1MileNation.com
Because 1 Mile is Enough When You Run It Fast!
Coach Rick Karboviak
Fitness & Sports Performance Coach Rick Karboviak is based out of Finley, ND. He is a former track & cross-country coach at the high school & junior high levels, as well as the experience of training both athletes & fitness clients since 2000. He currently coaches Volleyball, and does consulting & training through his sites, http://ASAPWorkouts.com, http://SpeedDialCoach.com, and http://1MileNation.com.Syndicate
1MILENATION.COM
New Toy, New Job, New Start...
Greetings,
This past Friday I made a trip to my favorite sporting goods store, Scheels, in Fargo, ND to pick up an item I've had my eye on for too long. The Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS monitor for running is something I've been looking to get for a long time. I got it for about $160 total with the tax included, $150 retail. Saturday & Sunday were some okay days to test it out. The weather was warmer, but slushy roads and wet, cloudy, foggy conditions have taken over here as of late. Not a pleasant run, but a run outside for once, nonetheless!
Saturday's run was an out & back run to the cemetery, a 2.21-2.22 ish total run from my house and back. My guess of a 2.25 mile run from last week wasn't that far off, I'd say.
Sunday's run was a spin through the various streets of Finley, as I was more interested in the elevation points & climbs of certain hills throughout my town. Some of the run was taken on part of the town's 5K route for our summer 5K race. Some hills had a 40 foot climb over just one block length. Only just 2 miles ran on this one.
I'm not sure how totally accurate the elevation point data was, because of all the cloudy conditions I was running in. Speed-wise, it seemed fine though.
The things I really like about my new Garmin Forerunner 205 are:
1. Easy software system to figure out. I used to have a Timex Ironman GPS system with data collector from a few years ago (no longer works), so I had something good to compare it to. This told you more, and I am not even through looking at all of it yet.
2. There are zones setup for how much time you spent in each zone, tallied up for you at the end of your run in a spreadsheet-like format for evaluation. Average Pace & Max Speed's are also given for your run total.
3. You can see your running route's data points get transferred over to Google Earth, giving you a nice satellite image of your run. If I were coaching cross-country again, this would be a great aid in helping me make a running course map for the XC meets. I can see this being helpful if you go to other towns and run 5K's, letting you track the course route during your race, and being able to go back & map that route out if you wanted to go to the town & prepare yourself for the race route for upcoming races.
4. I love the Current Speed option of getting that read to you while on your run. It's just like seeing your MPH readout on your treadmill.
5. I like the 20 hour battery it has. Not that I'll be running for that long, but its helpful to know its full of energy for that long.
All in all, I feel this new toy will help me a lot in speed workouts and evaluating my runs even further.
In other news, I have a new job: junior high head coach for track! I'm also in charge of the long distance crews as an assistant for the high school team. We are a pretty small squad, between 30-35 total, 7th-12th. I am really excited to get back into coaching the 800, 1600, and 3200 events. You will probably see a few of our team workouts put on the blog now & then. I can't give away all my secrets, though.
All in all, its a great new start in this journey I call my life. I'm happy to get back into coaching runners for track, happy I got a new toy to help me coach better & run better, and other things in my life are really coming together too.
In closing, you know I'm all about high intensity workouts for strength & speed development. Well, a trainer named Virgil Aponte has been widely known as "The Stair Man" when it comes to using stairs to help you get fit, strong, and fast.
He's having quite a deal this week on his products on his Ultimate Stair Exercises websites. I have a few free reports to share with you to view, so take a look & educate yourself a bit on how stairs can be a great option in your training.
I've had a sneak peak at Virgil's products, and I can say he's really got some GREAT workouts offered in his workout guides. Being in ND, we don't have much in rural ND for series of stairs to climb (no tall business buildings). But, we do use hills the best we can, and many of these ideas can be applied to hill training.
Stair Climbing Basics:
http://asapworkouts.com/Basics.pdf
Stair Climbing Lunge Variations:
http://asapworkouts.com/Lunges.pdf
Special Stair Climbing Report:
http://asapworkouts.com/SCReport.pdf
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
This past Friday I made a trip to my favorite sporting goods store, Scheels, in Fargo, ND to pick up an item I've had my eye on for too long. The Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS monitor for running is something I've been looking to get for a long time. I got it for about $160 total with the tax included, $150 retail. Saturday & Sunday were some okay days to test it out. The weather was warmer, but slushy roads and wet, cloudy, foggy conditions have taken over here as of late. Not a pleasant run, but a run outside for once, nonetheless!
