A Couple More Weeks In The Life Of The FCC

What’s a couple of weeks like in the life of the FCC?

8/15 – The Punisher
8/16 – Tabata chinups, ring pushups, SB crunches and squats with 5 mins of heavy bag at the beginning, end and between each exercise, mowed the lawn
8/17 – Walked the Beast once, 30 mins heavy bag, 1+ mile walk, walked Elmo twice
8/18 – The Punisher
8/19 – Ran/hiked both Table Rocks
8/20 -- Snatches, power snatches, power cleans, front squats, 1 arm kettlebell swings and pullups
8/21 -- Barbell bench presses, dumbbell bench press & flye supersets, upper body medicine ball plyos and steep angle decline pushups, 30 mins heavy bag
8/22 – Hiked up Hobart Bluff and Soda Mt
8/23 – Ran/hiked both Table Rocks
8/24 – Walked the Beast twice, 30 mins heavy bag, walked Elmo twice
8/25 -- Birthday Workout! Four circuits of KB swings, squat thrusts, pullups, ring pushups, SB crunches and SB leg curls. The reps on the four circuits was my age and my birthdate (52, 8, 25, 58), 30 mins heavy bag
8/26 – The Punisher, 1+ mile walk
8/27 – Hiked the Mt Ashland Meadows portion of the PCT
8/28 – Rest

"Feelin' Alive!"

~Patrick

Recovering From the SOB

Although a little recovery time was needed after the SOB, I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. So here's a little breakdown of what an FCC member does to recover......

On Sunday,the day after the SOB, Clista and I hiked the Jacksonville trails for almost 2 hours, plus lots of VRAs filled out the day.

The next day I did 30 mins on the heavy bag in the morning and a workout of BB bench presses, supersets of DB flyes and presses, ring pushups and decline pushups in the afternoon. Plus lots of VRAs to make the day complete.

On Tuesday I Started with a 2.5 hour, 7+ mile hike with a client in the morning, then a good workout of weighted pullups, high cable rows, chinups, rear delt flyes and hanging scap retraction/depression. I finished the day by walking Elmo a couple of times with clients.

On Wednesday, I took it a little easy and started the day walking the Beast a couple times with a client, then I got out in the hot sun and washed my car. In the evening, Clista and I rode our bikes to the park for a concert. Nothing too intense, just some good moderate activity.

On Thursday, even though I intended to avoid the Table Rocks this week to give my legs a break, the call of the Sirens was just too great. So, I ran/power hiked them both (mostly ran).
And when you hear the sound of a rattle snake, there is no mistaking it for anything else......I didn't stick around to see how big it was.

Friday was an actual rest day....nothing more than a few VRAs.

Saturday, a week after the SOB, was a busy day, but I made time for a quick workout in my 108 deg gym.....100 reps each of chinups, ring pushups, SB crunches and squats. Lots of VRAs rounded out the day nicely.

On Sunday, Clista and I had a great time hiking and running up (and yes, down too) Wagner Butte. The wildflowers were out in force and the views were awesome!

On Monday, my overall workout motivation level was kinda low, but I did manage to do an efficiency workout of some front squats, bench presses and weighted pullups......better than nuttin'.

And that brings us to today. After walking the Beast 4 times and doing 200+ lunges with clients this morning, I ran/hiked both Table Rocks. As usual, I ran all the way down both of them and ran the Lower Table Rock Plateau out and back, but this time I needed something different on the way up so I power hiked the less steep parts and sprinted up the steeper parts. Later I walked Elmo a couple of times with clients and added in lots of VRAs to round out the day.

"Feelin' Alive!"

~Patrick

SOB madness!!!

Now, let's put this whole SOB thing into perspective.....here's what Todd had to say about the 50k.......

"I was planning on letting the feet recover more and wear shoes for the race, but 4 miles in I had to kick them off. It felt good until I hit the rocky gravel road. By the time I finished I did 12 miles in ultra thin aqua socks, 10 in Nike Frees, and 9 barefoot.

Good fun with good friends!

Siskiyou Out Back

I finished 5th in my age/gender group and 82nd overall in the 2010 SOB 15k Trail Run. This is the first running competition I've ever entered and finished in 1 hour 35 mins. And congrats to Clista for competing in her first competition and finishing 7th in her age/gender group.

"Feelin' Alive!"

