KTG's Log

[KTG]

That's very kind, Yahel. I suspect it will be several (meaning 7-10) months, but will be very happy to be surprised on the upside.

L6D1 - 20 rounds. PR-3. 7:28 1 mile run before and 7:52 1 mile run after. Slowed down a bit, I think, by long hard run the day before.
L6D2 - 6:35. 42 seconds slower than PR. All pull-ups. Still strict 3 minute rests.
L6D3 - 9:10 - Big 48 second improvement over last week's PR

This was a mixed week. Slower on D1 and D2, but big improvement on D3. The D3 pull-ups felt worse, but went a little quicker. Partly, I think, because the pull-ups felt so mediocre I ended up doing more chin-ups. Where I was looking for alternating chins/pulls at 10-6-5-4-4-3 I ended up at 10-4-4-3-4-3-4. Push-ups were pretty good at 30-14-10-10. I felt particularly good about getting that 30 set out after the weak pull-ups. Squats were 40-24.

There may also have been a bit of a mental shift this week. I've started more intense running towards doing a fall marathon. So, I'm ramping up the mental energy for that and will be pretty satisfied just to keep my simplefit work on pace. I need to work a bit more on figuring out the best way to program the different work-outs during the week to get the right rests in.

I've also decided to work a little on the side on doing the D3 workouts in single sets. So, this week I did the L1D3 workout (10 pull-ups/21 push-ups/21 squats) with both all chin-ups and all pull-ups. Next week I'll make a couple of attempts at L2D3 first with all chin-ups and then working towards the 13 pull-ups in a single set.

[KTG]

L6D1 - 16 - Blechh! Hot and humid and hard. 7:14 1 mile run before and 7:56 after. Kept form up, but ended up with too many breath-catching breaks.
L6D2 - 5:55 - Back on target, but a little slower than PR. Consistent 1:11 rounds. All pull-ups strict 3 min breaks.
L6D3 - 9:30 - Also a little slower than PR (9:10) and not as nice splits on the reps.

Lots of hard running this week (Sunday long run - 10 miles @ 8:18/mile) and vicious weather. Now I'm off traveling for a week and a half. We'll see how it is on the return.

[KTG]

L6D1 - missed
L6D2 - 7:20. Way slow. Almost 90 seconds slower than PR.
L6D3 - 11:14. Way slow too. More than 2 min slower than PR.

Yowsers. Hot and humid, and coming back from a break. It wasn't that long a break, so you would think there would be some rested-ready-to-go working there. Not so much. There is also probably a psychological element. I've really shifted gears towards the marathon preparation.

BRI3626 and I had a discussion a little while back (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2165&sid=f8d3ad1dba ... 79a0633824) about the intensity/motivation trade-offs. I'm going to go a little further here and say that just keeping at it is the number one most important thing. If you don't feel like doing it some days, just allow yourself to slow way down. Improvement will still happen, just more slowly. The clock will always goad you along a bit. Of course high-motivation/high-intensity is the ultimate goal. But, keeping going at low intensity is better than letting yourself slip into the doing-nothing-at-all habit.

[Bri3626]

Well said. Motivation is everything.

[KTG]

L6D1 - 19 rounds. Recovering from long Sunday run, so no runs with it this week. Still -4 from PR
L6D2 - 6:37. Getting back on track, but still 44 seconds off PR. All pull-ups. Strict 3 minute breaks. Even 1:20ish rounds.
L6D3 - 9:13. Only 3 seconds off PR.

OK Week. Still focused on running, so not pushing SF workouts quite as hard and really feeling slower on the squats. It was a good hard running week. Not as happy with my chinup/pullup splits on D3. 8-4-4-3-3-3-2-2-2. Need to put some work into those to move towards the bigger sets with shorter breaks. Harder to get the squats all the way down with tired legs.

[yahel]

3 sec is still nice
Remeber u did
32 pull-ups
64 push-ups
64 squats

btw: U are still mixing chin and pull-ups ?

[KTG]

Thanks, Yahel!

Yeah, I am still quite happy being at level 6. This regime has taken me to places I would not have expected to be a few years ago. For the future, I am confident I will be able to push it to level 7 someday, but expect it to take quite a long time. For now, I'm happy to just keep at it steady as I conserve a bit for my marathon prep and recoveries from that.

I do still alternate chin-ups/pull-ups on D1 and D3. D2 is all pull-ups.

[Rosencrantz1]

Looking good, KTG!

[mr_fro2000]

wow gj! I imagine marathon training will definitely cut into sf progress... keep on keepin on!

[KTG]

Thanks! I am keeping on.

L6D1 - 20 rounds. Still off from PR, but getting better.
L6D2 - 6:25. PR was 5:53. Strict 3 min breaks. Need to speed up the squats (a little harder with the increased running) and make sure the squats and push-ups get all the way down.
L6D3 - 10:19. Felt solid, if a little slow. Chin-ups/pull-ups alternated 10-6-5-4-4-3. Push-ups 20-16-16-12. Squats straight through.

