Adarq.org

complete rest day! 5k race tomorrow morning.

143 today.. would like to wake up around 143/144 or so tomorrow. I definitely don't want to be heavier, that would indicate alot of extra water retention, which i'd be peeing out like crazy because of the "extra nerves".. so 143/144 tomorrow morning would be nice. Need to make sure not to overhydrate & overeat today. Nothing is worse than going to the bathroom non-stop before a race. I just want to feel comfortable lmao. Worst case scenario would be, waking up at like 147-148, and just peeing my brains out every 10 minutes.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to drink one of my large coffee drinks, in addition to eating a quarter watermelon.. the coffee thing has me on the fence, but, it's helped my morning sessions alot lately, since i haven't been in this early morning groove for too long. So, just going to chug it @ 5 AM, ASAP, and eat that watermelon right after.

5 AM wakeup time tomorrow, because I have to leave the house at 6 AM, light warmup and such by 6:30 AM, race at 7 AM.. one of the earlier races. Most start at 7:30.

I won this race last year, so i'd like to win it again.. "Defending Champ!!" lmfao.

As for race strategy, the question is, will there be someone racing who pulls me out of my comfort zone? ie, someone who can run a fast low 5's first mile, and get me all lactic acid'd up for the last 2 miles. Honestly, if the fastest person there is ~5:45+ per mile, I really feel like i'm in the kind of condition to hang, the entire race. I'm really confident in that. I haven't put that kind of effort in for 5k at all since my come back, but my 400m repeat work capacity and my speed in general is way better right now that it was last year. So my race strategy is always to just keep up with the fastest, i'm not changing that, I don't fall back until i'm dying .. but, hoping it's more of a 5:45+ kind of race so I can relax a bit more and not try to survive a death match with myself. If i'm the leader, going to try and just maintain it at 5:55+ pace, but I won't be looking at my watch.

This is the race from last year, the one where I ran an extra 0.2 mi because they screwed me up on where to turn around. Photos from last year's race:





I need some new hardware, lulz.



10/07/2017

bw = 143
- 
bw before bed = ?
soreness = none
aches/injuries = right ankle a little - medial side
- fuqn calf stretches!@$!
morning quad flexibility = loose
morning hamstring flexibility = loose
feel = great

wakeup = 7:30 AM
- slept in a bit

diet:
09:30 AM: 4 eggs x sunny side up, 2 x SF sour dough bread, banana, avocado, sweetened green tea
03:00 PM: coconut water
03:30 PM: workout: light walk
05:00 PM: 5 x grape fruit, 2 x coconut water, avocado
07:00 PM: coconut water, banana
09:00 PM: fried banana in olive oil/salt, 2 x sf sour dough, water with alot of fresh lemon
- so good.



my new white plate .. for taking photos with. LMFAO. I mean I ate everything on it afterwards, I just wanted a white plate to take some better shots. I like it already.



stretch:
- bunch of soleus a few times
- some quad
- 09:45 PM: everything light, before bed



workout: light walk
- midway through the walk i took off my shoe and sock, felt like a rock was under my big toe ..
- as i was getting home, very sharp sting
- i think something went into my toe, like a small thorn/picker
- then it happened again ~20 minutes after i was done walking, barefoot.
- WTF.
- 



WOW.. A HAIR FROM MY SHAVED HEAD, IMPALED MY TOE. INSANE.

---

Monthly Tracker: October 2017

October (10) 2017

TODO:
- 10/3
- 10/4

Bodyweight: [(01,147),(02,146),(03,146),(04,145),(05,146),(06,145),(07,143)]
- 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)]
- FORMAT: (day, total speed interval distance in meters)
- total: 8800m

Max run speed (mph)/pace (min/mi): [(05,11.9,5:03),(05,11.9,5:05)]
- 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: []

Soreness: [(1,"slightly","calfs slightly - left more so"),(2,"slightly","calfs moderate, quads slightly"),(05,"none"),(06,"none"),(07,"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")]
- FORMAT: (day, specifics)

Morning Quad Flexibility: [(1,"stiff"),(2,"loose"),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Morning Hamstring Flexibility:[ [(1,"stiff"),(2,"loose),(05,"loose"),(06,"loose"),(07,"loose")]
- FORMAT: (day, general flexibility)

Wakeup: [(1,6:15AM,7), (2,10:00AM,9),(05,9:00AM,10),(06,6:00AM,7),(07,7:30AM,8.5)]
- FORMAT: (day, wakeup time, hours slept)

Training > Genetics in skill based sports .. genetics just give people extra advantages, but not enough to overcome training.

