Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hello, Mr. Burpee

Today, I was introduced to a new torture technique exercise as part of The Rock Circuit.  My coach directed me to swap out the squat thrusts (performed as shown in The Rock video) with Burpees for a "change of pace".  While I concede that it is a good idea to change things up after doing an exercise for a while, I was sad to see my beloved squat thrusts disappear.  I was getting really good at them.  That's actually a good sign that it's time to change up the routine--when the exercises become easy.  While these two exercises look very similar, the little jump at the end of the burpee made my legs burn.  I was only able to do 20 of them in each set, but I vow to get better!

This morning's workout was intimidating on paper, but it ended up being pretty fun and only slightly torturous.  It was fun because one of my coach's newest athletes and fellow early girlies, Batty, had the same workout as me.  So, we got to flail around on the sidewalk in the dark morning fog together.

My plan was to run a total of 14 miles including The Rock Circuit, but replace the strides with 3 minutes at 10k effort.  So, here's how that looks:
  1. 3:00 @ 10k (distance ~ 1/2 mile)
  2. 30 push ups
  3. 30 fast one-legged squats (each leg)
  4. 3:00 @ 10k
  5. 20 burpees
  6. 75 bicycles (abs)
  7. 3:00 @ 10k
  8. 25 fast one-legged step ups (each leg)
  9. 35 supermans (or is that supermen?)
  10. 3:00 @ 10k
  11. 25 calf raises (each leg)
  12. 40 tricep dips
  13. 3:00 @ 10k
  14. 25 lunges
  15. 30 feet elevated push ups
  16. 3:00 @ 10k
  17. REPEAT  steps 2-16 once more
Basically, this is an 11 x 800+ meter workout with a bunch of taxing exercises thrown in instead of a jog rest.  I wasn't quite sure what 10k effort would be, but I averaged 5:50 pace for the interstitial 10k bouts.  More than anything, this was a super long workout.  I was out running on the roads and flopping around on the sidewalk for 2 hours and 6 minutes total.  And, I have another 3 miles to add on tonight for 17 today.  That's a lot of exercise; 2 1/2 hours for the day not including quiet time with the massageball.

I will see this workout again for the next 3 Tuesday mornings, but the running repeats will become longer: up to 4 minutes at 10k effort.  Bring it!

7 comments:

  1. Killer workout! I love those types of workouts, and I love burpees. There's no way I could last for the 11 x 800s on top of all that. You're strong, Jaymee!

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  2. I agree with Glorybelle. The Burpees would be good for leg strength and speed. Huge session!

    With the 6 minute pace - yes, 10 miles first. Then the half, then 20 miles...

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  3. Wow, I'm utterly impressed! That's some insane workout you did. And 20 burpees? The guy in the video looked tired after about 4. Great job girl!

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  4. Thanks for all of your encouraging comments.

    GB, I should have guessed that you are hard core enough to love something like a burpee:)

    Ewen, Seems like some coaches don't advocate for leg strength exercises. I've heard some say that running is all the workout your legs need. My coach gives them to me in abundance. While they make you pretty tired on top of all of the other training, they seem to pay off. Do you do leg strength training?

    GIM, Thanks! You could do this no problem, I'm quite sure.

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  5. So are you doing this workout on the bike trail in the morning? where do you stop for the exercises?

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  6. cappp--Logistics are tricky with this one. We did it along American River Drive and used the sidewalk and benches at Rio Americana High School for the exercises. We ran the 3:00 bouts as an out-and-back so we would end up in the same place for the exercises. It could also be done in a gym, but that didn't seem fun to us. According to my coach, minimizing the transition time between the exercises and the running is key. We didn't pay particular attention to that, but I will in the future.

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  7. Jaymee, I've been doing a weekly session of drills (the Pete Magill ones) followed by the Brad Hudson short hills (on a very steep hill).

    We used to do 'circuits' of drills (jogging to different stations) - including burpees, star jumps, walking lunges etc. Then maybe follow that up with some short intervals. Most of the runners were middle-distance types. Their times improved a lot doing this type of work.

    I'd say all this is good if you can fit it within the weekly training and it doesn't wear you out (if you recover well).

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