Adarq.org

didn't mention this yesterday, so doing so in a post by itself.

yesterday morning, on my way to run, felt a slight feeling in my throat .. after my morning session, felt my throat a little bit sore, but it went away. At night, after my evening run, started feeling it a little more. Anyway, woke up at 4:30 AM with it very sore.

just mentioning here because, prior to yesterday, I had a rest day .. so it wasn't like I was pushing myself hard the day before. Two major dietary change I made, was: eating a huge bowl of cereal, adding tons of honey. Beyond that, I did bite my fingernails that day (like pretty much every day). Finally, though it was hot yesterday, the morning & night were a bit cooler than normal, which had me feeling a bit of a change.

i'm not sure if i'm actually getting sick or not, no other symptoms yet. Usually when I get just a sore throat, I blame my fingernail biting .. it also often turns into a real cold/sickness.

had some black tea + cane sugar, and a lozenge.. might need to get some throat spray.

hoping it doesn't get worse though, hate sore throats. Always fearful of it turning into strep, which I had alot of in middle school. man strep sucks.

edit: oh also, i've made my throat sore from running too btw.. just from the hard breathing & water loss I imagine. I didn't mention that first though, because on the way to my morning run, I felt it.. so no hard breathing yet. But that's always a possible culprit, that air intake with water loss can really hit the throat hard, make it more susceptible to something. I've had minor sore throats a few months ago, that disappear quick, those seemed more related to that.

BW: 88.9kg
Activity:
Misc:
Diet Compliance: 18/18
Mobility:

Rest.......

---

Will spend some quality time with the foam roller and the TENs but so far surprisingly no (D)oms?

adapted.

the stuff you're doing reminds me of how I adapted to high volume squatting .. the adaptations were just insane, ie no DOMS after heavy 20's several days in a row, and jumping great the next day. FWIW, I like the more sane frequency you're on - my high freq + high volume + heavy squatting stuff was a bit psycho, but the adaptations were mindblowing nonetheless.

Quote from: adarqui on October 03, 2017, 09:52:55 am

asked a weird question on this Kenya running IG:

Quote

hey, weird question.. but I think you guys would know. Where are all of the "old Kenyan runners" (let's say 60+ years old). For example, I see tons of photos of older runners in the US, mostly recreational obviously.. but how about Kenyans? I mostly see photos of young guys putting in work, which I understand.. but do people 60+ years old still run often & enter races for fun etc? Or do they have problems running as thy get older, due to all of the mileage they put in when younger? Just wondering if you can provide any insights as to how Kenyan runners, which have the most beautiful form & mindset for running IMHO, function as they get old. Thanks alot!

weird but, just wondering about it.. hope they can provide some info.

edit:

wow they came back with some great info.. look at this reply:

Quote

kenya_experience_iten @andrewdarqui Hey Andrew, great question. In summary the answer is that running is are career choice so when it is done with as a viable career option it is done with all together. Very few former runners continue to run just for fun when their competitive days are finished. In rural Kenya there are very very few who run just for enjoyment or health. It is running ares serious training or not at all. In the cities, the emerging middle classes do run as recreation/fun and you see more of what you have typically described from elsewhere. I expect this will grow as Kenya continues to grow economically but it will be a long time until this idea spreads to the rural areas

damn!

Living in a country that's similar to Kenya economically and with a similar national professional sports obsession (cricket in this case), that definitely scans. Many boys play cricket, and there are amateur and pickup cricket games all over the place for young men. But you don't see old people playing. Exercising for its own sake is basically only for the rich and foreign-educated or raised. The gym my gf used to take yoga clients at charges something like $500/month (!). There are people here who can pay that without blinking but not that many. I met a muscle-bound dude last weekend who owns a coffee shop near my house and also a luxury car importer: he's generationally loaded, and good for him. Even middle class people never, ever look like that.

