Cobras, Crunches and Grunts

Ouch.

I got up yesterday morning and everything hurt.  Muscles in my arms, shoulders and legs were all aching.  Muscles I hadn't been acquainted with in a long time.  It felt like I had just done an ironman. Except I did that almost four weeks ago.  So it was pretty safe to say that ironman wasn't to blame, and I knew the culprit.

Bootcamp.

On Friday morning I had headed down to Bradfield Park to have a trial run with the team at Ultimate Bootcamp.  They run 60 minute intense sessions designed to improve strength, endurance, fitness and mobility.  With my plans to mix things up a bit over winter, then, it seemed like it could be a good way of doing some core work and getting a good dose of DOMS.

Richie was our softly-spoken trainer with a heart of steel.  There was no yelling, no chiding.  However there was no way any of us were getting off the hook, just because it was dark, wet and cold.  After a light warmup and stretch under the bridge we jogged down the hill to the end of Lavender Bay, and a small grassed area.  It was a lovely spot to watch the sunrise from, with a view across to the CBD.  But of course we weren't going to get a chance for any of that, because the grassed area was in a very special spot.

At the base of a nice grunty hill.

First up, a run up said hill, just to check it out.  Back at the bottom we were on the ground doing 50 crunches, 50 cobras and 50 one armed rows (with a stretch band).  There are various ways of doing cobras - our version involved lying prone, with arms stretched out in front and then swinging them out and back until hands touch the hips.  Great for the upper arms, shoulders and back.

After that little set we got to run up the hill again.  And then it was back into another 50 crunches, 50 cobras, 50 one-armed rows and 50 squats.  By then the cobras were starting to get a bit tougher.  After running up the hill a third time we repeated all the above and added 50 grunts.  Yes, grunts.  Basically a half-burpee.

And my new least favourite exercise.

Of course we weren't finished there.  It was another run up the hill and then back down and a repeat of all the above.  All up, in the space of 60 minutes, I did 200 crunches, 200 cobras, 200 one-armed rows, 150 squats and 100 grunts.   Plus four hill repeats.

I N S A N E

But, despite the DOMS, it felt great and I can tell it's going to be a really valuable session to do over the coming three months.  Only one question remains: two times per week or three...

The Holiday is Over

Image by pierre pouliquin via Flickr

So I've had about 7 weeks off serious training and have spent that time being pretty much a complete sloth.  There's been the odd swim session, an occasional run, an infrequent bike ride and a couple of aquajogging sessions.  When I look at my log it averages around 2 hours per week of exercise - basically nothing!

I did confirm a very important characteristic about myself, though.  If the coach doesn't prescribe it, it doesn't get done.  It seems that I need to have an actual program, with tasks I can schedule in my diary and tick off.  If it's not important enough to schedule then it obviously doesn't matter if it doesn't get done - well that seems to be how my brain works...

Coach Dave had been really relaxed about my training over this recovery period, but he probably wasn't anticipating I'd be quite as relaxed as I was!  However I did suggest that it was time he gave me an actual programme to follow again, as I did recognise that I was starting to go slightly stir-crazy - and he has.

I've also had about 7 weeks without stepping on the scales, so the start of training also meant the dreaded weigh-in.  Thankfully it wasn't as dire as I had expected.  A couple of kilos have found their way back to me but I'm confident they won't be around for too long, and I expect with my more aggressive training schedule this year there will be a few more kilos being kicked into touch, which can't be a bad thing if I'm going to succeed in slicing 2 hours off my 2011 debut IM time.

Another signal to indicate the "start" of the season is the reappearance of the wind trainer in the lounge.  The road bike is back upstairs (in its own bedroom!), only venturing out now for Sunday group rides (on fine days) and the wind trainer is set up in front of the TV ready for week night and wet Sunday sessions.

310 days to Ironman New Zealand 2012 - here I come!