Vegas actually got a monsoon season this year, and a solid storm system passed through the Valley this last couple days. I managed to dodge it during my work breaks, though the rain eventually came down overnight and it’s now intermittently raining through this morning.
If the clouds and humidity hold while the rain stays off me, I may get in a good work break run or two in 75-85°F, 50-70% humidity conditions… some actual in-city practice with Indy’s cooler but more humid November conditions, before the drier, hotter Vegas sun returns.
The new A/C combined with a really big meal after last night’s treadmill session led to my first really good sleep in over a week, snapping a string of brutal 4-5 hour nights with subsequent brutally tough days. While it’s good mental and physical practice for the later miles of a marathon to run with that kind of cumulative fatigue, you really don’t want to do it if you can. I had no choice.
Yesterday’s fast finish workout went to the treadmill, and even before I started I knew this one was going to feel tougher than the days before, where somehow despite my fatigue and overall aversion to the turbo I managed to get in strong workouts at day’s end.
This one, while done as strong, definitely didn’t feel as strong. I returned to the cooler-conditioned Mountain’s Edge gym on the edge of town for this one, and while the cooler air helped I got a bit too sugar-shaky and had to stop after 23 minutes, a little over halfway through the workout.
I thought I would have to outright cut it short, but after some water and a bit of rest I felt convinced to get back on and finish. I got back on, initiated the workout’s fast finish within 3 minutes of restarting, and finished the 40 minute workout even though yes it was stopped dead halfway through. Does it count in the eyes of a given beholder? Maybe, maybe not, and I don’t really care. I needed sleep.
I got and ate a big meal on the way home, got home fairly late due to the travel (after 7pm) and headed to bed shortly thereafter. I woke up at 4:30am this morning feeling a lot better, having gotten a lot more sleep than previous nights.
I did the prior 3 workouts on very poor sleep with cumulative fatigue from that poor sleep plus each prior workout. I’m admittedly impressed with myself. Today should feel a whole lot better, and hopefully more forthcoming days are like today than the last few days were.
I finally received on Tuesday night a supplement-refill shipment from Hammer Nutrition. I previously mentioned wanting to revert back to my prior stack, and this was just a top-off of certain supplements I regularly used and still have a use for: The tendon/joint healing Tissue Rejuvenator, and the energy and supercompensation boosting Mito Caps.
I also finally got a reload of Hammer’s gel, the product I originally sought out and bought from them a couple years ago. Their gel is easiest on the stomach, I’ve had good experience using it, and it will be my fuel of choice on longer workouts. I already noticed on last weekend’s 10 miler that my energy began to flag (though my Stryd metrics showed I did a good job of maintaining effort in the last half), so I’m now at a place where the gel can benefit my workouts as I now look for intensity to catch up with endurance.
At Planet Fitness I had been using the Total Body Enhancement machine, a red-light therapy chamber that also couples a vibrating plate to ground-up stimulate and massage muscles. I had used it after all my swolework workouts on the weekend, and have noticed the next day that I’ve felt a lot better than prior long/hard workout days, even on the swolework days following longer weekend runs.
I did make a point not to use it after recent treadmill workouts, and have found I still feel okay. Still, I think it has had a positive effect, and since I’m Black-Card at PF it costs me nothing, so even if it’s placebo pseudoscience I enjoy its relaxing effect enough to keep using it at least following my swolework sessions on the weekend.
Speaking of swolework, I’m thrilled that I’m finally able to do sessions with goblet squats and lunges without incredible lower-body soreness the following days.
I also have a great 2 day strength training split now that’s worked well. As mentioned, all workouts are only 20 minutes:
Split 1:
Lat Pulldowns 4×8-12
Seated Rows 4×8-12
Facepulls or Tricep Presses 4×8-12
Goblet Squats 2×8-12
Dumbbell Hammer Curls 2×8-12
Russian Twists 1+ set(s) of 12 to finish.
Split 2:
Incline Bench Press 4×8-12
Dumbbell External Rotations 4×8-12
ATG Split Squat Lunges 2×6-12
Goblet Squats 2×8-12
Nordic Curls 1+ sets 6-12 (however many I believe I can handle)
Cross Arm Sit Ups or Hanging Knee Raises 1-2×8-12
I had been tinkering with exercises and splits the last few weeks and finally found this split worked quite well, and hits every key muscle group. I’ve definitely seen some strength improvement, and I imagine this split plus regular weekend swolework is a factor. Doing strength training only on the weekends, around and after the long run, while staying away on the weekdays has worked rather well, so I’m sticking with it.
Plan for the weekend is a 12 miler, and I may finally take this long run to the treadmill to see if and how it can be done. Plus, the indoor air will provide extended practice with 70-75°F and 30-50% humidity, much closer to Indy’s November conditions than the current 85-110°F, dry 10% humidity of the Vegas summer.
The long run will also conclude a brutal 10 consecutive day stretch of running. I’m not a run streaker, and the experiment with running on a scheduled rest day may have almost led to injury, so I’m going to honor the rest days as planned, including the Sunday one following 12.