Saturday's run was an out & back run to the cemetery, a 2.21-2.22 ish total run from my house and back. My guess of a 2.25 mile run from last week wasn't that far off, I'd say.
Sunday's run was a spin through the various streets of Finley, as I was more interested in the elevation points & climbs of certain hills throughout my town. Some of the run was taken on part of the town's 5K route for our summer 5K race. Some hills had a 40 foot climb over just one block length. Only just 2 miles ran on this one.
I'm not sure how totally accurate the elevation point data was, because of all the cloudy conditions I was running in. Speed-wise, it seemed fine though.
The things I really like about my new Garmin Forerunner 205 are:
1. Easy software system to figure out. I used to have a Timex Ironman GPS system with data collector from a few years ago (no longer works), so I had something good to compare it to. This told you more, and I am not even through looking at all of it yet.
2. There are zones setup for how much time you spent in each zone, tallied up for you at the end of your run in a spreadsheet-like format for evaluation. Average Pace & Max Speed's are also given for your run total.
3. You can see your running route's data points get transferred over to Google Earth, giving you a nice satellite image of your run. If I were coaching cross-country again, this would be a great aid in helping me make a running course map for the XC meets. I can see this being helpful if you go to other towns and run 5K's, letting you track the course route during your race, and being able to go back & map that route out if you wanted to go to the town & prepare yourself for the race route for upcoming races.
4. I love the Current Speed option of getting that read to you while on your run. It's just like seeing your MPH readout on your treadmill.
5. I like the 20 hour battery it has. Not that I'll be running for that long, but its helpful to know its full of energy for that long.
All in all, I feel this new toy will help me a lot in speed workouts and evaluating my runs even further.
In other news, I have a new job: junior high head coach for track! I'm also in charge of the long distance crews as an assistant for the high school team. We are a pretty small squad, between 30-35 total, 7th-12th. I am really excited to get back into coaching the 800, 1600, and 3200 events. You will probably see a few of our team workouts put on the blog now & then. I can't give away all my secrets, though.
All in all, its a great new start in this journey I call my life. I'm happy to get back into coaching runners for track, happy I got a new toy to help me coach better & run better, and other things in my life are really coming together too.
In closing, you know I'm all about high intensity workouts for strength & speed development. Well, a trainer named Virgil Aponte has been widely known as "The Stair Man" when it comes to using stairs to help you get fit, strong, and fast.
He's having quite a deal this week on his products on his Ultimate Stair Exercises websites. I have a few free reports to share with you to view, so take a look & educate yourself a bit on how stairs can be a great option in your training.
I've had a sneak peak at Virgil's products, and I can say he's really got some GREAT workouts offered in his workout guides. Being in ND, we don't have much in rural ND for series of stairs to climb (no tall business buildings). But, we do use hills the best we can, and many of these ideas can be applied to hill training.
Stair Climbing Basics:
http://asapworkouts.com/Basics.pdf
Stair Climbing Lunge Variations:
http://asapworkouts.com/Lunges.pdf
Special Stair Climbing Report:
http://asapworkouts.com/SCReport.pdf
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
The 36:36 Workout, & more
Greetings,
Since last week when I first tried the 15:15 Protocol of the Viking Warrior Conditioning kettlebell training book, I had a bit of fear, trepidation, and a few ounces of courage to try the 36:36 Protocol in the VWC list of things to accomplish. First, it called for 17 kettlebell snatches for every 36 second set, with 36 seconds rest before you do the other arm. 35 sets total. I did the math on that, and its just shy of 42 minutes (41:24). 72 seconds x 35 = 2520 seconds, or 42 minutes. Take off the final rest period, and its 41:24. It also came to 595 total kettlebell snatches in that time frame. Yeesh. I just did 560 of them in the 15:15 Protocol. Could I handle 35 more with just under 1:30 added to my total training time?