Basketball is a skill based sport.

Culture > Genetics in every sport/event, because culture allows a population to more easily find & develop people with incredible genetic advantages.

Genetics>Training

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aKM_OY14AU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aKM_OY14AU</a>

Edit- Depending on the sport just culture is nowhere near enough. Take the Philippines for example. They are obsessed with basketball and it is pretty much their national sport. How many Filo players do you see in the NBA? How many Filo players even play in decent professional leagues? Not many.

Not sure why you linked that video? lmao.. Someone saying, "he's simply not big enough to play in the league", when the kid is 5'11", is not going to convince me of anything.. Correction: he's simply not good enough to play in the league. He could be a child prodigy all he wants, but he wasn't a high school prodigy, nor a college prodigy, and that's when it matters. It looks like he really wants to get into the league though, so maybe he ends up playing in the NBDL at some point and then gets called up.. then what, will they fix the video and say "well he was big enough apparently". lol.

As for Philipinos, I think that's more of a cultural problem. What if more philipinos grew up playing bball in the US? It's their "national sport" now, but it's still new to them. I don't follow Philipino basketball, but do they have some impressive leagues? Are they sending players over to the US/colleges? Or are they just doing everything in house? If they are "all short", then shouldn't they have one of the biggest pools of point guards on the planet? Should be tons of skilled point guards ... I doubt that's the case. I bet many of them grow up playing center, forward, etc at shorter heights. Jamaica can make Hockey their national sport out of nowhere, have everyone playing it, but they won't get anywhere for a long time.

Also, remember when Argentina beat the US in the olympics? Did those Argentinean players have better genetics than than their US opposition?

The league has been steadily bringing in players from Europe and all over the world for several years now. The league is becoming "de-americanified", because there's so many good players all over the world now. That's the result of basketball becoming global, and a bigger pool of people (who bust their ass) to pick from.

Finally, "Mugsy Bogues" and "Earl Boykins" come to mind. It's harder to make it into the league if you're short, which philipinos are shorter on average, but it's absolutely not a restriction. Mugsy is basically a midget and was a dominant force. There's no way someone of similar size, from another country, couldn't emulate his game.

Also one of the best rebounders in the league was Barkley, what was he 6'5? That's like shooting guard height.

I'm just sitting here imagining a Steve Kerr-like philipino player, without much "impressive athleticism" or an impressive "body" based on genetics, but can simply shoot the lights out at a crazy high percentage from anywhere on the court. lol.

btw, there's been a few American/Filipino players in the NBA.

I know you can list players <6 foot that played in the NBA but the average height in NBA is 6'8 and in most decent leagues throughout the world e.g. NBL, Euro league, CBA etc. they all have a similar average height of around 6'7-6'8. The only sports where training>genetics are skill based sports like golf, tennis etc. imo

Basketball is a skill based sport... some positions require different (arguably less) skills and more height/bulk. If people from some country are all < 6' for some reason, they still have a position in the NBA that has people that height, ie point guards.

If you base it on height, then "there's only been a few players under 5'6 to make it to the NBA & they come from America", that pool is so small that it makes sense it would be harder to join, regardless of country. The pool is bigger for < 6', but still pretty small. The pool for 6'+ is huge, and look what's happening over time, players from all sorts of countries are finding their way into the league and are successful.

The golf/tennis thing is funny though.. pretty much every sport you will list, including basketball, is considered a skill sport. Basketball is definitely less favorable to short people, so if someone is short they have a better chance at making it in other skill sports, but it isn't a fact that they won't be able to make it into the league just because of their height/wing span. Also, you don't see many short people in Tennis or Golf either..

Also just to clarify, I never said just because someone trains hard or does the right training, they will be successful. Incase anyone is thinking that's my stance. I'm saying these people need to also be surrounded by serious competition, ie a culture that supports that event/sport, year after year, and just like species evolution, you get sports evolution. It definitely takes time. Even then, this person might not make it, but their teammate might, or their grandkids might when the competition within their country has evolved more.

interesting how weak Mo looks with weights. I mean, no matter how light I get, I don't think i'd ever be able to get "weak" again using weights, it's kind of like riding a bike if you've pushed yourself really hard, and figured out how to lift/handle free weights/handle that tension.

