gatorphysics

Sorry all! I know I fell behind. It's amazing how much life two kids can just take out of you If I hadn't mentioned it already, my DW is now interested in running the Spartan Sprint in Tampa next year. She came with us to our weekly Sunday park workouts and for the most part had a good time. But boy she's in for it with anything upper body wise since she's a shortie, hah! At our last workout, I managed to perform 4 straight pull ups in between workout sets. I think 5 pull ups while rested won't be an issue. However, we're trying to simulate racing conditions so typically we'll tackle a task after running a quarter or half mile. Amazing how much that can take out of you when performing physical tasks. On the handstand front, I've gotten lazy, plain and simple. No excuses, need to get back on that asap. Unfortunately, there aren't any 10k races scheduled in the next few weeks around the area so from an official standpoint, we won't meet this sub-quest. That being said, during workouts, my base running ability has improved by 1 mph on the treadmill. An "easy" pace is now at a 10 min / mile pace. When pushing myself, I'm able to sustain a 7 minute mile over a whole mile. Luckily, we have sprintable type treadmills (yes, I made up the word sprintable) which allow me to sprint anywhere from 15-15.5 mph over 30 to 45 seconds. There's definitely been progress and now that my significant other's on board, we're a little more motivated. Managed to make our own sandbags for various strength and endurance exercises. Biggest obstacle sadly are our kids. Need to find a babysitter as family's a little far away. Only way we can get additional training done just for Spartan. Although I don't find the thought of dragging tires and jumping repeatedly on a 3 foot stage that exciting. Or maybe I do...

I'm guessing this would be the appropriate subforum... I was training a bit for my Spartan race in Feb over the weekend. I was talking to my coach about it and he mentioned compression gear. Like everything else, there's a debate on whether it works, makes you like Superman, speeds up recovery time, etc. I guess my question is what sort of compression gear do folks use for these OCRs? I'm looking at UA's Sonic HeatGear line but there's some other neat stuff by CW-X and 2UX. I know most racers go shirtless but until I look like a minion of Sparta, compression shirt it is. I'm guessing a pair of compression shorts with compression socks would work for both racing and general training. If I were to wear a shirt, he recommended wearing a short sleeve compression with arm guards for the flexibility. This is probably a fairly open ended question but curious what others wear. I think regardless I may get some compression socks just to help with calves and shins during some of these long runs / hard workouts. Although I'm sure shorts would have helped during my tire pulls... bleh.

I'm guessing so. I havent had a chance to run and visit the site yet as I'm nursing some wounds from pretending to be a ninja warrior. Word of advice.. don't underestimate monkey bars.

Yeah the Dri Tri was fun. Burpees with an overhead press of a Bosu ball? Not so much. Monday I had a test drive at one of the local CrossFit boxes. Ended up doing 6 sets of 7 x wallball and 7 x burpees in 7 minutes which wasn't terrible. Not sure if CF's for me though. Practiced a bit more on the handstands but between the Dri Tri and the multiple training sessions this week, I was spent. Today, however, was interesting. One of the coaches I frequent at our gym is an avid obstacle course runner. He invited us out this afternoon to the park for some preliminary training for the Tampa Sprint Spartan race in Feb. After running sprints, dragging tires, doing 20+ box jumps, I felt pretty decent. Then we hit the jungle gym... 5 band-aids, 2 gauze wraps, and a hatred of jungle gyms with textured bars, I'm done for the week. Ended up making our own mini-ninja warrior course. Survived a "sawtooth" monkey bar cross, a normal monkey bar cross, and some other odd obstacles. Hands hurt like hell though. Someone forgot to mention when you scrape skin off your palms and inner fingers, it hurts. A lot. Needed the wife to wash my hair. Sigh.... And yes, this was all caught on video. 3 pull ups performed while at sporting goods store in front of daughter so that's nice, but still a ways from 5. Overall, not a bad week. Will definitely take tomorrow off as I can't grip anything without stinging pain. Will be going on a shopping spree though here soon. Local shop has compression gear on sale. May look into my own harness for pulling heavy items down the street just to get that feel. New running shoes needed as the ones I purchased in March are officially toast. Also need to buy a rope I can swing over our oak tree for practice. Was given black Spartan training shirt (pre-Reebok) by coach so it's nearly official. I apologize in advance for any misspellings or other typing errors. I can't bend my fingers. And yes, my daughters think daddy's a delicate flower.

