January Man!
"You don't get the ass you want by sitting on it!" - A gym t-shirt
I stepped out of the shower the other day and happened to see my butt in the mirror. It looks pretty darned good! All those squats and dead lifts are definitely paying off!
Anyway…
It’s been a tough winter. Dark, rainy, chilly… My running motivation has flagged. December was especially bad. January has been better - the fact that it's my birthday month certainly helps! In case you're wondering, I turned.... 30. Yeah. With a few years of experience. :)
I’ve had to force discipline on myself. I have a 25K mud race next month, so that gives me a short term goal for my running. There’s a sick video of the race here:
The Hagg Lake 25K 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77-m6nLGPQ
Jason Leman
Published on Feb 22, 2014
I stepped out of the shower the other day and happened to see my butt in the mirror. It looks pretty darned good! All those squats and dead lifts are definitely paying off!
Anyway…
It’s been a tough winter. Dark, rainy, chilly… My running motivation has flagged. December was especially bad. January has been better - the fact that it's my birthday month certainly helps! In case you're wondering, I turned.... 30. Yeah. With a few years of experience. :)
I’ve had to force discipline on myself. I have a 25K mud race next month, so that gives me a short term goal for my running. There’s a sick video of the race here:
The Hagg Lake 25K 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77-m6nLGPQ
Jason Leman
Published on Feb 22, 2014
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Technically I’m still in my off-season for running. I’m doing this race more for fun than anything. As wet as it's been lately, I think this race is gonna be a TON of fun!
I ran ten times in January for a total distance of 98 km/61 miles and a time of 9:50. Over 50 percent of my time was on trails – muddy, wet, slippery, hilly, glorious PNW trails! My longest run was 19 km/11.7 miles. I always do my longer runs on trails. I didn't kill the hills this month: total elevation gain was only 2015 meters/6611 feet. This is all pretty OK for off season.
I’m also working towards some lifting goals in the gym. My motivation there is much higher. Frankly, at the moment, I’m enjoying my time in the gym more than my running. I’m really encouraged by my lifting progress in this past year!
That said, this has been a relatively flat month. My trainer was gone for a week and a half and I missed a session because I strained my adductors (incidentally, this is my first scheduled session that I’ve missed in over a year). I only got in seven sessions this month and we worked a little more on volume than intensity. So, my estimated 1 RMs didn't move on any of the big lifts (squat, dead lift, bench press).
I ran ten times in January for a total distance of 98 km/61 miles and a time of 9:50. Over 50 percent of my time was on trails – muddy, wet, slippery, hilly, glorious PNW trails! My longest run was 19 km/11.7 miles. I always do my longer runs on trails. I didn't kill the hills this month: total elevation gain was only 2015 meters/6611 feet. This is all pretty OK for off season.
I’m also working towards some lifting goals in the gym. My motivation there is much higher. Frankly, at the moment, I’m enjoying my time in the gym more than my running. I’m really encouraged by my lifting progress in this past year!
That said, this has been a relatively flat month. My trainer was gone for a week and a half and I missed a session because I strained my adductors (incidentally, this is my first scheduled session that I’ve missed in over a year). I only got in seven sessions this month and we worked a little more on volume than intensity. So, my estimated 1 RMs didn't move on any of the big lifts (squat, dead lift, bench press).
I got in two hikes this month, about 21K total. I like to use hikes as a kind of recovery activity, but also a way to build leg strength for tackling hills. Sometimes it's nice to slow down and enjoy the fantastic Oregon scenery (as seen below). The PNW doesn't disappoint, even in winter!
Dry Creek Falls Hike
https://goo.gl/photos/dmF2837DooiiChrM8
All in all, it was a pretty darned good start to the year! I'm looking forward to my first race of the year in February, working up to my lifting goals and starting back up with 50K training in April!
Be tough and salty!
Be tough and salty!