Well, I did it, but not without struggle at the end. You see, when you're doing KB snatches for extended periods of time like this calls for, you'll notice something. All the action of the KB going from between your legs to above your head & back tends to cause a lot of blood to flow to your body, and it feels like the blood just flows right to the end of your hands & forearms. It fills up so much, it feels like you can't even squeeze or grip the kettlebell sometimes, especially as you reach the 12th or 13th rep of your 17 in each set. Thankfully I made it through, but I really had to concentrate. I'd say it worked just as much on my mental toughness as it did with my physical ability.
Bottom line: it was worth it. This one taxed me, even more than one very hard 5K, I would dare to say. That is worth it to me.
I'm taking a break here before I worry about the next step in the protocol series.
Today, I felt like a run on the t-mill, so I did the following:
1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.0mph
1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.5mph
1/2 mile @ 7.5mph
Total time: 17:25. I was amazed I could do this, because of the tough workout of the 36:36 Protocol on Wednesday. I plan to take Friday OFF to recover from these 2 days of very hard, and slightly hard back to back workouts.
I better get used to the hard stuff, as I will be starting up with coaching my school's track team next week! I am returning to coaching once again for track, taking the long distance kids of the 800m to 3200m distances. I will have a small group, and it should be a ton of fun to do some workouts with them as the season goes on. I'm already planning out their focus on the first few weeks, and when I start adding in some meets on the overall plan, I can go into some more precise planning. Mostly, my coaching plans follow a plan of:
Hard Day - Speed Day
Medium Day - light running with 1/3 to 1/2 of race distance at race speeds
Light Day - 1.5 to 3x the race distance, done at easy-moderate paces for recovery
When I get into the thick of 1-2 meets/week, the meets themselves work as "Hard" days, and the Light/Medium days get planned out on a day by day basis. It all depends on how everyone feels. With such a small group, I can perhaps give more precision to each kid this way.
I also add in some unique stuff, meaning KETTLEBELL stuff, on the medium days. My main staple is doing KB Swings between laps on the track. The Swing portion becomes a brief, intense period of work, with easy jogging on the track between sets of Swings. Sometimes, a deck of cards comes into play and certain exercises get assigned for each face card or number drawn. Numbers 5-10 get kept in the pile, with the face cards, in this deck. If they pull a 7, they run at 70% around the track for a lap. In order to keep it not TOO intense, only one 9 and 10 card is allowed to be drawn by each person. If they get it again, they simply re-draw for something else. Kings are Swings, Queens are Bodyweight Squats or Lunges, and Jacks are usually Jump Roping. Aces are Wild Cards, where they can choose whatever they want to do. This workout has been a very fun one, from my days in doing boot camps or coaching XC & track kids in the past.
'Til next time...
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
Since last week when I first tried the 15:15 Protocol of the Viking Warrior Conditioning kettlebell training book, I had a bit of fear, trepidation, and a few ounces of courage to try the 36:36 Protocol in the VWC list of things to accomplish. First, it called for 17 kettlebell snatches for every 36 second set, with 36 seconds rest before you do the other arm. 35 sets total. I did the math on that, and its just shy of 42 minutes (41:24). 72 seconds x 35 = 2520 seconds, or 42 minutes. Take off the final rest period, and its 41:24. It also came to 595 total kettlebell snatches in that time frame. Yeesh. I just did 560 of them in the 15:15 Protocol. Could I handle 35 more with just under 1:30 added to my total training time?
Well, I did it, but not without struggle at the end. You see, when you're doing KB snatches for extended periods of time like this calls for, you'll notice something. All the action of the KB going from between your legs to above your head & back tends to cause a lot of blood to flow to your body, and it feels like the blood just flows right to the end of your hands & forearms. It fills up so much, it feels like you can't even squeeze or grip the kettlebell sometimes, especially as you reach the 12th or 13th rep of your 17 in each set. Thankfully I made it through, but I really had to concentrate. I'd say it worked just as much on my mental toughness as it did with my physical ability.
Bottom line: it was worth it. This one taxed me, even more than one very hard 5K, I would dare to say. That is worth it to me.
I'm taking a break here before I worry about the next step in the protocol series.
Today, I felt like a run on the t-mill, so I did the following:
1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.0mph
1/2 mile @ 8.0mph
1/2 mile @ 10.5mph
1/2 mile @ 7.5mph
Total time: 17:25. I was amazed I could do this, because of the tough workout of the 36:36 Protocol on Wednesday. I plan to take Friday OFF to recover from these 2 days of very hard, and slightly hard back to back workouts.