Looks like I found a gym. Used to be a Family Fitness but they went out of business. A couple of folks bought it and revived it. $20/month and they have both assisted and unassisted power and squat racks. Will pay them a visit before committing to anything. For the record, I did end up taking an intro CrossFit class. While interesting, and the facility I visited was well staffed and experienced, I can see how injuries can occur. Really seems more about speed than form from what I saw. But man the ladies in there.. Gotta get my wife to join, hah

Screw it all. Just signed up for this new workout routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Ew0Zl0hGA

It's been a fun week. Just got the biggest event I had on tap out of the way. They called it a Dri Tri, hah. 2,000 m on a rower 300 bodyweight exercises, including: 40 push-ups80 bench step ups40 bench jump overs60 ab scissor to elbow tucks40 bench tap squats40 BOSU burpees to pressesAnd a 5k (1 mile at a 1% incline, 1 mile at a 3% incline, and the last 1.1 mile at a 0% incline) That was down right rough. 49.75 minutes to complete. Still feel as if I left something in the tank though, blah. I hate body weight exercises.

More than likely LAF is the option. In my immediate area, we have LAF, a PF, and a couple of those 24 hour places. I'll ask some of the trainers I know if there are any small boxes I've missed with internet searching. Wouldn't surprise me not to find much given the median age in my town is higher than most other places. My home is next to one of the largest retirement communities in the county, hah!

Well 2 chin ups in a row plus a single pull up at the end of the first week isn't too bad. Took my daughter to a playground for both of us to have a little fun. Ended up going across a 6 foot monkey bar set without falling off which is a good sign. Baby steps, hah! About 18 inches off the wall while doing a wall handstand. I did manage to try a real handstand using couch cushions to break my fall. Was fun flipping over even though I knew I had no shot of staying upright. Not a terrible first week. Dri tri at my local gym tomorrow so all energies are focused on that. 2k row, 300 BW exercises and a 5k run. Goal is 50 minutes. Woot woot!

And... 0 hits. No joke. Although I'm not surprised as our area is a little older than neighboring Tampa. A few in Tampa but way out of the way. Bleh. I'll keep hunting around though. Thanks for the info!

/sigh Hate days when you forget your rain gear. Anyone have a spare pair of rain boots I could slog through?

During the above discussion, I had contacted a couple of the boxes in the area for information. One of them got back to me. Stated their on-ramp course (6 days over 2 weeks) would run $150. Then monthly dues would run $150. Seems extremely steep to me. Especially paying such a hefty sum for their introductory course. I think the SS or Stronglifts route may be the best option. Now the problem becomes finding a local gym with that sort of equipment. I seriously doubt our LA Fitness or Planet Fitness would carry a power rack...

Pretty cliche but get chills every time either of these play. Can't explain why.

You know... the Stronglifts 5x5 seems rather intriguing. Simple but looks highly effective. My fear has always been simlar to others with free weights, dropping the bar, etc. But that's also a lack of knowledge about the equipment itself. Had to Google how a power rack works. Maybe I'll give the standard gym method a try. Try running through something like a Stronglifts or SS and supplement a day with the HIIT classes I've been taking just to keep things fresh. I'll digest all of this over the weekend and see what I can come up with. Thanks all for the pearls of wisdom!

20 push ups in a row. Hands approximately 2 feet away from wall. Feet extended up as high as possible. Was able to sustain for about 30 seconds. Given my height and math skills, feet were approximately 5 feet (hah) off the ground. 5 minute practice sessions 2 to 3x per day. HIIT coach performed a freestanding handstand today. On a bosu ball. Damn him.