workouts

10/14/2015: Morning Workout, November Project NYC, 5:28 a.m.: Climb all the Mountains, Burp all the Ees

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Yesterday’s Training

After a well-earned day off following the Staten Island Half, I ran 6.2 miles in Central Park and hit the gym for leg day, doing leg press, abduction, adduction, glute press, hamstring curls, and kettlebell squats. I also stretched for 25 minutes, and even after that I still felt some tightness in my hips. Running takes a toll on those hip flexors!

Today’s NP_NYC Insanity

I wanted an easy workout this morning. Really. A few laps around Carl Schurz Park with some pushups sounded lovely. But, as I continually write about NP_NYC workouts, alas.

The workout: The group ran a warm-up lap and, based on where each member finished, picked a partner of equal speed. The workout then unfolded in three parts:

  1. Partner 1 ran a short stairs loop while Partner 2 did as many mountain climbers as he could. When Partner 1 finished the loop, the partners switched.
  2. Once both partners had completed Part 1, they jogged together down the Wagner Walk toward the Mayor’s house and then back to the starting area. This was considered “rest.”
  3. Partner 1 then ran down the Wagner Walk in the opposite direction, touched the gate, and sprinted back to the start. Partner 2 did burpees until Partner 1 returned. Switch.

Repeat the cycle for 35 minutes.

I partnered with Raul, who threw down like nobody’s business. He comes ready to push every morning, and by the end of the workout he was throwing in extra sets of pushups. Hardcore, bro.

November Project NYC

In the midst of a burpee.

I won’t say this workout hurt, but I won’t say that I breezed through it, either. Even though each partner would take 2-3 minutes to run each loop (which seems like a short time), the other partner could fit so many mountain climbers and burpees in that period that you started to wonder whether you would ever not be doing mountain climbers or burpees again in your life. Thank the NP_NYC playlist for Warren G and Nate Dogg’s “Regulators” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” for keeping my spirits high.

By the end, everyone looked beat up, but the high fives stayed strong and primal screams echoed across the Harlem River. I’d wager every Tribe member climbed hundreds of mountains and burped hundreds of Ees. Good stuff, fellas!

Marathon season is taking its toll! Despite the workload, though, this past weekend saw a lot of NP_NYC success, with Paul and Chris PRing by eons at the Chicago Marathon, and many others either crushing the Staten Island Half or logging a final long run in preparation for the NYC Marathon. Just a few more weeks, guys! We got this.

Might head out for a run tonight as I log my final heavy mileage week before the NYC Marathon. The weather is just too nice to stay inside all day.

Happy running, everyone!

9/30/2015: Morning Workout: 5:28 a.m., November Project: Quad Torture!

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

Yesterday I posted a picture of the leg press machine at the gym after loading it up with 380 pounds. Between that, the glute machine (which also works the quads), squats, and the 6.2 mile run from the morning (which was sort of a recovery run after the Bronx 10-Mile), my quads could have used a day to chill.

Leg Press

Leg Press of doom

Alas.

This morning’s November Project NYC workout was all about the quads. We met at the Wards Island side of the 102nd Street walking bridge. Rain or shine! That’s how it works. You #justshowup. This morning: no shine, little bit of rain. Nothing too hard to handle.

The workout: Starting on the Ward’s Island side of the bridge, run onto a large turf field to the corner created by the midfield and side lines. 10 burpies. Run across the midfield line to the far corner. 10 crunches. Run down the sideline to the corner kick area of the field. 10 mountain climbers. Run across the goal line to the far corner. 10 squats. Then back to the start. Lunges across the circle area in front of the bridge. Run across the bridge and down onto the East Side walking path. 10 lurchies (lunges performed while making circles with your arms). Run back across the bridge. Lunges across the circle at the other side of the bridge. Repeat for 35 minutes.

As you can imagine, between the mountain climbers, squats, lunges, lurchies, and running up and down the inclines on the walking bridge, the quads took a beating. I slowed down on my third loop. Fall racing season takes it toll!

A good workout, though! It’s awesome that people showed up in the rainy weather and pushed themselves across the bridge and through all the exercises. That’s the beauty of NP_NYC: When you feel like quitting, you look up and see 20 other people fighting through the discomfort and finding ways to enjoy it, and you just keep going and fighting and trying to smile. High fives help!

I also introduced my buddy Eric to the group this morning. Eric and I went to law school together, and he’s running his first half marathon next weekend in Brooklyn! He reached out about checking out NP_NYC, so we headed over together this morning. At the end of the workout, he was drenched in sweat and had a huge smile on his face. Glad you had fun, Eric! #justshowup and ye shall be rewarded with smiles and hugs from other very sweaty people!

November Project NYC

Look at that smile! He’ll be back 😉

Happy running, everyone!

9/16/15: Morning Workout: 5:28 a.m., “Golfing” with November Project NYC!

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

Now that I’ve recovered physically and mentally from the NYC Century bike tour, I’m putting the bike down for the next two months to focus on my fall road racing schedule: The Bronx 10 Mile, Staten Island Half, TCS NYC Marathon, and the NYRR 60k. I’ll ride to cross-train, but definitely no more epic 80-mile training rides for a while.

I also snuck in a run yesterday on my lunch break, running approximately six miles, three of them at my goal marathon pace of 6:50 minutes per mile. Even though I try to do most of my runs at or below my Maffetone maximum aerobic heart rate, I wanted to test out my goal pace, and learned that, after maintaining that pace for three miles, I was only about five beats per minute above my Maffetone max. Starting to feel like I can maintain it throughout the whole marathon!

This morning, though! What a workout. (more about that after the jump).

November Project Golf

Golfing with the November Project as the sun rises over the East River. Photo credit: Katie McEvoy (the awesome sister)

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