Friday, April 16, 2010

Recovery-Training-Tapering-Racing

Tis the season to cram all of these into 4 week blocks.

One of the more obvious things I have learned in the past few years (I knew... but now I KNOW), is this simple concept.

"You get stronger during rest". I know it sounds simple, but most of us just run our bodies into the ground thinking we are pushing ourselves for what will end up being a return on strength. Problem is, we rarely allow adequate times of rest and recovery so our bodies can rebuild and come back stronger.

I rested until yesterday, and then hit back hard. My knee is still a little off, so I chose a metcon which would not stress it.

Welcome "Cindy"
20 minutes, as many rounds as possible

5 Pull ups
10 Push ups
15 Squats

I managed 9 rounds plus one more of pull ups. Interestingly enough, it was hard, but not "killer". I think this one is a lot less taking than Fran because it is all body weight. I have not done a strenght workout for 2 weeks. The rest helped too, as I did not have to do much "chipping". This workout also kind of snapped me back into performance/training mode.

The running workout:
3 minute intervals 6 times
alternate 1 minute rest/3 minute rest between intervals.

Not sure how far I ran, but it was good to "get the lead out". I am doing these outside now, as I really don't care about the distance, just the intensity. If I need accuracy, I will go to a track.

So it is full power until 1 week before Ice Age. Hopefully I can keep up with the fast Lapham boys for at least 20.

4 comments:

Julie said...

Hi Matt,
It sounds like you are recovering nice. Nice workouts that you have been doing. I love how it is so true that we can get stronger with rest:) It makes sense...we all need it. Have a fantastic weekend!

brothergrub said...

Riding to St. Louis with Joel Lammers and Christine Crawford - (Double Chubb 50k) - Crawford does cross-fit ... She's done Cindy - 22 rounds in 20 minutes... Just say'n ....

Anonymous said...

That reminds me of a good point about Crossfit. Different forms lead to wild fluctuations in performance. That's why it's so difficult to compare performances unless you're at a competition. Guys and gals that post huge numbers get to official competitions sometimes and suffer mightily because they're forced to adhere to proper form. I'd guess at 9 rds your form was as good or better than the standards require. I've done 19 and change, but with half-ass form I could crank out at least 25. Keep it tight, the numbers don't matter. Good work!

Carilyn said...

Yes! Rest is so important, but few people want to believe it! When I was getting my certification, they showed us a ton of charts of runners who refused to rest, and there performance consistently dropped week by week - it was amazing. Hope all is well in the Midwest :)