We had a mixture of snow, sleet and rain today which kept us off the water and inside on the erg and in the tanks for a 5 x 18′ circuit.

1st Station: Tank

2nd Station: Erg (2 x 500m @ 24 strokes per minute, vent 155)

3rd Station: Circuit (18 x 45″ on/15″ off) Leg Throw Downs, Overhead Squat, Pull-Ups, Burpees, Medicine Ball Push-ups, Dips

4th Station: Tank

5th Station: Erg (steady state)

Nothing too exciting to report today but it is always fun to get obscenely sweaty with 35 of your closest guy friends (and yes, I realize how that sounds, but we’re a team, so its ok…).

Since I don’t have any new videos or pictures to post from today’s workout, here are some photos from our Florida Training Trip this past January:

I apologize for my lack of workout detail thus far but as we start doing more testing pieces I will have more numbers to post. Also, I will have more video next week too.

ar.nf.nr.

-Alex

  The Granite Girls have been recruiting people for our Tuesday Blog! This week our special guest is none other than Bear Karwoski…the man, the myth, the legend!

I was excited about the chance to get back on the desert mountain trails in and around Scottsdale, AZ this past week.  I hadn’t been on real mountain bike trails in a few years and the desert beauty at sunrise and sunset is stunning.  The problem of course is that it was about 5 miles to the trailhead and, yes, 5 miles back to the conference center for our 8:00 meeting start.  The sun doesn’t rise until 6:40 am, so you do the math-not a lot of time for trail biking!  It was dark enough when I started at 6:00 am for the 15 minute ride to the trailhead- riding on city streets in the dark is one thing.  Riding between cactus, jack rabbits, coyote and prickly pears in the dark is quite another.  Oh, I forgot to mention- no headlamp or lights.

I entered the trail head just as the sun was coming up and had a good 3 miles of flat/slight grade single track.  Then the fun began!  Uphill quick climbs, downhill loops and switchbacks in between rocks- just large enough to nail your pedal if you were in the wrong position as you threaded your way between two 12 inch rocks, followed by a quick turn then what seemed to be an almost vertical climb.  I’m just not technicalyl good enough to pedal fast, hang my butt off the back of the bike and still keep weight on the back wheel so it doesn’t spin and leave me pulling the handlebars backwards as I begin to lose it on the climb.  The good news is no one was out there to see me slide backwards and bail-out, looking like a rookie.  The only thing that could have been worse was if I had a pink bike and a “my little pony” matching helmet!  I made it half way up the mountain then came to the realization that I had to repeat the trip only downhill.  The picture I took was at my point of no return. 

It was as much as a mental workout as a physical one.  The last thing I needed was to crash and burn and limp home!  As I became more daring and realized I had run out of time, my downhill run had spinouts and tight curves sliding into the edge of needle trees and prickly pears.  I looked like I had been attack by an angry mob of cats.

On my way back from a different trail head, I decided to take a shortcut back to the hotel and wound up lost in a gated community underdevelopment.  With each dead end, I finally went off road, down an embankment through a drain pipe, emerged on the other side of the fences and pedaled as hard as I could to get back. The adventure over, in one piece with minor scratches.

That’s what new adventures and workouts are about- totally forgetting yourself, concentrating on the moment, out of your comfort zone, fighting for survival and enjoying every minute of the journey!  What good is it to work out and push yourself in the gym if you can’t scare yourself to death doing things no sane person would ever  attempt.  – I can’t wait to do it again!

xoxo granite girls and Bear

It was an unusually cold and rainy February day here in Los Angeles, so the idea of climbing out of my warm bed and going for a run proved to be a quite daunting one.  The old Derek woulda pressed the snooze and squeezed in an extra hour of shuteye, but I knew that I had a mission and that I had to get down to business.  I tossed on my WAO365 dri-fit, laced up my sneakers, and hit the pavement.  I ran a nice 5.1 miles and felt infinitely better for it.  I’ve still got a lot of work ahead of me in getting conditioned for my marathon, but I’ve gotten much better at incorporating running into my daily routine.

I’d like to make a special acknowledgement of the seven Marines who died in that horrific helicopter collision last Wednesday.  What an absolute travesty; my deepest condolences to their friends and family.  WAO365 is doing great things and I’m proud to be a part of such a positive thing.

