Goals: Short Ones, Long Ones, Skinny Ones, Fat Ones

When I was in High School I was fearless. I set goals and I accomplished them regardless of my failures in the process. As a Freshman, I ran for Freshman class Chaplain (It was a Christian school thing). I lost that race to a girl who was later removed from her position for mooning some classmates at a retreat (not a typical Christian school thing). The next year I ran for Sophomore class President and won! Building on that momentum, the year after that I ran for Student Body President and won that one too! I was good at goals and I was better at achieving them.

Something happened in college though. I don’t know if it was that the scope of the goals was changing or if it was the fact that there were so many things I was trying to accomplish I just couldn’t focus on any one of them . Unfortunately, I built on that momentum as well. For years I was goal-less. Oh I wanted to accomplish things, BIG things. I just didn’t know what they were… other than awesome. That formed the foundation for a funk that has taken years to overcome.

A couple of months ago, when I first started running with our Tuesday group, I set a few fitness goals for myself after running the obstacle course a few times

1) To be able to do 10 pull-ups without dropping to the ground for a rest

2) To be able to climb a gym rope with no knots*

3) To complete a set of monkey bars without dropping to the ground. (not playground monkey bars, the ROTC course monkey bars at the local high school)

*as a side note, if you are wanting to learn to climb a rope ITS has a great article on the proper technique

Goals 2 and 3 got nailed yesterday! Coming from a guy who has been overweight and understrengthed (yeah, I make up words) for about 80% of my life, this is a big deal. It made me realize a something that I have only understood conceptually for a long time: Goals are absolutely critical because they are momentum builders.

I climbed that rope yesterday and felt like a million bucks (even though climbing a rope has to be one of the most unnatural feelings ever), then I completed those monkey bars and felt unstoppable! I’m currently maxing out at 7 pull-ups but absolutely cannot wait to get to that magic 10. And I’m willing to work, sweat, and sacrifice to get there. That last bit, sacrifice, is a dirty little word that gets in the way of a lot of us accomplishing anything.

So I’m going to issue you readers a challenge: Set a goal for yourself. It can be a big one if you want but try to think of a small one. Maybe it’s running a mile without stopping, maybe its finishing that book that you started reading back in June, maybe you need to sign up for that mission trip or start going to that Bible study. Just think of something that you can’t do right now either because you are physically unable or because it makes you too uncomfortable.

Now I’m going to ask you to put your own feet to the fire. Post it. What is your goal? What is that awesome (or just kind of neat) thing that has been just out of reach in your life? Now… What are you willing to sacrifice to get you there?

Getting Done and Getting Gone

Well we took off yesterday with our typical Tuesday afternoon run with a slight modification proposed by Nick and me. The guys were wanting to either run to the school and do the obstacle course again or put in a 6 mile loop that Ben mapped out. Since yesterday was Training Day 1, Nick and I proposed that the guys could do whatever they want but we would be peeling away at the 15 minute mark to run our way back to our vehicles. We caught a fair amount of flack from our guys (as well we should) for beginning training and immediately dialing back the intensity scale on our typical routine but I have no doubt the we will be happy we did so this time next month.

Bear in mind that  while each individual run will be scaled back (with the exception of every other Saturday), we will be running a lot more frequently. Repetition, especially wrong repetition, is a recipe for injury. The shorter, more frequent runs of our training program are designed to help us identify bad habits early and make the necessary adjustments before we start cranking up the distance.

It turns out that once we stuck our necks out and suggested a shorter run for the afternoon, everyone else followed suit. Except Jeff, when we turned around he just kept going. I’m not sure anybody knows exactly where he ended up.

The highlight of the afternoon was when we finished I asked Parker if he would take a picture of Nick and me for the blog. You know, first training run ceremonial type stuff. Nick was a minute or two behind us in finishing so we caught our breath and stretched a little while waiting on him. Trouble was, when Nick finished, he slowed to a walk, gave us each a high five and walked directly to his car and drove away! He didn’t say a word. He didn’t even take his headphones off! He was like a rockstar walking off stage and into the dressing room. And like his own personal groupie I did my best to get my phone out and snap a picture of him before he was gone.

This was the best I could do.

Jerk

Keeping It Interesting

I'll never forget the day I was working at a summer camp and the students there were in the throes of a water fight. There were a handful of kids that were kind of standing off to the side awkwardly. They wanted to get involved but it almost seemed like they didn't know how. My buddy, Noah, leaned over to me and said "Grady, we are the last of a dying breed". He meant that we were the last of a class of kids that was encouraged to go play outside. One that our parents didn't always know where we were and frankly, they were happy about it. It meant that we were outside making a mess instead of inside making a mess.