I better get used to the hard stuff, as I will be starting up with coaching my school's track team next week! I am returning to coaching once again for track, taking the long distance kids of the 800m to 3200m distances. I will have a small group, and it should be a ton of fun to do some workouts with them as the season goes on. I'm already planning out their focus on the first few weeks, and when I start adding in some meets on the overall plan, I can go into some more precise planning. Mostly, my coaching plans follow a plan of:
Hard Day - Speed Day
Medium Day - light running with 1/3 to 1/2 of race distance at race speeds
Light Day - 1.5 to 3x the race distance, done at easy-moderate paces for recovery
When I get into the thick of 1-2 meets/week, the meets themselves work as "Hard" days, and the Light/Medium days get planned out on a day by day basis. It all depends on how everyone feels. With such a small group, I can perhaps give more precision to each kid this way.
I also add in some unique stuff, meaning KETTLEBELL stuff, on the medium days. My main staple is doing KB Swings between laps on the track. The Swing portion becomes a brief, intense period of work, with easy jogging on the track between sets of Swings. Sometimes, a deck of cards comes into play and certain exercises get assigned for each face card or number drawn. Numbers 5-10 get kept in the pile, with the face cards, in this deck. If they pull a 7, they run at 70% around the track for a lap. In order to keep it not TOO intense, only one 9 and 10 card is allowed to be drawn by each person. If they get it again, they simply re-draw for something else. Kings are Swings, Queens are Bodyweight Squats or Lunges, and Jacks are usually Jump Roping. Aces are Wild Cards, where they can choose whatever they want to do. This workout has been a very fun one, from my days in doing boot camps or coaching XC & track kids in the past.
'Til next time...
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
30 is the new 50...in degrees!
Greetings,
Up here in ND today, temps were in the 30's for a change. After facing bone-chilling wind chills from December through February, we have been patiently waiting for some above-freezing temps. I always tend to say that after a few months of sub-zero weather and wind chill factors, when it hits 30, it feels like 50. Perfect day for my first outdoor run of 2010!
I decided for an out & back run on the roads, since its the only thing that is clear right now. I went in the following format:
4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds
Turn around
4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds
I had one block left to cover, and I was ready for a cool-down walk back home.
This felt pretty hard today, as the body is still a bit sore from the Kettlebell protocol workout I did on Saturday. Plus, its my first outdoor run in months, with most of my running being on the treadmill over the winter. I would venture to say I covered about 2 & a 1/4 miles in this 16 minute run. I went mainly in a straight line, from the 4-way stop out to the cemetery, which is 1 mile. Add in the jogging of 2 blocks worth before I hit the 4-way stop, and jogging it back, it's roughly 1/4 mile of distance. Considering I've been getting 2 miles in about less than 14 minutes, and a 1/4 mile jog for me is about 2 minutes, that's how I get to a 2 & 1/4 miles estimate for today.
All in all, a pretty nice run outside. Just need to get used to the cold air. It may feel like 50 out, but the air temp is still in the 30's on the lungs!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
Up here in ND today, temps were in the 30's for a change. After facing bone-chilling wind chills from December through February, we have been patiently waiting for some above-freezing temps. I always tend to say that after a few months of sub-zero weather and wind chill factors, when it hits 30, it feels like 50. Perfect day for my first outdoor run of 2010!
I decided for an out & back run on the roads, since its the only thing that is clear right now. I went in the following format:
4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds
Turn around
4 minutes easy
4 minutes Tabata rounds
I had one block left to cover, and I was ready for a cool-down walk back home.
This felt pretty hard today, as the body is still a bit sore from the Kettlebell protocol workout I did on Saturday. Plus, its my first outdoor run in months, with most of my running being on the treadmill over the winter. I would venture to say I covered about 2 & a 1/4 miles in this 16 minute run. I went mainly in a straight line, from the 4-way stop out to the cemetery, which is 1 mile. Add in the jogging of 2 blocks worth before I hit the 4-way stop, and jogging it back, it's roughly 1/4 mile of distance. Considering I've been getting 2 miles in about less than 14 minutes, and a 1/4 mile jog for me is about 2 minutes, that's how I get to a 2 & 1/4 miles estimate for today.
