Post 100 mile ultramarathon log

[John Guerra]

As the title implies I recently competed and completed a 100 mile ultramarathon run in SC. It was easily the hardest thing I have ever done, and I'm looking forward to getting back on track lifting.

I am 20 years old, 6'1 200 lbs and I have extraordinarily long arms. My athletic career has consisted of playing basketball at a high-level, but that has been put aside as I start the next phase of my life. I am a sophomore at the US Naval Academy.

All time best numbers:

Squat: 400 (early 2015)
Bench: 225 (early 2015)
Deadlift: 455 (early 2015)
100 Meter Dash: 11.1 seconds (early 2014)
1 mile run: 5:15 (late 2014)
100 mile run(crawl?): 35 hours 24 minutes (late 2015)

Back to lifting: 10/18/2015

Squat 1x5 315 (no belt)
Bench 1x5 195 1x5 185

Summary: Had the PRT (max pushups, situps, 1.5 mile run) yesterday so just put up some numbers today as a starting point for improvement.

[Derf123]

11.1 100 metres?

That's some ability. Will follow your log with interest.

[Bergstedt]

Good numbers on the bar and also very impressive about the 100 mile run!

What made you do the ultra?

[John Guerra]

Derf: Thanks, but it's all relative. Roommate is on the Varsity track team and runs 10.56 seconds without ever having trained properly.

Bergstedt, 3 Reasons:
1. Raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
2. Test myself mentally
3. I haven't heard of anyone completing a 100 mile run while lifting any appreciable amount of weight.

Ultimately, while training in the weight room is enjoyable, I think you have to test yourself every now and then with something that is brutally hard. The type of hard that has every part of your body wanting to quit, at which point it's up to your mind to keep the body going. That is the type of hard you will encounter in a 100 mile run (22/27 who participated quit). Granted, I only ran for 4 months prior to the run, and the longest I had run prior to training was a 5k 6 years ago. That probably made it even more of a mental test, which is what I was after.

[carson]

Welcome. It's probably better to do these kinds of things when young. Most impressive. Good solid weights for restart as well. I'm most intrigued to follow your log.

[John Guerra]

Thanks, Carson.

10/20/15:

Press: 155 3x5 (RPE 9.5/10) (belt)
Deadlift: 395x5 (RPE 7/10) (belt, forgot chalk in room)

Summary: Good training today, and I was done in less than 40 minutes. I'm sticking to the basics as I work on my strength these next two months. Put in RPE to practice in case I ever do a program that requires it, and it will help me track how hard things are getting. The press was challenging, but interestingly I felt like my 3rd set was the easiest, and the bar path the quickest. Deadlift is still light and easy.

Training plan: With school, and military obligations, I'm sticking to squatting twice a week and deadlifting once. I won't be powercleaning because even when I got it up to 235lbs for 3 I didn't feel like it was serving me in any way. I have always been explosive (can dunk a basketball easily) so I'm going to stick to the short list of Bench, Squat, Press, and Deadlift for now.

[Bergstedt]

Derf: Thanks, but it's all relative. Roommate is on the Varsity track team and runs 10.56 seconds without ever having trained properly.

Bergstedt, 3 Reasons:
1. Raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
2. Test myself mentally
3. I haven't heard of anyone completing a 100 mile run while lifting any appreciable amount of weight.

Ultimately, while training in the weight room is enjoyable, I think you have to test yourself every now and then with something that is brutally hard. The type of hard that has every part of your body wanting to quit, at which point it's up to your mind to keep the body going. That is the type of hard you will encounter in a 100 mile run (22/27 who participated quit). Granted, I only ran for 4 months prior to the run, and the longest I had run prior to training was a 5k 6 years ago. That probably made it even more of a mental test, which is what I was after.

I like your reasons for doing it, and am even more impressed with you actually completing it! I also can't agree enough on the "challenge yourself" reasoning. I'll follow your log with great interest!

[John Guerra]

10/23/15

Squat 3x5 325 (belt) go up 5 or if feeling real good 10
Bench 3x5 200

Summary: This was a solid workout. I always do 1 or 2 accessory movements after, but the 2 main lifts per workout are the bread and butter. Training is fun again which is a huge positive for everything else.

[John Guerra]

10/26/15

Squat 3x5 335 (belt) RPE 8.5
Bench 3x5 205 RPE 8

Summary: This was real good. Onwards and Upwards.

[Puppa]

Nice John. What RPE scale are you using? Post a video.