JonFirestar and 3.00 Spartans!

[jonfirestar]

JonFirestar and 3.00 Spartans! 

 

I can't help it but i think this is going to be a bit of a boring challenge and very run of the mill. So I'm just going to focus on the fun part of it!

 

 

 

 

This Challenge encomases a total of 3 Spartan Races. It was going to be 4, but I deferred the first beast (Which would have been this Saturday) and so I am running:

 

Scottish Spartan Sprint on Sunday 16th Sept

Windsor Spartan Beast on Saturday 6th October

Windsor Spartan Sprint on Sunday 7th October

 

I'm really excited for those races in October because I should be much fitter and, most importantly healthy, so I'm excited. Nothing in this list is going to be done hard or fast. I'm looking at 3 easy fun races with chances to meet up and run with @iatetheyeti and @Rhovaniel, All good fun  

 

So let's talk Sparta

 

Scrounge to Survive

 

When inducted to military training the Spartan boys would be given meagre rations and be expected to scrounge and steal for more food, but punished severely if caught.

 

My basic intention here is to continue what I started last challenge with a couple of concessions:

2300-2400 calories per day with one variance/high day per week.

At the end of week 0 I'm on vacation, Friday through Monday my intention here is not to track but not to use it as an excuse to go crazy either. I have a bit of a plan for the weekend and it's more accurate to say my goal is to stick to that as best as possible. Nevertheless I'm not too worried about my holiday time so long as I don't go completely insane and what comes before or after is on point. 

 

I'll probably also up my calories in general over my double spartan weekend. My invention would be to hit about maintenance (above that on Saturday itself) but what that means in numbers will be worked out closer to the date. That has got more to do with recovery than anything. Again it's not a license to go crazy but the reality is that the weekend is going to be demanding enough without being in deficit. 

 

Train For War

 

The Spartans were known for unparalleled  skill in battle. 

 

Running: 3 runs per week. 

Monday - Easy

Wednesday - Tempo

Saturday -  Long

 

I'm going to jostle with these sessions a bit so the individual workouts might be different but this is the basic format. The Saturday long run isn't really any longer than the other runs it's just formatted differently so that it takes a little longer and I've added it because doing the exact same run 3 days a week is annoying me. 

 

Next Challenge I'll be able to add dedicated speed sessions back in but I might add in some sets of strides towards the end of this one depending on how my injury is feeling. 

 

S&C 

Two Strength and Conditioning workouts per week in the same randomised 'workout of the day' format that I was using last challenge because that kept it fun and interesting. The two workouts will be about an hour long with some kind of cardio to bring up the time

Tuesday: S&C WOD + cardio

Thursday: S&C WOD + Cardio

 

Recovery

Monday and Friday are in all intents going to be recovery workouts. Monday will be a run and Friday something else, probably easy cycling. Active recovery is the name of the game. 

 

Continue to do my PT exercises on schedule. 

 

Mobility:

It has come to my attention that my mobility might not be as good as i think it is. I take being flexible for granted but while my joints are generally loose and mobile my muscles might not be playing ball. My calves and hips are especially tight. 

 

Do at least 10 minutes of mobility work every single day. 

 

Now that I've written it it seems way more complicated than it is in my head so:

 

TLDR

Monday: Easy recovery run

Tuesday: S&C wod + cardio (1hr approx total). 

Wednesday: Tempo Run

Thursday: S&C wod + cardio (1hr approx total)

Friday: Recovery workout

Saturday: Long run

Sunday: Rest 

 

Mobility every day at least 10 minutes.  

PT work to plan.

 

I will be taking things a little easier this week and the week 3 I will be doing a full taper. 

 

Discipline: 

I'm not happy with this right now so I want to keep my goal of getting to bed by 10pm at the latest. 

 

That's basically that. Eat well, exercise, sleep.  I was thinking about implementing a scoring system but I am not sure that I will. 

[Maigs]

Following to watch you do your "boring" THREE Spartans  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following along again.

[Salinger]

This is the opposite of boring haha here as always to offer support and love xx

[Echoceanic]

If this is your definition of boring I'm afraid to ask what the opposite is.  

[Yasha92]

Following~ I too have a bedtime this challenge


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[jstanlick]

I like this plan. You may think it sounds boring, and run of the mill, but I am curious to see how your plan of folding in the different training modalities and recovery turn out.