All in all, a pretty nice run outside. Just need to get used to the cold air. It may feel like 50 out, but the air temp is still in the 30's on the lungs!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
New Stuff, New Workouts!
Greetings,
This past week, I have been doing some various workouts on the ski machine and with my kettlebells. I also got 2 new DVD's on fitness training education topics, called "Free the Hips!" and "Shatterproof Spine", by trainer John Izzo of http://izzostrengthtraining.com. I watched them both on Saturday and learned a lot of good things about preparing and helping the hips/lower back become better prepared for exercise & sport. A lot of new things I haven't really seen before, actually. If you're a trainer, I'd highly recommend checking those videos out. John really does a great job in presenting lectures on these topics. Shatterproof Spine has both a lecture & practical in it, so its like you are right there in the room to attend that kind of workshop. With me being in ND and there not being a lot of workshops going on in this region, this was a great value to me as a trainer. I got both DVD's for $45 as a combination offer. I can't travel to a workshop & back to the Twin Cities for that kind of cost, so you are getting quite a deal here!
My other gift in the mail this week was Viking Warrior Conditioning, a kettlebell protocol book for improving VO2 Max, by Kenneth Jay. As you know, I LOVE Kettlebell training, and have experienced its benefits first-hand with my own running performance since I first trained with them in 2005. This book covers the protocols that were studied on kettlebell training & VO2 Max efforts, finding out that the Kettlebell Snatch exercise is the best one out there to help elicit a VO2 Max training response for improvement. I first became aware of this book last year, when it was all the rage in discussion forums on kettlebell training sites. I finally got around to purchasing it. (A little tax refund 'gift' for myself!)
On Saturday, I tried the first protocol's workout, since I did the VO2 Max cadence test on Friday to find the number of snatches I'd need to hit in my 15 second work time frames for the first protocol. My cadence test was 28 reps in one all-out minute (which is performed at the end of the cadence test's own protocol), meaning I'd have to get 7 snatches per 15 second work period in the "15:15" Protocol. You basically start out by doing 15s with your left arm, rest for 15s, then do your right arm for 15s, and rest again for 15s. The GymBoss Interval Timer works out superbly for this, I highly recommend getting it at http://gymboss.com ! If you do these protocols, this is pretty much a neccessity, as much as the kettlebell is needed for the workout. I forgot to mention how I used a 35# kettlebell for this test & workout. Most men should be able to start with this weight, women will need lighter ones, such as a 12kg, or roughly a 25# k-bell. I think some have used a 17-18# k-bell as well. Guidelines are provided in the book to figure this out.
The first 15:15 protocol called for up to 80 sets in order to fully complete this protocol. If you get perhaps 20 or so at first, you simply stop when you can't hit your 15 second cadence reps (for me, that would be 7 reps/set). Over time, you gradually increase and decrease your workloads to build up over the course of time to 80 sets, which is 40 minutes total. 20 minutes of that is work, 20 minutes is rest, but with 15s intervals of work & rest, you really feel yourself working the whole time.
My first attempt at this workout had me wondering greatly how I'd hit 20 minutes total, or 40 sets, within my 20-30 set range of the workout. Then, it was like my body hit a groove and I was still going strong after 40 sets had passed. Soon, the 50 & 60 set marks kept coming my way, and once I hit 70, I just KNEW I could hit the end-point of 80 sets with this protocol. I'm not saying this to brag by any means, but with my background of doing combinations of snatches and the clean & press workouts with kettlebells, it was really helping me out with this workout. As you probably know, if you read this blog, you know I do a lot of 20s work, 10s rest intervals with my kettlebell power training workouts. So, 15s work and 15s rest was giving me 25% less work time and 1/3 more rest time each minute.
I did complete 80 sets of this protocol. The guidelines did say I could try it up to 9 reps/set before I move to the next one, but the minimum before advancing was 7 reps/set for the entire 80 sets. I feel I will move onto the next protocol, with the same weight and a new cadence of 36 seconds work, 36 seconds rest, for 35 sets total. The math on that brings it to a 42 minute workout for total time. That might be rough...but doable, if my goals are to improve my VO2 Max to help me hit a sub-5 minute mile. There are even MORE protocols after this, so the progressions are pretty much endless, the stronger & fitter you get.
