 1 at 45lb

Jog

Wow. I tried to take a jog. ~1.5mi in ~16 minutes. I don't know if I'm going to be ready for the Big Chill 5k this year.

Such are the sacrafices made for fast-twitch muscle gain. Guess I gotta take a more holistic approach this winter. I just can't imagine that it is beneficial to lose all my endurance.