Now, before I go off and start sounding like an old man: The truth is that Noah was a couple years older than me. I was very much on the fringe of that class. I was a bit more protected than him. I was softer.

The last video game system I owned was a Play Station 2. And while we may still be a few years away from seeing one hung on the wall at Cracker Barrel, I’m proud to say that most kids would consider it an antique today. It means it’s been that long since I’ve been consumed by such a machine. I’ve found better, more constructive forms of entertainment. They’re called WODs.

Here's an example of a Spartan WOD

When we post a workout, you may find yourself wondering where we get these crazy ideas and why we would subject ourselves to more than one round of burpees. Well I’m about to reveal the secret: I’m a subscriber to the Spartan WOD. In fact, when you see a photo of my workout log with “SWOD” written across the top, that’s an indicator that the routine came from that day’s Spartan WOD”

WOD Stands for Workout Of the Day. It was a term popularized by Crossfit and it is a novel idea. I like the Spartan WODs mostly because they are e-mailed directly to my inbox every morning around 1:00 and they are like a little idea tap to take advantage of each morning. Also, they rarely require equipment. A good running track or an athletic field with a pull-up bar and most of the time you are good to go.

If you are looking for a place to start working out, allow me to suggest this WOD from back on August 26th. It’s a lower intensity workout and a great way to get a taste of one of my favorite ways to train. So go get to it. I promise you won’t get bored.

Setting The Bar

I'm not too good at pull ups.

It’s not a motivational thing, it’s a gravitational thing.

At 205 pounds, gravity pulls harder than my arms and back are able to.

There is nothing quite as disheartening as looking up at a pull up bar and knowing exactly how this is going to go. I’m going to jump up, hang on for dear life and pull… pull… pull… and if I’m lucky, I’ll get to where my chin juuuust touches the top of the bar before my old buddy gravity begins to win his battle of tug-of war. Then I’ll drop back to the ground, catch my breath, wait for Flux Pavillion to drop the bass (it happens at 0:34), and jump up to start the process over again.

But just like Nick, I couldn’t beat a 10 minute mile a just few years ago. And after a few short months of sticking to it, I’m able to run several miles in a row at a better than 10 minute pace. If you’re not reading The Art of ManlinessThe Art of Manliness may I suggest you start? You’ll be seeing a lot of references to them in my posts. Specifically this article. I utilize a lot of these techniques when doing pull-ups now to strengthen my arms and back so that soon I will be able to crank them out.

had to change it up a bit tonight and work out on the soccer field
burpees in the dirt and pull ups on the goal

As a guy who can’t do more than 2 pullups in a row, I can think of a few choice words to describe today’s workout:

3 Rounds

10 burpees

5 burpee pull-ups

3 burpee pull-ups with knee raises

15 crunches

10 laying leg raises

5 hanging knee raises

I took my sweet time, but I got it done.

Fitness is all about goal setting. One of my many goals is to be able to do at least 10 pull ups before my child is due to be born on February 14th, 2014. I have a lot of work to do. But gravity isn't getting any stronger and all these miles we will be running ought to weaken his grip a little. With continued cross training, I ought to be there with no problems.

At the core of it all

Nick hangs on for the last few seconds of his plank

The most observant readers will notice a couple of things about the training plan. Yes, it is based off a plan designed by Jeff Galloway, an Olympic distance runner, but it has one key difference. We have taken out one of the weekly 30 minute runs and replaced it with cross-training. We did this for a couple of reasons. Most simply: we are already cross-training on Tuesdays with a group of guys we really like and neither of us want to give that up for the next several months while we get ready for the half. More importantly, however, is the significance of core conditioning for distance runners. And yes, for the purposes of this endeavor, 13.1 miles qualifies as distance running.

But why focus on your core when it's your legs that are going to be taking the beating? I'm glad you asked. Susan S. Paul, in her article on runnersworld.com says this:

“Especially with distance running, core muscles become very important in the latter stages of a race when fatigue sets in and form begins to fall apart.”

We use our core muscle groups for everyday activities. All the time. They keep us straight up and down while we are sitting, they keep us balanced while we are walking, and they keep us in form while we are running. And that is the key. The road is nothing like a treadmill, there are bumps and potholes and uneven surfaces all along the way. Keeping proper form is what allows your body to keep moving through all of that. We don't tip over or veer off course when we find ourselves on an uneven shoulder because we keep proper form. The trouble is, though, the muscles that keep us in form fatigue just like any other muscle. They may take a little longer since we are using them every day but in an endurance race, we need to have endurance all over.

The truth is that even on cross-training days we are running. Usually about 4 miles.

As we continue, you will be seeing some updates from us that include our cross-training and core workouts from our Tuesday group. You may learn some things and you may have good things to share. We welcome them in the comments below!