Don't get me wrong, I will still plan to run & do speed sessions as I prepare for this goal of a sub-5 minute mile. I will just supplement my training with these new kettlebell protocols because they are proven to help improve VO2. I gotta try and use every edge I got, and kettlebells are a unique part of my edge as an athlete. If you read this blog, they should start to become one of your own edge's, too!
In other news, this past week I wrote an article called "That Chart" for http://MakeVarsity.com. The article is referring to a relatively well-known weights/sets/reps chart that has followed me wherever I have been in my journey of strength training & sports performance. In junior high, "That Chart" first surfaced on the scene as the workout chart that everyone used in the weight room at school. It once again not only showed up at my first college, but the 2nd one as well, and later when I returned to my first college as a student strength coach to finish out my education. I came across it once again last week while digging through my collections of programs, and felt it was needed to write a story on "That Chart" and give the basics of it out in the article. I am also thinking of reproducing this chart and creating a full athletic package around it, as something new to work on and provide for people.
So, read all about "That Chart" at http://asapworkouts.com/ThatChart.pdf Please let me know if you know any history or origins of this chart. I have talked with a few people and they are in the same boat I'm in: they KNOW about this chart, but don't know where it exactly comes from! If you have a clue, please let me know!
Til next time...
Run Fast, Run Strong...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
This past week, I have been doing some various workouts on the ski machine and with my kettlebells. I also got 2 new DVD's on fitness training education topics, called "Free the Hips!" and "Shatterproof Spine", by trainer John Izzo of http://izzostrengthtraining.com. I watched them both on Saturday and learned a lot of good things about preparing and helping the hips/lower back become better prepared for exercise & sport. A lot of new things I haven't really seen before, actually. If you're a trainer, I'd highly recommend checking those videos out. John really does a great job in presenting lectures on these topics. Shatterproof Spine has both a lecture & practical in it, so its like you are right there in the room to attend that kind of workshop. With me being in ND and there not being a lot of workshops going on in this region, this was a great value to me as a trainer. I got both DVD's for $45 as a combination offer. I can't travel to a workshop & back to the Twin Cities for that kind of cost, so you are getting quite a deal here!
My other gift in the mail this week was Viking Warrior Conditioning, a kettlebell protocol book for improving VO2 Max, by Kenneth Jay. As you know, I LOVE Kettlebell training, and have experienced its benefits first-hand with my own running performance since I first trained with them in 2005. This book covers the protocols that were studied on kettlebell training & VO2 Max efforts, finding out that the Kettlebell Snatch exercise is the best one out there to help elicit a VO2 Max training response for improvement. I first became aware of this book last year, when it was all the rage in discussion forums on kettlebell training sites. I finally got around to purchasing it. (A little tax refund 'gift' for myself!)
On Saturday, I tried the first protocol's workout, since I did the VO2 Max cadence test on Friday to find the number of snatches I'd need to hit in my 15 second work time frames for the first protocol. My cadence test was 28 reps in one all-out minute (which is performed at the end of the cadence test's own protocol), meaning I'd have to get 7 snatches per 15 second work period in the "15:15" Protocol. You basically start out by doing 15s with your left arm, rest for 15s, then do your right arm for 15s, and rest again for 15s. The GymBoss Interval Timer works out superbly for this, I highly recommend getting it at http://gymboss.com ! If you do these protocols, this is pretty much a neccessity, as much as the kettlebell is needed for the workout. I forgot to mention how I used a 35# kettlebell for this test & workout. Most men should be able to start with this weight, women will need lighter ones, such as a 12kg, or roughly a 25# k-bell. I think some have used a 17-18# k-bell as well. Guidelines are provided in the book to figure this out.
The first 15:15 protocol called for up to 80 sets in order to fully complete this protocol. If you get perhaps 20 or so at first, you simply stop when you can't hit your 15 second cadence reps (for me, that would be 7 reps/set). Over time, you gradually increase and decrease your workloads to build up over the course of time to 80 sets, which is 40 minutes total. 20 minutes of that is work, 20 minutes is rest, but with 15s intervals of work & rest, you really feel yourself working the whole time.
