CrossFit Parking Lot Workout

2012-07-05, Thursday

Today's plan calls for more CrossFit!!

I road my bike to the gym this morning [a round trip of (7.47) mi. today], so I could get warmed up heart-rate and leg muscle-wise. Instead of using the gym we worked out in a nearby, low traffic-flow parking lot. After warming up with leg swings (forward, and sideways), trunk twists, and arm-swings we got in a quick, short jog to the end of the lot and back.

And since the goal of my CrossFit training is to help improve my running form and speed, we worked on:
Agility Ladder
We didn't have an actual agility ladder type device, so we used the painted pedestrian stripes on the lot as if it was a ladder: We did High Knees and Butt-Kickers alternating at every cone that my trainer set out, which made up four or five zones. Then we worked on a Zig Zag Ladder pattern that required two (2) steps per "space" between the rungs. This also required me to go back and forth across the line sideways left, then right. Since it was my first time, I kinda' biffed a few steps here and there, and still owe six (6) Burpees for those missteps.

After getting in those agility exercises, I was tasked with running through the cones, starting out slowly, then accelerating at each cone, then finishing with an all-out effort past the last cone to the end of the lot. My first iteration was a little awkward: I misunderstood the directions and was alternating high knees and butt-kickers at each cone, while also trying to accelerate as I progressed. My second effort was focused solely on jogging through the cones while accelerating to an all-out effort after the last cone and off to the end of the lot. That effort went much, much better, and even when I started to slow down mid-way between the last cone and the end of the lot, when prompted by my trainer I was able to visibly accelerate all the way out. My Garmin Training Center data indicates I peaked at (8.8)mph, which is SpeedZone (8), i.e. Run Speed!!

Now I just gotta' keep up that effort, and work on sustaining it over longer periods.
 
Fuel: Pre-workout: 3-egg omelet w/ cheese and taco sauce, 1-pkt. Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal; Mid-workout: water; Post-run: 1x glass Gatorade (Orange), 1x glass water.

-Lancer!!