Thing is, I was crazy weak when I first started lifting.. I mean, 20 lb db bench press was hard, 85 lb barbell bench press wasn't happening, 95 lb half squat was brutal.. etc.. So I know what it's like to be very thin/light and not be able to handle weights. That's why it's a bit odd, that he's so weak. Unless, you look at it from the perspective of s&c coaches getting him to do some lifts, but rarely pushing him or not requiring him to really push himself, so lifting is done just to help maintain some lean mass AND it's used as a ritual to help give an athlete more confidence.

From that video, I don't expect that he's ever doing anything "advanced" in the weight room to further his running abilities. I guess that's what i'm getting at. I didn't expect he has btw. EDIT: and IMHO that's a good thing.. no super secret fancy stuff, just lots of mileage using better programming. Mo has often talked about lifting really helping him, attributing alot of his success to it. I just don't see that to really be the case, I mean I just doubt it. Probably has more to do with his diet, training programming, training partners, mindset, experience etc.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TZh72MnZI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91TZh72MnZI</a>



good half squat form





Still, cool footage & he's putting out lots of videos to try and help, so that's awesome. Also you can tell he's lean af.

This might be a good example.

Many people attribute an additional "component of success" for Kenyan distance runners & Jamaican sprinters (I use them alot because they are often thought of as genetically special), to running & sprinting barefoot as children and even young adults. Add to that, the fact that there are cultures around running in these countries, and that is alot of barefoot running from a very young age. In addition, you usually hear them talk about running to and from school, barefoot. There is a study which shows that Kenyan runners use better "barefoot mechanics" while in shoes, than other runners.

Now think about what the rest of the world tries to do by emulating that .. As grown adults, we become obsessed with running barefoot and try to incorporate it into our training, even creating "shoes" for it (lmfao).

Many in Kenya & Jamaica do it out of necessity. People in America (and probably China) have more access to appropriate footwear for running. Or, instead of wearing something more appropriate, they do what I did growing up, and ran in big heavy basketball shoes..

Finally, in America & China, if you do have parents who are aware of the potential benefits of learning proper mechanics through barefoot running/sprinting at a young age, they may try and utilize this as a training effect for their child. However, it's not distributed across an entire population like Kenya or Jamaica. So even though you try to give your child an advantage, he or she may simply not respond as good as another child in another village/city.

Alot of athletes from less developed countries who perform so well, are often lumped into "the genetics pool". Well beyond genetics, there's culture AND many of them do it for survival, to try and make a living, become successful, and there's so much competition around them at every age & level of their development etc.

And to add to all of that, for Kenyans, they also run at altitude their entire life. lmao. Want to get way faster, go live in Kenya and run there for years, surrounded by hundreds of people who run 2x/day, like Jake Robertson: instagram.com/jakehtbz/

Imagine if you had to jump 35" to survive. Imagine if everyone around you made a decent living if they jumped 35" from an SVJ, and you saw this from a young age. You really think you'd be jumping < 35"?

TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves More

That's a slogan lots of sports teams use .. that's exactly what happens when something is cultural.

nice!

https://assets-chicagomarathon-com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Athlete-Roster-100217.pdf

Kimetto makes his return!

For US folks, I think it will be on NBC @ 7 AM ET.

Ah, awesome! Thanks for the feedback 

I felt really good at the end of the intervals! Jogging home wasn't much fun, but I could have kept going forever, had to force myself to walk for cooldown. Was actually a pretty easy workout.

I like the long run formula you did today, haha, was going to comment to say as much in your thread.

hah cool!

Re cues -- the only thing I ever use for myself, other than relax as you say, is to just pay attention to my glutes. Feel like I go a fair bit faster at the same effort when I'm actively using them.

is it sustainable though? or do you want to sustain it - manually active for longer distances? that's the only thing that has me questioning it. i've messed with stuff like that and, I end up discarding it, because it's not something *I* have found to be sustainable for many miles, or at peak performance / competition setting. So, instead of cueing that, i'd probably go the activation route pre-running, or utilize different drills where I focus on that - ie stiff leg shuffling/stiff leg bounds. But then, i'd just let my body do what it does when running.

btw do you know if you go faster or not? in my experience, I actually go slower. I've experimented with it, and when I force extension, my stride frequency ends up dropping slightly and I don't get as much of a stride length increase to compensate/over compensate for it, so my pace ends up actually getting slower, especially as the run goes on.

