upcoming biggest volume week ever

Last week was a recovery week. Even though the weights were low and I didn't do many sets or reps I struggled to finish my workouts. I worked 12 hour shifts on all my days off but one, on Friday I got a mandatory 16 hour shift, and I'm attempting to lose weight (down 13 pounds so far). I'm not sure which one of those was the culprit of the struggles in the gym or if it was a combination. Starting tomorrow I'll be in a really big training week. It'll be the most volume and intensity I've ever attempted in a week. Hopefully the last week of lower volume was all I was needing because I'll need to be at %100 this week.

I usually cycle creatine monohydrate. After a meet I'll take 4 weeks off, then I'll take a it again until my next meet. It usually ends up being a month off 2 months on. I started taking it again tonight. I'll need the extra help starting on Moday.

challenging weightlifting program

I started a new weightlifting program.  Coach Miller told me this will be the most difficult program I've done. If yesterday was an indication of how the next 9 weeks will go then he's absolutely right. Yesterdays workout was a ball buster. It was a tremendous amount of fun, but it was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done. It took me 2 1/4 hours to finish the workout. The rest of the day my legs were wobbly and i woke up with my legs ridiculously sore. I love to work hard, and i love how a hard workout leaves me feelling.

If training goes well then I should hit an 95k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk by the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet in January. If i can hit this numbers then I'll qualify for the 2016 master's weightlifting national championships that'll be held in Savannah Georgia in April.

A new olympic weightlifting program

Yesterday my Olympic weightlifting coach built me a new weightlifting training plan. I love getting a new training plan. Since it's something new my body isn't used to I'm fatigued beyond belief for at least a couple weeks. Today after my workout, the first one of the new plan, I was so tired the only thing I did all day was sit in my lazy boy chair. The new workout regime is a 5 day workout program. I'm excited about this. It looks tough, it looks like something that will be extremely challenging and take me to the next level.

week 4 of Olympic weightlifting and weight loss

Today I start my 4th week of Olympic weightlifting. The last 3 weeks I've mostly been training to learn correct form, yet my strength is still gaining quickly. The first 3 weeks my coach Shane Miller, had me doing power snatches and power cleans from the knee, dead lifts, presses, squats, etc. This week my coach is going to have me start doing power snatches and power cleans from the ground. I'm excited about progressing to this next phase of Olympic weightlifting.

So far my weight loss has been progressing quickly and effortlessly. During the 7 years of hard core dieting and triathlon training I learned my body responded much better to weight loss if I dieted for a few weeks, then spent a week maintaining my weight. In the first 2 weeks I'd been averaging 2,500 calories a day and I lost 12 pounds. For the 3rd week of Olympic weightlifting I raised my calories to 3,400 and maintained my weight of 268.8 for the entire week. This week I'll be returning to a calorie restricted, high protein and fat, moderate carbohydrate diet. I'm going to try and keep my weight loss at about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds a week. If I stay consistent with this schedule I should hit my goal of being in the masters 105k class by May, just in time for the New Mexico state games.

short course training

Due to the lack of time to train I've given up on all 2012 Ironman aspirations and started training exclusively for short course triathlons. Year after after my triathlon goals have always been Iron or 70.3 distances.

My body has always seemed to excel at the shorter more intense races. Thus far I've loved every minute of sprint training! There's not many things more fun than going out for a bike ride or run filled with sprints at %100 efforts with equal active recovery time! A short course workout that pushes my body to the limits only takes 45 minutes for running and 90 minutes on the bike. Compare that to the 6 hour bike rides and 3 hour long runs it takes to get the training needed for long course triathlons, I think I've made a great decision.

I'd only trained for short course triathlons once for a 4 month period back in 2010. That was my most successful triathlon season. In that 4 month stretch I finished in the top 10 overall 6 of the 9 multisport races I competed in, 2 of those I finished in 3rd place overall!

If I enjoy the racing half as much as I've been enjoying the training it'll be a fantastic year! I'm really excited about this seasons racing. My current training plan is a twelve week training plan ending with a peak performance at the Dam It Man triathlon in late July at Elephant Butte Lake New Mexico.

May's workout

Until my wife & I can afford for me to hire coach Julia Rossi from Mile High Multisport, I'm building my own training plans. The 1st time I did this back in Sept I felt very out of my realm. The 1st race I built my own plan for was the Atomicman duathlon, which will be held on the 25th of this month. I feel confident in my plan, my self coaching, & my upcoming race. I'm expecting even bigger things from my next training plan I'm building now which will have me peak for The Santa Fe triathlon on July 17th 2010! I will have just finished an A race so I'll be starting off slow, recovering a bit, as the month progresses I'll start doing progressively harder workouts, starting w/ some zone 4, some fartleks, & a bit of zone 5. June & the 1st part of July should be monster months! Lots of hard zone 5 intervals & track speed days! Tune in here for my training plan for June-July!

Here is my training for the month of May. I haven't built my swimming workouts yet.

Sat May 01
Run
50 min z-2 run

Sun May 02
Rest

Mon May 03
Bike 42 min wu
8X20 sec Z-5b w/ 2 min r/i
20 min cd

Tue May 04
Run Fartlek
40 min z-2 w/ 8X30 sec R/I @ 5B

Wed May 05
Brick
bike 1:15 z-2
run 45 min z-2

Thu May 06
Brick
bike 1:15 z-2
run 10 min z-2

Fri May 07
Brick
bike 1:45 z-2
run 50 min z-2

Sat May 08
run
55 min z-2

Sun May 09
RaceDay
Jay Benson triathlon
3mi run/ 12 mi bike/ 400m swim

Mon May 10
bike
44 min w/u. 8X20 sec @ z-5B w/ 2 min RI

Tue May 11
Run fartlek
run 45 min z-2 w/ 8X30 @ z-5B

WedMay 12
Brick
bike 1:15 z-2
run 45 min z-2

Thu May 13
bike 1:15 z-2

FriMay 14
Brick
bike 2 hr Z-2
run 50 min z-2

SatMay 15
Run
1 hr z-2

Sun May 16
RaceDay
The Dog House Sprint
500m swim/17.6mi bike/3.1 mi run

Mon May 17
Bike_TT LT test

Tue May 18
Run_TT Run LT test

Wed May 19
Brick
45 min z-1` bike
35 min z-1 run

Thu May 20
Brick
bike 26 min w/u. 26 min z-4. 20 min c/d.
run 10 min z-2

Fri May 21
Brick
bike 1:45 z-2.
run 10 min w/u. 18 min z-4. 10 min c/d.

Sat May 22
Run
50 min z-2

Sun May 23
Rest

Mon May 24
bike speed
23 min w/u. 9X1min z-5b w/ 2 min ri. 20 min c/d

Tue May 25
Run
10 min wu. 15X30 sec @ 5B w/ 2 min ri. 10 min c/d.

Wed May 26
Brick
bike 1 hr z-1
run 40 min z-1

Thu May 27
Bike bike 2hrs z-2.
run 10 min wu. 26 min @ z-4. 10 min cd

FriMay 28
Brick
bike 2 hr z-2.
run 10 min wu. 26 min @ z-4. 10 min cd

Sat May 29
Run
run 1 hr z-2

Sun May 30
Rest

MonMay 31
Bike bike 30 min wu. 11X1 min z-5b w/ 2 min ri. 20 min cd