~Patrick

Mt. Ashland Meadows and the Past Two Weeks

On Sunday, in part to prepare for the SOB, Clista and I ran/hiked the Mt. Ashland Meadows portion of the PCT--TWICE! We ran over 8 miles of the total of 13.2 miles of trail.

Since The Big Ride, in addition to Sunday's run I've also run/hiked Grizzly Peak, the Jacksonville trails, both Table Rocks (UTR twice), the Lithia Park trails, plus a couple of good bike rides and several heavy lifting and circuit training workouts.

Now, time to back off just a little to be rested and recovered for the SOB.

"Feelin' Alive!"

~Patrick

The Big Ride

This is gonna leave a mark!

This morning, starting at home on the valley floor (elev ~1300 ft) I rode my bike to the west side of the valley up Johns Peak (~3000 ft).  Then I headed down and to the east side of the valley and rode up Roxy Ann (~3500 ft). I then came back down to the valley floor and rode the north/south length of the bike path between Ashland and Central Point out and back.

I spent almost 8 hours on my bike doing that.  Now, before you ask why it took so long, it was done on my single speed, 29er, rigid frame mountain bike with a 32:20 gear ratio......certainly not made for speed, but fun as hell!!

"Feelin' Alive!"
 
~Patrick

Barefoot Running

Congratulations to Todd for running over 100 miles barefoot in 24 hours at the Medford Relay for Life. Not only did he set a new barefoot running world record, but he also raised a lot of money for the cure for cancer.

Now that's what it takes to be in the FCC. Way to go Todd!!

A Couple Of Weeks In The Life Of The FCC

Whew....it's been a busy and intense couple of weeks. Starting 2 weeks ago on Monday, here's a brief rundown of my activities:

Monday--I ran/power hiked the Punisher.
Tuesday--a great upper body resistance training workout.
Wednesday--rest
Thursday--10k run on Jacksonville trails.
Friday--power hiked both Table Rocks.
Saturday--hiked the Jacksonville trails for a couple hours, 1+ hour bike ride, yard work and a great leg resistance training workout.
Sunday--light upper body resistance training workout.
Monday-- ran/power hiked the Punisher and White Rabbit Trails.
Tuesday--walked the Beast 4 times, 20 mins heavy bag, a quick bi, tri, delt dumbbell workout, walked Elmo 2 times and did a 1+ mile walk around my neighborhood.
Wednesday--rest
Thursday--ran 10k on Lower Table Rock.
Friday--hiked and ran the Lithia Park trails.
Saturday--hiked the Jacksonville trails for a couple of hours and ran a few laps at the Reelay for Life.
Sunday (today)--ran/hiked Grizzly Peak.

~Patrick

Time To Pick Up The Pace

Although the past couple of weeks have been full of activities, only a couple of those days really lived up to FCC standards and they both included the Table Rocks.
One hike included carrying Clista piggy back off and on going up Lower Table Rock (and a little on the way down too).
The other day that lived up to FCC standards was when I donned a 30 pound weight vest and power hiked up and down both Table Rocks followed by mowing the lawn and a workout of weighted chinups, DB rows, DB rear delt flyes and bodyweight pullups. Then, since the weather was still so great and I still had a little energy left, Clista and I went on a 50 min bike ride.

~Patrick

A Crazy Lil Week In Review

To help recover from Friday's record breaking Punisher hike/run, I kept Saturday rather light with a good upper body resistance training workout and a 50 min bike ride. 
On Sunday, Clista and I spent 3.5 hours trekking around and exploring Lower Table Rock. 
Monday was started with  a couple laps of the Beast and a 3+ mile brisk walk followed by an hour and a half of hiking/running the J-Ville trails with Clista. 
On Tuesday I did a couple of workouts of circuits and intervals in addition to 2 brisk walks on Elmo with clients. 
Wednesday, I did a quickie workout in the garage and hiked Lower Table Rock with Clista....it was a little cold and windy, but the rainbows and cloud formations were awesome. 
On Thursday, I only made time for a 50 min bike ride with Clista in the cold, biting wind, rain and hail. 
And then there's today.  I decided I needed to exercise my body and exorcise my demons this afternoon, so I went to Lower Table Rock and ran up, across the plateau and back, down and around the savannah......non-stop running......that's 5 miles with a pretty gruesome climb for the first 1.4 miles.
And, as soon as I finished, I turned around and did it all over again (small disclaimer...I did have to slow down to a power hiking pace for about 20% of the uphill portion on the second time).

So, what are you doing to feel alive?

~Patrick