 

Following!

[Mrs Van]

15 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Scottish Spartan Sprint on Sunday 16th Sept

Windsor Spartan Beast on Saturday 6th October

Windsor Spartan Sprint on Sunday 7th October

I'm a bit stupefied... which part of training for this ^^^ is the "might be a bit boring part"? Always interesting to see how much you manage to do. So inspiring.

[WhiteGhost]

I was going to follow your thread, but it's way too boring for that

 

 

[jonfirestar]

19 hours ago, Maigahane said:

Following to watch you do your "boring" THREE Spartans  

 

7 hours ago, jstanlick said:

You may think it sounds boring

 

4 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

"might be a bit boring part"?

 

17 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

it's way too boring for that

 

18 hours ago, Salinger said:

This is the opposite of boring hah

 

15 hours ago, Echoceanic said:

If this is your definition of boring 

 

This is what I get for writing up a challenge over several hours while being really distracted by the things i was meant to be doing instead  The reason I think it's boring is because it is just 'Do exactly the same thing you were doing at the end of the last challenge, just change some embellishments'. I get that 3 races isn't really boring and vacation isn't boring either. 

 

I'm not all that excited for the races themselves. It might be different once Sunday rolls round. I really hope so. 

 

 

19 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following along again.

Good to see you, sir! 

 

13 hours ago, Yasha92 said:

Following~ I too have a bedtime this challenge

 

Hey, it really is good to see you back  If I don't set a bedtime it drifts later and later until I'm a walking zombie so it's an important thing. 

 

8 hours ago, jstanlick said:

I am curious to see how your plan of folding in the different training modalities and recovery turn out.

 

It's the same thing that I was doing last challenge except that I've accepted that working out hard for six days a week is not the best idea in the world. I'm hoping adding in a couple of easier workouts will help. 

 

5 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

I'm a bit stupefied... which part of training for this ^^^ is the "might be a bit boring part"? Always interesting to see how much you manage to do. So inspiring.

I'm not really training for them.They are just sort of happening. There wouldn't be much I'd change if I were training for them (I'd be running more) but they simply are not my training focus right now. 

 

1 hour ago, WhiteGhost said:

I was going to follow your thread, but it's way too boring for that 

 

 

 

[jonfirestar]

Week 0, Monday! 

 

I've been both really busy and doing a horrendous job of time management. Thankfully the kind of busy is the general kind. I've got work coming to me constantly but no pressure or stress involved. I'm happy to be that kind of busy because it helps with all the things. 

 

Last night I had a list of things i should do but left everything until about 45 minutes before bed, electing to play video games instead. I did get most of it done but doing my update was not one of them. 

 

Scrounge to Survive

 

2286 calories. Pretty much bang on target. No fuss involved. 

 

Train For War

Easy recovery run done. It was 2x15 minutes at an 'easy' pace with a 5 minute walk between. Despite it feeling really easy the intervals were still done at about 9 minute pace. I was pretty amazed to see that but I'm not complaining at all. 

 

Discipline: 

Sunday night I did not go to bed on time. That was because I just wasn't feeling tired at bed time. When I'm more consistent that isn't a problem. 

[shaar]

Here and ready to be bored! o7

[Wild Wolf]

Figured I would spice up this boring challenge a little bit...

 

 

 

 

Wolf

[jonfirestar]

2 hours ago, shaar said:

Here and ready to be bored! o7

I promise to be the fount of tedium! 

 

48 minutes ago, Wolfpool said:

Figured I would spice up this boring challenge a little bit...

 

It was getting really dull round here until you showed up Wolfpool! 

[jonfirestar]

Week 0, Tuesday! 

 

I didn't sleep at all well last night and I've felt tired and sluggish as a result. Nevertheless today was a good day. I remain really busy but the rest of my department are back in tomorrow and I hope I get a little bit more time to think. 

 

Scrounge to Survive

 

2306 calories. Pretty much bang on target. No fuss involved. I decided I need to eat more freggies and bought myself some fruit. 

 

Train For War

PT work done. 

Mobility done. 

WOD: 

AMRAP 12 minutes:

6 burpees

3 pullups - chest to bar

10 pushups

 

I managed 5 rounds and the burpees of the 6th. It was harder than I thought it would be. The pushups were what got me. 

