tinkerer runs toward the mountains

[tinkerer]

Hello!

Though I’ve been a loyal Assassin for most challenges, my current mountaineering and fitness goals seem to be better aligned with the Scouts. Hope you folks don’t mind me joining in the fun here.

Looking over my last few challenges I’m excited about the progress I’ve made. It’s often hard to observe improvement without the perspective of that review. I was thinking “oh, I’ve just kind of been coasting along†until looking backward. Only a few months ago, I wasn’t able to run at all due to a hamstring injury. Slowly, but surely, that’s recovered. In the last challenge I was able to run quite a bit and confirm that is once again a training option.

In this challenge I’m starting a new training program based on developing the abilities necessary to summit challenging mountains next spring and summer. The first peak I have selected for next year is Mt. Rainier but others may come into play.

In the last go-around one of my goals was to read “Training for the New Alpinismâ€, a book dedicated to training for climbing the most challenging mountains in the world. That isn’t specifically my goal but the principles are still valid. I’ll be basing this challenge (and those to follow) off of the training plan outlined in the book.

The general premise is to build a very strong aerobic base for all-day performance. This is accomplished through training volume at low energy output levels and through strength training. For the first phase, the goal is to transition into a training mode through regular aerobic and strength workouts. This isn’t designed to push for maximum gains and I’ll have to keep that in mind.

I will also be including some general life goals as a way to trick myself into accomplishing them.

Training Goal: Accomplish 90% of the training workouts planned. There are seven tasks for each week which means a total of 42 workouts. 42*.9=38 workouts needed. The tasks are:

• Strength Training #1

• Zone 1 Run

• Zone 2 Run

• Recovery Run

• Strength Training #2

• Climbing

• Long Zone 1 Run

I’ll be utilizing mostly bodyweight and hill-running for strength. Our Workout Room has new paint and I’m pretty excited to spend some time there. This was a birthday present from my wife and parents:

Nutrition Goal: To improve productivity and decrease the risk of illness, I’ll stick to 1 drink / day (or less) except Thanksgiving, my birthday, and 3 other days (chosen in advance).

Health Goal: Go see a dentist. This one is pretty straightforward but it’s time for a checkup/cleaning.

Project Goal: Fix 3 of the following problems with our pickup:

• Alignment work

• Repair broken speaker wire

• Replace broken sun visor

• Replace rear brake pads

[Strickland5]

So running up a mountain ... I like it!

[Talvi]

Welcome to the Scouts this time round!

 

I like the way your training prepares you for such a variety of movements and work intensities, and that none of the training will be wasted as 'superficial' strength.  All of it will be useful in your dynamic physical/fitness hobbies. 

 

The seven workouts a week seems really intense to me though - have you done that much before?  Or do you have a plan on how to keep up with it?   What are the zone 1 and 2 runs?  Resistance and speedwork?  Is your wife scheduled into any the runs like last challenge?

[tinkerer]

Welcome to the Scouts this time round!

 

I like the way your training prepares you for such a variety of movements and work intensities, and that none of the training will be wasted as 'superficial' strength.  All of it will be useful in your dynamic physical/fitness hobbies. 

 

The seven workouts a week seems really intense to me though - have you done that much before?  Or do you have a plan on how to keep up with it?   What are the zone 1 and 2 runs?  Resistance and speedwork?  Is your wife scheduled into any the runs like last challenge?

 

Thanks for all the questions!

 

The training program is definitely geared toward functional strength. The showed a triangle continuum of fitness with Olympic lifters on one corner, ultra-marathoners at the second, and golfers at the third. Right in the center is an "alpine climber". Their ideal is someone with a balance of strength, endurance, and precise motor control.

 

The seven workouts sound like a lot but I think it's doable. I timed my strength workout and they will be about 1 hour each. The running is intended to add up to a total of 50% of my normal training volume so the runs themselves will be fairly short. This will help to keep things manageable. Because I have not been training as much as I'd like, I'll be targeting a fairly small amount of running total. There are four runs per week and it doesn't make sense to run less than 20 minutes per session, my minimum will be 80 minutes of running per day.

 

I guess to answer your question, I do have a plan. I'll do the running before work which makes it a lot easier to fit into the day. The strength training will be two nights per week and I can do that after work which will fit into my wife's schedule OK.

 

A zone 1 run is one in which you stick to a wholly aerobic metabolism. For that I'm trying to stick to breathing through my nose comfortably. A zone 2 run is where I could carry on a conversation but would be breathing through my mouth. My training book gives heart-rate info for all these but I don't have a HR monitor. Later in the program there are other things like running uphill.

 

And it should work out well because my wife's preferred pace correlates well to my zone 1 pace.

[Talvi]

Ha!  I really did not expect you say golfers as part of the triangle continuum of fitness.  

 

So you will be running 50% your normal volume but 80 minutes per running session?  Clearly, you are a running machine

[tinkerer]

So you will be running 50% your normal volume but 80 minutes per running session?  Clearly, you are a running machine

Haha, no I'm not explaining this well. I'm supposed to run at 50% but that is more like 100% of what I've been doing and I don't think I can back off much more and still get in four runs.