But as the middle class starts to emerge, exercise is spreading as a hobby. The track I run at is in a very rich area but not all the people there are wealthy: plenty show up in old cars or on cheap motorcycles. I saw some young guys doing boxing training together and there are a couple of MMA-type and other gyms in less-than-rich neighborhoods. That will only grow as time goes on. It's only a matter of time before someone opens a Crossfit box here, IMO, and before yoga spreads from the foreign/rich to the middle class.

But that will happen independently of the national sports obsession, much like the response you got from Kenya on IG. Cricket is linked to national identity and aspiration. Casual exercise is linked to leisure time, to sedentariness and the accompanying weight gain and anxiety, and to disposable income.

great post man & thanks for the info!

It's easy to forget, living & growing up in America, that much of the world doesn't have these luxuries: exercise for fun, easy access to good food & clean water, easy access to incredible training facilities around literally every corner, a culture with hundreds of different sports etc.

also regarding middle class people not being muscle bound, it really is an incredible contrast to the US, where even people who can probably be considered living in poverty, can be fairly huge (muscle, fat, etc). I remember they used to have "30 cent cheeseburger wednesdays" at McDonalds, I think. I mean that's ridiculous. Access to "lower quality" food can be pretty easy & cheap: top ramen, pb, protein powders, fast food/junk, foods loaded with sugar/fat .. easy sources of calories. Plus you have gyms everywhere, or people who have garage gyms.

But ya it's good to hear exercise is spreading to the middle class & "below" in these countries. It's good for the economy overall, but beyond that it's just a good outlet. I mean just one example, in the US you can make a living just training/teaching people how to exercise for fun. I mean that in itself is incredible when you think about countries where people don't exercise for fun. I was at the park last night, and this guy had ~15 women (probably moms) doing calisthenics & cardio. He's probably making some decent money doing that a few times per week, those mom's probably feel better & have expanded their circle of friends, they also buy equipment (yoga mats, shoes, workout clothes) and probably try to clean up their diets, health & fitness improves etc. Then they also pass some of those habits off to their children. So just good all around IMHO. The scale of that in the US is *enormous*.

word! pc!

Yeah I guess what I meant is that aggression is a given, if you're trying to jump like a pro athlete, you better be aggressive....

I guess i'm not good at assessing one's aggression, to me if you're trying to fly than you already have the aggression factor engrained in you.....

Wow Eddie has springs in his joints.... he lets it all out on his takeoffs seems like while chill before that.....

quick post, need to sleep.

but ya that's my point: i'm not sure how one can be truly aggressive, if they are second guessing themselves, always tinkering with technique, etc. I personally feel those things interfere with ones ability to produce maximal effort, ESPECIALLY if one is consciously changing technique, or trying to alter it during movements that are intended to be maximal effort. So that's why my stance is to shift away from that, instead just be confident in your jumping, and absolutely crush it. Get really amp'd up, visualize more intensely, get the goose bumps bumping, grit your teeth together and grr like ur going to 1RM max PR attempt, and put everything into your jump.. and if the jump sucked, fuck it. there's another one 60-90 seconds later, crush that one. you vs gravity mindset. There's just alot of mental game in addition to the training, it's a battle. And if it doesn't happen that session, well there's another session 2 days later perhaps, etc. It's just a non stop assault on your limits, until your body sets new ones, repeat.

so I guess that's what i'm getting at.

also, the things like yelling, grunting, certain kinds of music, different types of environments (game situation like you mentioned for example) .. may work for some people, not everyone. So there's all kinds of other things that one can adopt, to help get their CNS firing maximally ..

ok sorry quick post.

sleep.

Yeah I mean take a look at ChrisM's run ups, it's like he's attempting an in-game tip dunk or huge rebound/putback. It's explosive yet relaxed and confident..... I don't know if being more 'aggressive' is the way to go....

i dno, ChrisM always came off very aggressive to me .. even in his ball handling videos. From what I see, he really pushes the gas pedal in most athletic movements.

