Running Strong - an experiment

[tweakxc03]

So, after posting my initial idea in q&a, I've decided to give this a go... some background:

29yrs old. Former D1aa XC athlete. I haven't trained seriously since 2006, and haven't done remotely consistent cardio probably since 2008 or so... Basically as aerobically deconditioned as you can get. During high school/college I never really weight trained, and definitely never REALLY trained with barbells the way it should be done.

So the challenge is to see how fast I can drop my times with the aid of barbell training. There are NO serious runners (with the exception of a few crossfit athletes that do marathons) that do this. The plan is to post every workout and run 1 all-out mile every week. For a consistent baseline, I'll focus on the mile as a benchmark.

My current stats:
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 207lbs
SQ: 235x5x3, PR 310x5
DL: 275x5x1, PR 365x5
BP: 160x5x3, PR 220x5
OP: 105x5x3, PR 130x3
PC: N/A - wrist injury

Workout 1: Today I didn't really have time to get to the gym, so I just went out for a tempo run through the neighborhood. It was a somewhat hilly loop of about 2.25 miles. I went pretty hard and was toast by the end of it. Time: 18:14. This works out to about 8min a mile. This is a rough estimate as I don't know the exact distance, but it's between 2 and 2.25 miles.

At the end of this week, I'll run the first all-out 1 mile on the track.

[medwards]

This is relevant to my interests.

8 min miles are better than I achieved last time I trained for a 10K. Well done. Tomorrow is gonna hurt…

[tweakxc03]

Did some light mob work before bed last night - a little foam rolling on the quads, stretched hamstrings and worked on external rotation.

This morning - hip flexors/quads via couch stretch, 2 min/side. Going to try to stay on top of doing more mobility work. My stride has always been stupid short for my height, largely due to tight hips.

[Karl Schudt]

I'm wondering how much running you plan to do in the training for running? It seems to me it shouldn't be that much, since the long slow cardio stuff tends to shut off the strength gaining stuff.

Nevertheless, I'm interested to see how this goes. Good luck!

[tweakxc03]

At first, esp given how deconditioned I am, I plan on doing 2 "hard" runs per week... one tempo run like yesterday, starting at about 2miles or so, then 1 mile all out. I'll progress the tempo runs in distance a little bit every week or two. I'm currently planning on doing a 4 day split routine to fit in the conditioning and weight training. I'll squat two days a week at first, given that I am concerned trying to progress squats 3 days a week while hard running 2 days a week would cause problems.

My knees/lower leg will probably take some time to adapt to the new stress. My calves are sore as balls today.

Feedback/thoughts are much appreciated.

[tweakxc03]

makes sense... I am avoiding LSD completely in this initial phase of training. Believe me, I have done a lot of it, but for this purpose I am focusing more on faster stuff for now. My thoughts are LSD can have more of a drag on a strength oriented program due to the more catabolic nature of the exercise. In addition and probably most importantly, I am too deconditioned to really do anything for very long, so that risks injury as well.

[tweakxc03]

Workout 1 Update

I started this thing about 2 weeks ago, unfortunately right before I had to go to Tulsa and visit my mother who was going through surgery. This unfortunately meant basically no working out the entire time I was out of town. I got a couple of runs in but that was all. That being said, I start this little experiment almost completely deconditioned and in the worst shape ever. I have definitely lost muscle and put on some fat. So skinny fat, which is just terrible. My first lift was last night. I took it easy b/c I knew I would be quite out of shape, so I want to try and avoid crippling soreness.

Workout 1 - 7/25/13
SQ: 205 x5 x3
OP: 95 x5 x3
Pullups x5 x3

7/26/13 - spent most of today pretty sore from the squats. OP was probably a little light as well, so should expect a few increases the next few workouts. I am starting to rehab the wrist so that I can get back to doing power cleans, but that will take some time to get the inflammation down. Going to just lift 3 days a week and do a straight LP for a few weeks and see how I respond.

[tweakxc03]

6/27/13

Plan was to get in to the gym after work today. Then I found out that my mother's breast cancer is only stage 1, rather than stage 3 like they thought. Great reason to celebrate. I'll get back in the gym on Saturday.

[tweakxc03]

7/29: Running first all-out mile on the track today to get a baseline.

[Karl Schudt]

Well? It's been four minutes. Aren't you done yet?