[tinkerer]

Not just the first day of the challenge but also my birthday! I took the day off work and did whatever I felt like, which wound up being not quite as exciting as you might imagine.

 

Run:

Since I had some time, I drove to a long hill and tested my max HR. I have read that "the formula" cannot be trusted and you should test it yourself. Per "the formula" you subtract your age from 220. I'm 31 today so the calculated value would be 189. After driving to this hill, warming up, and sprinting up it for two minutes, here are the results:

So that was time well spent.

 

House Project: Not a goal but my wife and i spent the afternoon working on our gym trying to get it finished up. She surprised me with the new paint for my birthday and I was really excited to try it out. So...

 

Strength Training: Did about 50 minutes of core and general strength training. There is a prescribed workout in the plan I'm following which I actually really enjoy. You go through a sequence of varied exercises (about 10 core and 10 mixed other things) until your form deteriorates and then on to the next thing. I enjoyed it. It was also way better because of the new paint in the gym.

 

[Princess Pineapple]

That's awesome! It's great that your wife has helped you build a gym.

I hadn't heard of Mount Ranier â˜ºï¸ But I'm English. What other mountains have you got on your list?

[Waanie]

Congratulations with your birthday!

 

Great goals again . You're really going to run more than in the last challenges, just make sure your hamstring survives .

 

That mountain looks impressive, beautiful. Climbing it is a great goal to work towards!

 

 

 

 My training book gives heart-rate info for all these but I don't have a HR monitor.

How did you make your heart-rate graph in Strava? I also don't have a HR monitor, but measuring my HR would be cool .

 

I also saw your epic quest, I hope you can cross off some of the goals soon .

[tinkerer]

That's awesome! It's great that your wife has helped you build a gym.

I hadn't heard of Mount Ranier â˜ºï¸ But I'm English. What other mountains have you got on your list?

She helps with all of our house projects. Yesterday she was cutting and installing trim while I worked on an electrical project.

 

I don't have any specific peaks in mind at this time other than Rainier. On my long term list are some more famous peaks like Denali and the Matterhorn but I am not sure if that is a 5 year out goal or a 25 year thing. The financial commitment to make those happen is just more than I care to sacrifice for at this point. However, there are bunch of local peaks that I really want to get out and explore. They are not famous but many of them have fantastic climbing and almost all of them have great scenery.

 

Congratulations with your birthday!

 

Great goals again . You're really going to run more than in the last challenges, just make sure your hamstring survives .

 

That mountain looks impressive, beautiful. Climbing it is a great goal to work towards!

 

 

How did you make your heart-rate graph in Strava? I also don't have a HR monitor, but measuring my HR would be cool .

 

I also saw your epic quest, I hope you can cross off some of the goals soon .

Thanks! My hamstring is actually complaining a little from the strength training and running yesterday but it's a good, healthy, complaining and not a painful response so I'm taking that as a good sign.

 

Also, you've pointed out that I forgot an important link in my story: I received a HR monitor for my birthday! I was planning to use the breathing cues I outlined but it looks like I can be a little more scientific about it now.

[Daryl of the Pines]

Awesome challenge! I just came over from Assassins as well. I absolutely love that group, but at times I need to mix things up a bit. Looks like you have created a good synthesis of Assassin and Scout orient goals.

[tinkerer]

Day 2 - Went Climbing! My goal was to climb five 5.10 routes and I accomplished that so I'm pretty happy. It was the first time to the gym since last winter and the first time climbing at all for about a month. I was able to climb a 5.7, 5.9, 5.10B, 5.10B. 5.10A, 5.10C, and a 5.10A.

 

Tomorrow: More running!

 

Awesome challenge! I just came over from Assassins as well. I absolutely love that group, but at times I need to mix things up a bit. Looks like you have created a good synthesis of Assassin and Scout orient goals.

The Assassins are a great group and the level of activity they have is amazing. I just can't quite figure out where I fit in with my running and long hiking/backpacking goals in addition to the strength training and climbing. So far I'm really enjoying the Scouts group too...

[Erick the Red]

Good that you can distinguish different kinds of muscly unpleasantness.  Sounds like you are making great progress at finding the balance between all the different aspects of fitness.

[Waanie]

Yay for climbing!

[tinkerer]

Day 3 - Running!

 

Depending on how it works out, I was supposed to run a short Zone 2 (75-80% max HR) run this morning and a longer recovery run this afternoon or tomorrow morning. We'll see how that fits in with my wife's schedule as I think she wants to go along.

 

For the Zone 2 run: 2.2 miles in 20:08 @ 8:47 / mile. This actually wasn't very fun. It was a weird pace between enjoyably easy and hard/fun that didn't flow very well. I'll have to think about how to handle this in the future but I think if I'm going to have a short run in my rotation that it should be a hard/fast/fun run.