i'd just verify it with your watch etc, maybe experimenting with some longer intervals of using it vs not using it (~400m), but maybe in separate sessions, not sure.

one of the things you don't want to end up doing is getting a bit more "artificial float" which slows you down, more time in the air without it being beneficial .. ie picture someone next to you who doesn't float, who gets their foot down as you're coming down. So that's just the caution with "forcing something" vs natural mechanics.

i find that "manually activating" pretty much anything messes *me* up.. even manually pumping arms harder, literally. I've gone through manually activating glutes, arms, calves, dorsiflexion, upper back, arch in back, hamstrings, leg swing, recovery leg, knee drive etc.. and i've thrown it all away.. lmfao!

but ya regardless, if it's working that's good.. just make sure it's really working AND it's sustainable for longer distances etc.

peace!

btw, "relax" is basically the only cue I use anymore.. rarely i'll use "get off the ground faster" and occasionally i'll use this new one I learned from some Kenyan coaching instagram "rear wheel drive" (if I find myself forcing my knees up, prior to that i'd just say "stop forcing your knees up!!") .. but "relax" has been the best cue for me, no matter what i'm doing, if it's slow light runs, fast intervals, fast runs, "relax relax relax.." is always the thing that loosens me up in the midst of it.

06-10-17

Morning BW: 73.4kg

Workout

Jog to park - 1mi in 9:57

Sprint 3 x 15-20m

Jumps - 5 max effort SVJs and 5 max effort RVJs
SVJs felt weak, not surprising given I pushed a heavy squat set yesterday. RVJs felt fucking excellent, though, getting to wrist on backboard. This stumpy unreactive goof should be touching the rim (~31") by the end of the cut+with more jump practice.

Fartleks? Tempo? Idk what you want to call the cardio part of this workout, but here's what I did:

Jog 400m / Run 100m
Jog 300m / Run 100m
Jog 200m / Run 100m
Jog 100m / Run 100m
Jog 100m / Run 100m
Jog 200m / Run 100m
Jog 300m / Run 100m
Jog 400m / Run 100m

Jogs were ~9:30 mile pace, 100s were in 19-21s (so ~5:20-30 mile pace). Slower for the first few reps, faster for the last few.

Jog .75mi home in 8:21, walk the rest.

Notes

I really enjoyed that interval workout. Jogging for the rests is way more fun than walking. I kind of wanted to do a longer run for the workout today, but decided to get to the park and jump first. Came up with the interval thing on the fly and had a lot of fun with it. Adarqui, what do you think of it?

even before you asked what i think, i was going to comment, "good sh*t!!". solid session. I really like it, you hit some good paces on the 100's then backed off and just got in some light running, that's a good formula for where you are at right now.. you could definitely go harder right now, but there's more risk of just getting crazy sore/overdoing it.. so I like that workout alot.

how were you by the end of the interval workout?

as for long runs, you can do something similar to what I did today, maybe once a week for now just to see how you like it.. relaxed pace until drop off. So, you AREG it. For you that looks like you'd be hitting those 9:30-9:45's very light, just relaxing, and keeping the same pace until your body says "no mas" -> you get slower at the same effort level. It's interesting to see how you become slower without any noticeable change in form, effort, etc. This is probably a "safer" technique for getting in some distance work, since you're not "overcoming the fatigue" to maintain your pace, instead you're just maintaining effort and letting the pace become whatever, stopping once a mile/km split becomes outlier slow. IMHO it's really enjoyable too.

also, speed play/fartlek's etc are very solid because to me, it's approaching running more as a skill than some scientific endeavor. To run good, one has to be efficient across a wide variety of paces/distances/rest intervals/etc.. so speed play workouts and such are really effective. As you get better, they just naturally get a bit longer/more intense. These elites do like 20-25km of fartlek's etc hah. Kenyan training is huge on fartlek's, they do them alot, 30s on/30s off, 2 minutes on/30s off etc, in huge groups with people trying to take the lead.. but they dial it back on the rest periods afaik. Same with what I read of Mo Farah's training @ Oregon project, alot of times you see they do like 25 x 200m with 100m jog rest, but that 100m is like the slowest jog you've ever seen. So many different techniques, the key in the end becomes being good at lots of different protocols & really focusing on staying loose & relaxed, even for the speed segments. That's the most impressive thing to me with these elite middle/long distance runners, how relaxed they are while hitting insane paces.

2cents

pc!