 

15 minute HIIT cycle workout. 

 

Discipline: 

I did get to bed on time but I didn't sleep well. 

[WolfDreamer]

You go, Spartan! For two years in a row, I was supposed to do a race here in WV but (as is often the case for a father of four) life got in the way. I'll get to it, though. One of my little princesses wants to do a Spartan next year, so maybe it can be a family thing.

 

Btw, I just started reading The Spartan Way, Joe De Sena's new book.

[jstanlick]

5 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

It was harder than I thought it would be.

Yeah, they do that. Kinda sinister even. On paper they look simple. I mean, 12 minutes right? How hard can that be? And then they kick your ass. But, that's a good looking day for training and nutrition! Sorry the sleep has been elusive. Makes everything else harder than it needs to be.

[jonfirestar]

13 hours ago, Wolfen said:

You go, Spartan! For two years in a row, I was supposed to do a race here in WV but (as is often the case for a father of four) life got in the way. I'll get to it, though. One of my little princesses wants to do a Spartan next year, so maybe it can be a family thing.

 

Being childless makes it much easier to arrange for sure. I'm also lucky enough that one of the big Spartan weekends in the UK is practically on my doorstep (it's about a 20 minute drive) so it makes it really easy to plan. 

 

I really enjoy doing them and would recommend it to anyone who is interested. 

 

I've read Joes other two books but I've not gotten around to the new one yet. It's on my to read list for the near future. 

 

10 hours ago, jstanlick said:

Yeah, they do that. Kinda sinister even. On paper they look simple. I mean, 12 minutes right? How hard can that be? And then they kick your ass. But, that's a good looking day for training and nutrition! Sorry the sleep has been elusive. Makes everything else harder than it needs to be.

I know right? I'm okay with it being harder than I thought but I am really not doing a very good job of taking things easy before the race weekend. 

[jonfirestar]

Week 0, Wednesday! 

 

Vacation starts now!  Well technically I am still on call until Friday morning so I might have to do more work if something decides to break out of hours between now and then but I am off of work until Tuesday now and I fly out Friday afternoon. I only added tomorrow to my vacation a couple of weeks ago because I had a few of spare days of PTO that I needed to use up.

 

A bit of an up and down day. Literally. I was feeling really hyperactive this morning (that's the H in ADHD). It's a bit meh to be in that state. It feels amazing but I find it hard to concentrate and end up bouncing around a lot. I'm also in my mid 30s and I know full well that while it feels like I'm an endless fount of energy I really am not. I crashed a little after lunch and things got rough for a couple of hours. I was feeling better by the time I left work. I think it's all just excitement about the weekend. Very strangely for me it isn't accompanied with anxiety. I can't really express how weird it is for me not to be a ball of anxiety about something like this. 

 

Scrounge to Survive

 

2337 calories. Almost exactly the same as yesterday with a little more fruit. 

 

Train For War

PT work rest day

Mobility: I did stretch but not for 10 minutes. I'll try and get some more in before bed. 

 

Run this morning. The PT approved plan for this week is 2 reps of 15 minutes with a 5 minute walk between them. I really over shot the effort on my first rep pulling out a 8:09 min/mi pace and sort of limped in the second at 8:44 pace. Ideally I'd be somewhere between both of those for both reps. Nevertheless a good run and over 4 miles covered and it puts me at 799 miles for the year so far. Apparently that's still on pace for cracking 1000 miles at the end of the year but I am losing ground and have no plans to chase it down. I missed it by a few miles last year and I think I'm doomed to repeat that. 

 

Discipline: 

Bed early last night and I slept through. 

[deftona]

"Eat well, exercise, sleep" you pretty much nailed this entire shebang right there

[Mrs Van]

Woot! Woot! for holidays! Enjoy it, and well done on another day handled greatly.

[WhiteGhost]

Enjoy your holiday (and the race)!!!

[shaar]

V A C A T I O N !!! You deserve it!!! 

[Echoceanic]

Yay for vacation! 

[DJtrippyT]

On 9/10/2018 at 2:49 PM, Echoceanic said:

If this is your definition of boring I'm afraid to ask what the opposite is.  

 

right? this sounds AMAZING

 

following!