[Erick the Red]

Sorry to hear that the run wasn't satisfying.  I think that your desire for a combination of "hard/fast/fun" is interesting.  Maybe because of a difference in muscle types or my inability to properly warm up, but I have never had a run less than 2.5 miles that was anything better than unpleasant.  I need some distance to really get warmed up and flowing, and then it becomes fun.

[Talvi]

Oooo I really like all the data that running generates.  Let us know what you get out of the heart monitor.

 

So far so good with the workouts!

[Mad Hatter]

Happy birthday! I really like the new paint job.

 

Your training plan sounds very sensible, the difficult thing I foresee with it is not getting distracted by shinies.

[tinkerer]

Sorry to hear that the run wasn't satisfying.  I think that your desire for a combination of "hard/fast/fun" is interesting.  Maybe because of a difference in muscle types or my inability to properly warm up, but I have never had a run less than 2.5 miles that was anything better than unpleasant.  I need some distance to really get warmed up and flowing, and then it becomes fun.

That is interesting. One of my favorite distances to run is a 5K and to try and do it as quickly as possible. To me, the two concepts both enjoyable but the goal and mindset are completely different. One is about pacing and a constant push while the other is about settling in, finding a rhythm, and enjoying the process. The run yesterday just wasn't either of those.

 

Oooo I really like all the data that running generates.  Let us know what you get out of the heart monitor.

 

So far so good with the workouts!

So far it is just interesting to see where the different zones fall compared to my perceived level of effort. In order to stay in "Zone 1" I'm running about as slowly as possible. However, "the book" claims this zone is highly trainable which is one of the reasons to do this. The concept is that in Zone 1 you are using intramuscular fat as fuel rather than glycogen. This is supposed to be a more sustainable and more efficient metabolic pathway translating to better all day performance. I'm in the 9-10 minute mile range for this right now as opposed to 7 minute miles at what felt like a "Zone 3" pace. Zone 3 is supposed to be the high-end of the aerobic zone with most of the energy coming from glycogen.

 

Happy birthday! I really like the new paint job.

 

Your training plan sounds very sensible, the difficult thing I foresee with it is not getting distracted by shinies.

So far it's just new and exciting but, yes, I foresee that becoming a struggle.

Is there a way to make images smaller?

 

[Princess Pineapple]

I'm intrigued by heart rate monitoring and running. It's not something I need to think about for myself at my level but it's good to learn about it.

I also totally missed that it was your birthday. Belated wishes!

[tinkerer]

Day 4 - Running and Strength

Goals for today were a recovery run in the morning and a strength workout after work. The run went well; it was nice and chilly.

3 miles in 31 minutes with an average HR of 139bpm.

 

Strength training was also good. I went through 10 core exercises and 11 general strength exercises over about 45 minutes. I like the core workout as it's a good warmup and then I feel more ready for the more specific exercises like pullups and dips.

 

 

I'm intrigued by heart rate monitoring and running. It's not something I need to think about for myself at my level but it's good to learn about it.

It's pretty interesting stuff. Please don't mistake me for someone who knows what he is talking about though. I have read a little on the subject and one book in detail which makes me only minimally informed. I'm doing this whole plan as a sort of grand experiment. It does seem to me that a lot can be done without a HR monitor just by paying attention to the details of how you are breathing: comfortably through your nose, deeply but able to carry on a conversation, etc.

[Waanie]

10 core exercises, you beast . If I remember correctly, your core was not weak to begin with either. What are the exercises you are doing? I'm not even sure I know 10 different core exercises, let alone perform them all in one go .

[tinkerer]

10 core exercises, you beast . If I remember correctly, your core was not weak to begin with either. What are the exercises you are doing? I'm not even sure I know 10 different core exercises, let alone perform them all in one go .

This made me laugh as it's not really how I view my situation. The premise is to go through each exercise until form diminishes and then move on to the next. Not all of them are as core-intensive as L-Sits. Now that I'm trying to explain them, the exercises are a little different than the standard "core" exercises. You can actually see the whole routine on the Google Book Preview of the "Training for the New Alpinism" book that I'm using as a guide. It's in the middle of the preview where all of the illustrated exercises are located.

 

Strict Sit-ups: (focus on keeping a straight back through full range of motion)

Dog Exercise: from all fours you move each knee in a circle which approximately looks like a dog lifting his leg (this one is odd but more of a workout than I expected)

Windshield Wipers: I think this is a common/normal one

From plank, lift each limb (one at a time) off of the floor and hold that position until form fails

Kayaker: sit on the floor, lift bent legs in the air, and pivot from side to side touching the ground next to your hip on either side

Yoga Pushups: From down dog, lower through a pushup position and into a cobra yoga pose

Hanging Leg Raise

Bridge

L-Sit

Side Plank Variation: Use non-supporting arm to touch floor and then reach for the ceiling

[Princess Pineapple]

I've done the dog exercise in Pilates class. It looks and sounds easy but it takes a lot of balance and coordination. But I can trip over air so it maybe harder for me.

[Waanie]

Thanks for the list . The dog exercise does a lot for my glutes as well, and the same for the bridge. Those are cool exercises, I'll try them during my next abs-workout and see if it's as easy as you make it seem .