Training Recap: Making it through “Murph”

June 2, 2014 Faux Runner Comments 0 Comment

I kicked off the summer break with a great (and so-so) workout week. There is something awesome about not having to scramble to get the kids to the school bus and pack a millions lunches and snacks (ok, I exaggerate. Only 4 lunches and 8 snacks per day.) Except for the one rest day/lazy day that I took, I got something in every day. That in itself should be a good training recap to write.

So then, why am I also calling it a so-so week? Because although I worked out, I did not train. I would’ve liked to get in one midweek run of about 5 miles towards training for the Peachtree Diva Half Marathon and/or a run in the evening as training for the Ragnar Napa and also for the Alien Half in November held in the evening. Still, I hope my CrossFit pays dividends, especially as it is a good motivator when I don’t have anyone to meet for a run.

I’ve also started keeping an eye on my food intake. After all, what is training without the nutrition to support it? (To be honest, I was a bit alarmed at my habits of eating “stuff”. I shall shortly be sharing what I intend to do to keep myself on track and accountable.

Monday:

The heavyweight of the week was the CrossFit Hero WOD “Murph”.
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 pushups
300 squats
1 mile run

I was amazed at getting through the workout and that it only took me 3 days for the DOMS to set in!

Tuesday:

Rest day/Lazy day. I should’ve really taken this as an easy run/swim day. But I just rolled over and went back to bed to grab a few extra snoozes before heading back to work after a long weekend.

Wednesday:

The WOD today showed proof that I’m getting stronger. I had moved up from the 15lb kettle bell to 18lbs. And I was asked to try the 25lbs kettlebell. I couldn’t quite manage it, but did try it for about 5 swings. And I held my deadlift at 105lbs; although I frankly wonder at the effectiveness of higher weighed deadlifts vs. injury probability.

AMRAP 15min of
9 deadlifts, 12 kettle bell swings, row 250m

Thursday:

It was a double PR day for me! I hit 55lbs at back squats (I’m sure I could’ve gone up a tad too, I felt strong on this one) and also 9:57 on the 1 mile run. I gave the run my all to get sub-10 and was thrilled to get there (although technically I had 9:59 as my mile run 1 year ago on the track). We do the mile test at my box almost every week and I’m thinking of working with shorter intervals to try to improve this time.

Back Squats at 5-5-3-3-3 for strength
1 mile run
19-16-13 of front squats, sit-ups, ring pull-ups

Friday:

The week’s workout took its toll on me when I make the mistake of going to bed late the night before. But instead of taking the day off, I headed to the pool for some active recovery. The pool reminded me of how much I love the water and how much I hate putting the swimsuit on. After more than 3-4 months away from the pool, I soon learnt that my swim cardio was near beginner level and that I was still as slow as ever!

8 x 50yds w: 20sec RI – This was as part warm up and also since I lost my swim cardio ability
4 x 200yds w:30 sec RI – I could feel my already bad form deteriorating towards the end 🙁

Saturday:

Agreed to run 10 miles with a friend, but some confusion and I ended up running the distance alone. And it was a little more than 11. Since it was on a relatively flat path, my goal was to maintain a steady pace. There were times when I was on a high and times when I was in the dumps and picking up my feet was an effort. The urge to walk more than my planned breaks was huge, but I fought it and maintained my 90sec:30sec run/walk intervals all throughout and ended up with surprising even pacing given how I felt that I was struggling.

Bonus: Bumping into my hubby who decided on a ride after dropping the minions off at their morning activity.

Sunday:

Massage day!

What did I learn from the week?

A long WOD is like a long run
It has to be paced correctly to get you through to the end. Nutrition and hydration of the day (and days before) is important. I had been warned of the side effects of “Murph” and upped my water + electrolyte intake and made sure to hydrate all through the workout.

Recovery Nutrition is very important
After my “eat everything in sight” bike ride last week, I remembered to drink my protein shake after my workouts. I also increased the protein amount after a particularly strenuous workout like Murph. I don’t know if it worked, but at least I didn’t feel hungry all day like I did after the bike ride.

If you want to run well, run more
I don’t mean run 6-7 days/week, but definitely more than 1/week (for me). While a lot of CrossFit coaches advocate 1 long run and 5 days of WODs in a week, and I know people who follow this model and pull off stunning results; I am not one of those fortunate people. (Maybe because I’m relatively new with only 4 years of running and I have no previous base to draw upon). I’ve realized that for me to run well, I need to run at least 3 days/week. It is not my legs that forget how to run, rather my endurance heart that forgets how to sustain that constant effort of running.

How was your training week? Did you do anything special for the long Memorial day weekend?

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