I mean to draw a contrast, someone I used to train, Eddie, was the complete opposite. Talk about relaxed, loose, effortless, that was him. You can tell alot about someone by how they put plates on a barbell. Eddie never slammed a plate, dropped a weight, dropped a DB, etc.. He'd actually do a walking lunge or db stepup set with up to 70 lb db's, and he'd just crouch down and gently put them on the floor. His vert was absolutely insane, but his approach to everything was just incredibly laid back. Before his highest jumps, he would just sit there staring at the vertec or rim, you could see him internalizing everything. Sometimes i'd even try to amp him up and he'd literally do that "finger over the lips" gesture to be like, "be quiet, i'm focusing". Also in case you are wondering about eddie, here's a vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-zLl_IlNcY .... also, notice who is the one yelling. lmfao, I get really fucking amp'd and let it out.

So just drawing a picture of perhaps the polar opposite of the vibe I get from aggressive athletes like ChrisM.

As far as where scoob falls, I think he's somewhere in the middle, but definitely more so towards the aggressive side. I mean I saw him grunt recently and he hit a good jump afterwards, it looked like he got pissed and let more of the animal out. Personally, I do feel he needs to improve his mental game more, take note of all of the little details like we're talking about, figure out what makes him get those "goosebumps/chills" - surges of adrenaline, be more confident in his own athletic abilities - ie not question his plant speed or form etc & instead just focus all of that mental power into one thing, jumping with everything he has.

It's like during the lay up line warmups before the game, everyone is flying, because they are excited yet relaxed and in a trance/euphoria because it's GAME TIME. When you have experienced that feeling, well, your brain is wired to jump higher and your mechanics automatically get better....

That's why I advised him on playing with better competition or just getting better at BBALL will help him jump higher.....

Edit-- I think if one is a good basketball player, they will automatically have good mechanics on jumping....

i'm definitely not disagreeing with the layup line example you gave.. that's a great example, especially since in game situations & warmups for games etc, with the competitive environment, there's one thing that usually slips people's minds, overanalyzing things. One just gets consumed by the moment, of the inevitable competition, the extra adrenaline, and your body just takes over.

For me (with dunking), I was able to get that same game-time adrenaline by going to random courts and trying to jump/dunk in front of people. I took myself out of my comfort zone, risking "embarrassment", in search of that extra adrenaline. So I am in complete agreement there. Do I think he needs to actually play basketball to do that? nah .. not sure if he gets amp'd up like I did, going to random courts.

I also get a similar adrenaline/amp'd up feeling, surge of power, when I do these races, or if I go to a track and i'm surrounded by tons of people I don't know, who are training hard. For me, the crowd factor is huge.

Everyone should be conscious of that, of what environments bring out that extra power, speed, endurance etc. It's not easy to just turn it on when you're by yourself. In fact, trying to perform by yourself, could be disappointing, but then you put yourself in the right environment, get amp'd the fu*k up, and all of those mediocre sessions (done at hard effort) pay off.

Ed remembered at the ScotiaBank Canada Marathon yesterday:



https://twitter.com/julestoronto/status/921823339781480455

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-waterfront-marathon-2017-1.4366430

RIP.

back on it. aiming for 20+ miles total today.



10/23/2017

bw = 144
- stuff in me.
bw before bed last night = 147
soreness = none
aches/injuries = right shin slightly
cramping = during cooldown of workout #1
morning quad flexibility = loose
morning hamstring flexibility = loose
morning calf flexibility = loose
feel = tired

wakeup = 05:30 AM


diet:
05:30 AM: milky coffee espresso drink lmao, coconut water, grapefruit
06:30 AM: workout: running + bw (at park)
- 3-sec dead hang ng pullups: BW x 6
- full dips: BW x 6
- 3-sec dead hang ng chinups: BW x 6
- pushups on parallel bars: BW x 10
- 3-sec dead hang pullups: BW x 3
- front bar dips: BW x 6
09:00 AM: 2% milk, coconut water
10:00 AM: rxbar
11:00 AM: big saute'd yam, chicken skewer, 3 x pickles, sweet green tea
01:00 AM: coconut water
04:30 PM: avocado, watermelon
05:00 PM: water w/ lemon
05:30 PM: protein + water
06:30 PM: workout: light running mixed with fast speed
- amazing session
08:30 PM: protein + water, coconut water
09:30 PM: 2 x instant high fiber oatmeal, water w/ lemon, brie by itself
- brie tasted exceptional, must be very hungry
- ran out of food basically..
- all i have is a yam, pickles, grapefruit, avocado, oatmeal, cereal, and protein powder left.. lol
- i guess that's alot
- no milk/chicken/etc though


