Training Journal 4.26.08

Did some long-distance roadwork today. Well, “long-distance”.

All the reading and training I’ve done lately makes me wonder why boxing has had a traditional focus on long-distance running for cardio for so long. Certainly in other combat sports it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense – while certain physiological elements of cardiovascular conditioning, like improving your VOMax, might be useful in both running and fighting, it doesn’t change the fact that your body and mind are being trained to do two completely different activities.

I used to run for cardio (nothing tremendously impressive, maybe three miles or so) before I got into HIIT (“High Intensity Interval Training”) -based conditioning methods. I haven’t done a whole lot of it recently, but I’ve been trying to work in a long-distance session every now and then, to keep my cardio well-rounded as well as provide me with a little bit of a break at the end of the week. So I went for a good, sweat-breaking run around the neighborhood that lasted, oh, maybe twenty minutes or so (there aren’t any good running areas nearby – no turf, grass, or track – and my running shoes are practically shot through so I try not to go too long) in total. Confident that I had gotten a good, solid run in, with my legs starting to protest and my pace faltering ever so slightly, I go ahead and plot my route on Google Maps…

…And find that I ran just a bit over two miles. That’s about two ten-minute miles. That’s…not really that impressive.

At all.

I’ll have to add that to the list of Things to Work On.

Speaking of cardio, I noticed a thread on the Sherdog Conditioning forums that’s actually been around for a while – early morning GPP (“General Physical Preparedness”) workouts that can be done in 5-10 minutes, just as a way for someone to get a light sweat and a little physical exercise in the morning, ideally before breakfast. Hardly a complete exercise regimen, of course (you’re gonna need more than 5-10 minutes for that, sorry), but a good supplement to an active training schedule.

Evening practice went okay – my body is sore and bruised in all kinds of places from going to practice six days in a row, so I’m welcoming the day off. I’m in a good place for weigh-ins, too. Here’s hoping I don’t get sick – there’s been a bug going around the gym lately, and it doesn’t seem to stop people from coming in and training. Neither does ringworm, apparently – I think I trained with a guy who had it on his FACE today. Needless to say, I showered as soon as possible. EW.

pat m.

Links 4.26.08

Thought I’d throw up a few links on the stuff I’ve been looking at lately.

One goes to Mark’s Daily Apple, a neat blog run by the owner of a supplement company that talks a lot about eating well. It’s got plenty of interesting reading material (community-supported farms! Eating lamb!) and it’s updated surprisingly regularly.

Two is the GMap-Pedometer, a simple little Google Maps hack that lets you easily plot points to figure out how far you’re running.

Three is a thread on Sherdog Conditioning for people who are doing the 50 Burpee Challenge as a way of working up to the 100. I might do this.

Four is a thread on Lockflow’s forums about training injured. Uh, don’t do it.

pat m.