Mid-Year Update

Goals Accomplished: 4 out of 13

To put it simply, throughout the first 6 months of training in 2011 I have gotten a hell of a lot stronger. The goals I currently have as an athlete are to see how strong I can get while being capable of running ultramarathons. I'd like to run 100 miles before I decide whether or not I want to continue in this sport or try something new. I refuse to be like many of the other runners; emaciated, weak, frail, constantly counting calories and sharing advice on yoga tips to "prevent injuries." I'm being very judgemental and of course I don't believe that all runners are like that, but many of them are. Some of them are snooty people because they are good runners. Some are really good people. Regardless, in my mind I'd rather finish halfway down the list and still be able to deadlift over 600 pounds than come in the top 5. I'd also rather have a large upperbody that people can take one look at while I'm running a race and say "that guy must be pretty strong too." I like ultra running because finishing is winning to the ones that aren't considered elite. I think being one of the rare types of athletes I have become is interesting to experiment with so for now I plan to continue what I've been doing.

That being said, I'm going to need to make a few changes in order to meet all my goals for the year. After my first 50 mile race I can admit I was pretty burned out from running. I'm not sure what happened but once the race was over the spark just disappeared and is only now beginning to come back. I went through a rough patch in my personal life about a month afterwards which may explain it but to be honest I'm not really sure what the reason was. Now that I've hit nearly all my strength goals (and exceeded them in some cases) I can tailor my training back to what I was doing pre-50 miler. I have another ultra coming up in a little over a month that will be a nice test to see where I'm at. It's a 6 hour event so it's not anything excruciating. I plan to also run the Stone Cat 50m in November and other than that I don't have many other goals this year for ultra-running. I'd really like to PR on my 50m time when that race comes around. Dipping into 2012 I have set my sights on a few races. I plan to do the G.A.C. 50k, NJ Ultra Festival 50m/100k, Wapack 50m, and then attempt my first 100m run at Vermont 2012. None of this is set in stone but my point is that for the rest of this year I'm going to need to put in more mileage than I have in the last 2 months if I want to get to these races. Vermont and Wapack in particular are going to require some serious running training.

To the strength domain-- I have made a few decisions that were not in my plans at the beginning of this year. I did not plan to return to Springfield College this fall, but for those of you who do not know I will be going back there. They have a recreational powerlifting team that I was a quasi-member of my first semester in college, but upon returning I plan to fully engage myself into powerlifting and getting stronger at the 3 lifts (bench, squat, deadlift). I have my eyes set on competing in a meet before 2011 ends, which is something I did not have any intentions of doing earlier this year. I see powerlifting as a new change and something exciting because I do not know the type of people who partake in this sport. Looking ahead to 2012 I'm also debating giving a strongman competition a shot as a few members of the powerlifting team also compete in that as well. That would be more for enjoyment but I'd like to see where some focused training could get me in Strongman. I would like to end 2011 with at least a 405# squat, 525# deadlift, 185# press, and a 255# bench. These are flexible numbers, but I will use them as benchmarks nonetheless.

The rest of my goals are not as important to me, but ones I would still like to obtain. I plan to test my Fran time in the next couple weeks to see what I can do. I'm sure I'll destroy my old PR so it's just a matter of getting under sub 4:30. I've gotten better at burpees just from benching more frequently which leads me to believe I'll be able to hit that goal as well. The HSPU and muscle up goal are nice thoughts, but are probably the last thing on my list as far as "need to do." I do plan to try and get all my goals accomplished, but the main ones are strength and endurance related. The sub 5 min mile may be attainable with little focused effort. I have been doing more short intervals in running recently which should improve my chances. I plan to continue doing these type of work outs while the weather is nice. I'll test my mile time in the next few weeks as well.

Aesthetically I'm starting to get where I want to be. I would like to see my arm and upper body size increase drastically over the next few months. I think I need to start eating more protein consistently in order for this to happen. Some days I just do not eat enough. I'm debating doing a hypertrophy linear progression on barbell curls to see if that does anything. Right now if I had to guess I'm between 190-200#. I would like to end the year in the low to high 180's. I've begun paying better attention to my nutrition once again and will be more anal about it over the next couple months. Especially if I become a weight class athlete my nutrition is going to be important. Plus, let's be honest I want to look good. I'm planning on going sober for a month about a week into July where I will really focus on my diet with very little to no cheats in order to cut some of the fat I've gained over the last few months.

If anyone has any advice, comments or anything on how I can reach my goals for 2011 and beyond, feel free to comment. Any criticisms/comments on what I've done thus far is welcome as well. I'm here to learn, so teach me.