Monday, September 15, 2008

Week 7

Strength Training:

  Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Superset 1 Elevated Pushups 15 25 35
Standing Squats (B) 15 15 15
Superset 2 Lat Pulldowns (B) 15 15 15
Oblique Abductor Raises 15 20 Wow, really?
Superset 3 Seated Rows (B) 15 15 15
Toe-Touch Crunches 20 30 40
Superset 4 Curls (B) 15 15 15
Flutter Kick 60 sec 80 sec 100 sec

Cardio Training:

Warm Up: 3-5 min jog
The following should be done on a 7 (or 8) min cycle
4x 1 min jog
6x 40m sprint
20 sec rest
5 pushups
10 situps
10 jumping jacks
Rest remainder of time
Warm Down: 3-5 min jog

Endurance Day

Warm Up: 3-5 min jog
3x 400m Run
30 seconds rest
800m Run
30 seconds rest
400m Run
2 min rest
Warm Down: 3-5 min jog

I think I can...

I’ve never liked running distance. I’ve always been a sprinter, better at getting things done quickly than going for the long haul, so I consider staying on this program for 2 months to be a personal triumph.

Last Saturday we were doing our weekly Endurance day where the goal is to run for distance; going longer periods to really push our level of endurance.

During the last lap I was feeling really exhausted, my feet and legs were aching, and I felt myself trying to quit. I started mumbling something like “I hate running”. I said it twice and noticed that it wasn’t helping me any to start whining about it. I remembered that I had read about self affirmations and that what we say and write affects the way we think, and the way our body works, so I turned my gripe around and started saying “I love running” under my breath. Now, I don’t believe that for a second. For me, saying “I love running” just feels like sarcasm, but it helped. I stopped noticing the pain in my legs, the cloud of exhaustion lifted and I was able to finish.

I will be trying to get more positive about this stuff from now on. Maybe saying “I love pullups” is silly, but I’m going to try to keep the griping to a minimum and maybe this will actually become…..fun.