Pretty good week. Strong running. Switched schedule around with the start of the school year. New sched:

Mon - Rest day
Tues - SF D1
Wed - Speed Work
Thur - SF D2
Fri - Tempo run
Sat - SF D3 and cycling
Sun - Long Run

[KTG]

L6D1 - 20. A bit of a plateau, but no worries. With my real focus on the marathon prep, this is just hanging in there
L6D2 - 6:22. A 3 second improvement over last week. Still off from my 5:55 PR
L6D3 - 10:15. A minute slower than PR, but better sets: Chin/pull-ups alternated at 10-6-5-4-4-3. Push-ups at 24-16-12-12. Squats straight through.

Hot and humid and some hard running this week, so I'm pretty satisfied just to still be banging these out. After the marathon I'll start another real push to increase the size of my pull-up sets.

[Pilgrim1312]

When is the marathon? Good job on keeping up with the SF training along with the running.

[Bri3626]

Hey there, In regards to your post on my workout log... Do you think the same rule would apply here? A marathon is essentially just that a marathon right? Simplefit is essentially a short burst of strength and endurance and although considered metabolic I'm not sure it would be in the same class as running 26 miles. I would certainly agree that busting out a run at the start of a marathon is a recipe for disaster. I can't imagine what those last few miles would feel like doing that. I'd probably drop heh.

Since I've started Crossfit mostly I've noticed one thing about those workouts. For the most part its a give it everything you got, balls to the wall, push till you drop though process. There are stories of guys going out doing their first marathons and rocking their times although I would be very interested in knowing their athletic level and history before I committed to saying Crossfit is the be all end all for marathons or triatholons.

I would think that for such workouts, aka Simplefit, putting a full on effort every time will likely cause a delay in advancement of levels at least to start but I'm sure that soon you would be shooting past previous goals. There was a guy once asked a firebreather in Crossfit how to get through the workouts and do so well. He said, "Go faster, rest less". I try to keep this in mind when I'm doing mine.

I have a question sort of off topic. How has your marathon training/racing improved? Times gone down since you started Simplefit? Fatigue improved when your hitting those last miles?

[KTG]

The marathon plan is for Nov. 10 in Richmond VA.

I think you are right Bri3626: for simplefit and crossfit type workouts, for all but the shortest sprints optimal performance in any one workout will come from knowing how to pace yourself, but going all-out probably has better training benefits. On the other hand, one does have to be careful about overtraining, injuries, or just burning out. Injuries and over-training are probably more of a danger with Crossfit than with the very short and structured Simplefit program.

I can't really provide a very systematic assessment of the impact of Simplefit on my marathon training or running more generally. This marathon idea was relatively recent, so it just comes within the context of already having been doing Simplefit for a little more than a year. Simplefit has helped with my core and upper-body strength, both of which are important for strong running technique. But, especially at the longer distances, and for middle-of-the-pack runners, I'm not sure that that much upper-body strength is that critical for running. More generally, I can feel the effects of the workouts on each other: a hard run slows down my Simplefit performance. A hard Simplefit session slows down a running session. At the end of the day, though, I think the two efforts are highly complementary. Metabolic conditioning is critical for bringing the Simplefit times down and Simplefit's strong upper-body elements will improve my running in ways that simple running workouts alone cannot achieve.

I have read some of the stories about Crossfit gods whose ability to flip a heavy tire and do handstand push-ups translates somehow into respectable marathon performances. But, I have to think that for most people trying to jump from Crossfit workouts directly to a full-on marathon is a probably a prescription for some serious suffering and injury. There is a community of crossfit endurance athletes who mix regular cossfit and endurance workouts.

This week: Still plodding along waiting for the heat and humidity to break.

L6D1 - 19. Still on the plateau
L6D2 - 6:05. Some improvement here, though still a little shy of my PR at 5:53.
L6D3 - 10:40. Blechhh. Seriously slowed down. (PR 9:10)

L6D3 was something of a demonstration of the principles discussed above. I pushed a little bigger opening sets, but then paid for it in time. Hopefully the training effects will pay off later on. Chin-ups/Pull-ups alternated at 11-5-5-4-4-3. Push-ups at 26-16-12-10. Squats 32-32.

[KTG]

Here we are at 3 months on level 6. Still a very, very long way to go.

L6D1 - 22 (lower heat and humidity making the difference, I think)
L6D2 - 6:20. A little slower than last week. I don't know why.
L6D3 - 10:29. chin-ups.pull-ups alternating at 8-6-5-4-5-4. Push-ups at 22-16-14-12.

Just keeping at it right now. More good hard running this week, including a PR of 14 miles at 8:32/mile.