Drew and I played pick-up basketball this morning at a local Baltimore high school. It’s been a regular game for the last few months and we enjoyed incorporating the group with the We Are One 365 day challenge. Games and activities like this are really helping us spread the word about the Baltimore Chapter of We Are One as we are planning our spring kick-off event.

Luckily for We Are One Boston, we can’t make the trip up for their basketball tournament this upcoming weekend. I hear they have put a tremendous amount of work into the event and it would be a shame for us to bring the inaugural championship back to Baltimore.

Enjoy the Week.

For Day 106, I went to the gym that is next to the Santa Monica beach and did some balance, core and upper body work.

This past week I was in Portland, OR and Ft. Lewis in Washington. I was visiting friends, helping a family pack up for an east coast move and getting some other opinions on potential running clubs. All while rocking my new dri fit and getting my side planks on. 

I was able to workout a few times on the Army base. It was quite astonishing to see the amount of military personnel that would also find the time to work out for an hour or so at the gym on top of their daily sacrifices. It was a little weird at times working out next to guys on an elliptical or spin bike wearing their gas masks in order to make the breathing harder and the workout more challenging. Very inspiring as well as something very new for me.

Other than the weather basically being the complete opposite of what I have been used to in LA, it was an awesome trip. Here’s 2nd Lieutenant Greg Leak and myself after a morning PT session.

For the next month or so I have a great workout partner, Matt Edgar and am excited that he is dedicated to the We Are One 365 movement as well. As I slowly make my recovery back to full time training and running, it will be nice to have a good friend to help motivate me along the way.

AR. NF. NR.

Nick

Team Friday is having a technical issue with the blog. We will get it up and running before Team Saturdays post. For now, Matt Edgar and Nick Karwoski worked out on behalf of Day 105. They did 45 minutes of a leg circuit and 25 minutes of climbing stairs.

Hi Everyone,

After a late trip back last night,(travel for business), I have to admit that I had some trouble rising for an early morning workout.  So I put it off until the evening.

After work, and being a little tired it was tough to find motivation, but I still managed to get my run completed.  I went out for a 3 mile run and significantly picked up my pace from what I have been doing over the past few months.

Surprisingly, we have had a mild winter out here and Ohio.  It has still been rather cold but not nearly the same amount of snow fall. Today it was a bit rainy but temperatures in the mid 50’s.  It was nice not to bundle up in preparation for cold weather for the first time is quite a while.

-Tim

For the past three years in Ithaca, there has been feet of snow on the ground in late February. Fortunately, this year the weather has been unbelievable and we were lucky enough to be on the water this morning for practice.

View from the boathouse looking out into the inlet

The boathouse from the dock.

Just off the dock, waiting to start. (Stern 3 of the boat)

Watching Coach pick up a fish. (Bow 4 of the boat)

Out on the lake, turning around to head back in the inlet.

While the practice overall was great (steady state rowing, firm press), the best part happened when Coach found a fish before practice and picked it up with his net.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPaVh-0117A&feature=youtu.be

ar.nf.nr.

-Alex

It’s almost March which means we are getting into our “get serious” mode for the 2 sprint triathlons we compete in every spring & summer since 2006.  Sharing a Team Leader position with my daughter Lauren was an easy “yes, of course I will do that” because I knew we both play well with other & am sure we can put a diverse & focused group of people together. 

Twice a week @ 6am my friend Jay & I meet with Scott Prunier for our intense half hour session of strength training.  We call it “Body by Scotty”.  It’s a perfect way to start the day.  Today we did a mix of core exercises with the ball; an arm band hold till fatigue & my favorite~squats to name just a few.  After an extended class, I jumped on the simulated bike ride & did a 35 min “coastal run” which guarantees a good sweat with its ups & downs & a pacer to boot.  It’s fun to watch a screen with bike scenery. My goal is to burn at least 300 calories.  Today I burned close to 350.  I felt good leaving the Y this am.

Reflecting on our troops & their families that don’t have the choices I have every morning makes me appreciate & thankful for my daily routine.  Thanks Nick!

xoxo Granite Girls