stretch:
05:15 PM: soleus during dishes



icing:



self massage:



leg drain:



workout: morning mile repeats: ~2 mi mixed w/u, 4 x 1-mi w/ 0.5 mi recovery {5:50, 5:52, 5:59, 6:22}, 2 x 260m {5:01 mm, 4:51 mm}, cooldown (cramp lol)
- https://www.strava.com/activities/1243326591

decent session. wanted all four of those miles to be sub 6, but 4th one i just wimped out.

tonight will be some light work.

probably going to do km repeats wednesday evening at the track, at a much faster pace.

one observation:

mile 1: 5:50, stride freq = 186, stride length = 1.48
mile 2: 5:52, stride freq = 185, stride length = 1.48
mile 3: 5:59, stride freq = 188, stride length = 1.43
mile 4: 6:22, stride freq = 181, stride length = 1.39

stride length really disappearing in miles 3 & 4, that early power just vanishes.

one thing about my running, i feel way different initially .. i have way more "pop" early on, then it just disappears. To me that seems like how i'm built AND my fitness. Need to do more mile repeats & longer runs.

looking to put in near 100 miles this week, on 4 days training, with some very light/short workouts on off days, just to loosen up my legs.



workout: evening fast speed & soft running in between: 1km path, carved out sections of 420m x 4 (wu-85.5/5:24, 76.9/4:54, 76.8/4:52, 77.7/4:55), 355m x 2 (64.8/4:50, 64.9/4:43) :: lots of "best paces" in 4:2X - nice
- https://www.strava.com/activities/1244126740

so in between those intervals, ran really soft/slow, like 12:XX min/mi slow, and so soft I could rarely hear my feet.

going from that to speed, felt really good.

safe acceleration due to my right calf - which feels fine.. just being careful, no sprinting out of the start.

avg moving paces of everything was lower, 4:2X-4:4X .. nice. really felt like i was moving.





man .. didn't feel too fast warming up, then pulled that speed out.. wtf? that's pretty decent.

good sign!

---

Monthly Tracker: October 2017

October (10) 2017

TODO:
- 10/3
- 10/4
- 10/17
- 10/19

Bodyweight: [(01,147),(02,146),(03,146),(04,145),(05,146),(06,145),(07,143),(08,142),(09,146),(10,145),(11,145),(12,144),(13,144),(14,143),(15,143),(16,141),(17,142),(18,140),(19,142),(20,141),(21,143),(22,143),(23,144)]
- FORMAT: (day, weight in lbs)

Total Jumps per leg: []
- FORMAT: (day, # of jumps per leg)
- per leg total: 190

Max SLRVJ Touch: []
- FORMAT: (day, touch height in ft'inches")
- L-SLRVJ:
- R-SLRVJ:

Total miles walked: [(2,5.5)]
- FORMAT: (day, miles walked)
- total: 5.5

Total walk time: [(2,01h:30m:00s]
- FORMAT: (day, total walking time in hh:mm:ss)
- total: 01h:30m:00s

Total speed interval distance: [(05,4000m),(05,8400m),(08,1480m),(10,4827m),(10,4000m)]
- FORMAT: (day, total speed interval distance in meters)
- total: 19107m

Max run speed (mph)/pace (min/mi): [(05,11.9,5:03),(05,11.9,5:05),(08,14.0,4:18),(13,14.0,4:18)]
- FORMAT: (day, mph max, pace max in minutes per mile)

Total jump rope time: []
- FORMAT: (day, minutes)
- total:

Total jump rope messups: []
- FORMAT: (day, # of mess ups)
- total:

Resting HR: [(2,20,40,35)]
- FORMAT: (day, minutes for this test, average hr, minimum hr)

PR's: []

Races: [(08,500m,20:14,20:02),(15,19:08,19:18),(21,19:21,19:10)]
- FORMAT: (day, distance, official, watch)

Soreness: [(1,"slightly","calfs slightly - left more so"),(2,"slightly","calfs moderate, quads slightly"),(05,"none"),(06,"none"),(07,"none"),(08,"none"),(09,"none - calves tight slightly)"),(10,"none"),(11,"none"),(12,"none"),(13,"none"),(14,"none"),(15,"none"),(16,"left vmo barely, quads slightly, calves slightly"),(17,"none"),(18,"none"),(19,"none"),(20,"quads slightly"),(21,"none"),(22,"none"),(23,"none")]
- FORMAT: (day, overall soreness, specifics)

Aches/Injuries: [(1,"left calf a bit tight"),(2,"none"),(05,"none"),(06,"left calf a little tight"),(07,"right ankle slightly - medial side"),(08,"none"),(09,"none"),(10,"none"),(11,"none"),(12,"none"),(13,"left hamstring tendon slightly, right hip slightly, left heel slightly, calves tight"),(14,"calves modertely tight"),(15,"left calf slightly tight"),(16,"left calf barely"),(17,"right hip slightly"),(18,"none, quads dead, calves dead"),(19,"none, after morning track: minor right calf pull/tight"),(20,"minor right calf/lateral gastroc pull, right hip slightly"),(21,"minor right calf/lateral gastroc pull"),(22,"minor right calf pull"),(23,"right shin slightly")]
- FORMAT: (day, specifics)

Morning Quad Flexibility: [(1,"stiff"),(2,"loose"),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose"),(08,"loose"),(09,"loose"),(10,"loose"),(11,"loose"),(12,"loose"),(13,"loose"),(14,"loose"),(15,"loose"),(16,"loose"),(17,"loose"),(18,"tight"),(19,"loose"),(20,"EXTREMELY loose"),(21,"loose"),(22,"loose"),(23,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Morning Hamstring Flexibility: [(1,"stiff"),(2,"loose),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose"),(08,"loose"),(09,"loose"),(10,"loose"),(11,"loose"),(12,"loose"),(13,"loose"),(14,"loose"),(15,"loose"),(16,"loose"),(17,"loose"),(18,"tight"),(19,"tight"),(20,"loose"),(21,"loose"),(22,"loose"),(23,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Morning Calf Flexibility: [(21,"moderately tight"),(22,"very tight")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Self Massage: [(22,"calves"),(23,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, area)

Cramping: [(06,"bloated up at night, messed up my running"),(07,"still lightly bloated from previous night, until I got it out after a long walk"),(08,"right stomach cramp during 5k race"),(09,"right abdominal/stomach area feels bloated/weird"),(10,"none"),(11,"none"),(12,"none"),(13,"none"),(14,"none"),(15,"none"),(16,"none"),(17,"during cooldown of morning workout - stomach cramps"),(18,"stomach feels a little wrecked but didnt cramp"),(19,"none"),(20,"none"),(21,"none"),(22,"none"),(23,"cooldown of workout #1")]
- FORMAT: (day, symptom)

Wakeup: [(1,6:15AM,7), (2,10:00AM,9),(05,9:00AM,10),(06,6:00AM,7),(07,7:30AM,8.5),(08,5:00AM,6),(09,08:30AM,8.5),(10,06:30AM,8),(11,06:15 AM,7.5),(12,06:15 AM, 7.5),(13,05:40AM,7.5),(14,06:00AM,8),(15,05:00AM,7),(16,07:30AM,8),(17,06:00AM,8)(18,06:00 AM,7.5),(19,06:00AM,8)(20,06:30AM,7.5),(21,05:30AM,7),(22,07:30AM,9),(23,05:30AM,7.5)]
- FORMAT: (day, wakeup time, hours slept)