My first attempt at this workout had me wondering greatly how I'd hit 20 minutes total, or 40 sets, within my 20-30 set range of the workout. Then, it was like my body hit a groove and I was still going strong after 40 sets had passed. Soon, the 50 & 60 set marks kept coming my way, and once I hit 70, I just KNEW I could hit the end-point of 80 sets with this protocol. I'm not saying this to brag by any means, but with my background of doing combinations of snatches and the clean & press workouts with kettlebells, it was really helping me out with this workout. As you probably know, if you read this blog, you know I do a lot of 20s work, 10s rest intervals with my kettlebell power training workouts. So, 15s work and 15s rest was giving me 25% less work time and 1/3 more rest time each minute.
I did complete 80 sets of this protocol. The guidelines did say I could try it up to 9 reps/set before I move to the next one, but the minimum before advancing was 7 reps/set for the entire 80 sets. I feel I will move onto the next protocol, with the same weight and a new cadence of 36 seconds work, 36 seconds rest, for 35 sets total. The math on that brings it to a 42 minute workout for total time. That might be rough...but doable, if my goals are to improve my VO2 Max to help me hit a sub-5 minute mile. There are even MORE protocols after this, so the progressions are pretty much endless, the stronger & fitter you get.
Don't get me wrong, I will still plan to run & do speed sessions as I prepare for this goal of a sub-5 minute mile. I will just supplement my training with these new kettlebell protocols because they are proven to help improve VO2. I gotta try and use every edge I got, and kettlebells are a unique part of my edge as an athlete. If you read this blog, they should start to become one of your own edge's, too!
In other news, this past week I wrote an article called "That Chart" for http://MakeVarsity.com. The article is referring to a relatively well-known weights/sets/reps chart that has followed me wherever I have been in my journey of strength training & sports performance. In junior high, "That Chart" first surfaced on the scene as the workout chart that everyone used in the weight room at school. It once again not only showed up at my first college, but the 2nd one as well, and later when I returned to my first college as a student strength coach to finish out my education. I came across it once again last week while digging through my collections of programs, and felt it was needed to write a story on "That Chart" and give the basics of it out in the article. I am also thinking of reproducing this chart and creating a full athletic package around it, as something new to work on and provide for people.
So, read all about "That Chart" at http://asapworkouts.com/ThatChart.pdf Please let me know if you know any history or origins of this chart. I have talked with a few people and they are in the same boat I'm in: they KNOW about this chart, but don't know where it exactly comes from! If you have a clue, please let me know!
Til next time...
Run Fast, Run Strong...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
2 turned into 3...
Greetings,
Went back on the treadmill on Monday, with the purpose of doing the following (at first)...
.3 mile @ 8.0mph, .3 mile @ 10.2mph
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2
.3 mile @ 8, .3 mile @ 10.2
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2
I then went into a cool-down mode, but felt I had some more in me.
So, I added the following for one more mile worth of half mile easy, half fast:
.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.2mph
.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.5mph
All in all, 3 miles total in about 20:30 for total time.
Legs are a little sore, feet more than anything else. But, that's to be expected after doing a lot of fast stuff, and 1.5 miles of those 3 are done at less than 6 minute mile efforts. Running a majority of my easy portions at 8.0mph instead of 7.5mph can make a little difference in how you perceive things, too. I used to have it in my head for years that the 7.5mph, 8:00/mile pace speed was an ideal jog/recovery one for me, when in fact 8.0mph, 7:30/mile pace speed didn't feel that much different.
Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new KB training protocol book I ordered, should be here on Friday, I think. There's a lot of good discussions on this protocol for improving VO2 Max, so I can't wait to start reading it.
That's all for now...
Run Strong, Run Fast,
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
Went back on the treadmill on Monday, with the purpose of doing the following (at first)...
.3 mile @ 8.0mph, .3 mile @ 10.2mph
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2
.3 mile @ 8, .3 mile @ 10.2
.2 mile @ 8, .2 mile @ 10.2
I then went into a cool-down mode, but felt I had some more in me.
So, I added the following for one more mile worth of half mile easy, half fast:
.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.2mph
.25 mile @ 7.5mph, .25 mile @ 10.5mph
All in all, 3 miles total in about 20:30 for total time.
Legs are a little sore, feet more than anything else. But, that's to be expected after doing a lot of fast stuff, and 1.5 miles of those 3 are done at less than 6 minute mile efforts. Running a majority of my easy portions at 8.0mph instead of 7.5mph can make a little difference in how you perceive things, too. I used to have it in my head for years that the 7.5mph, 8:00/mile pace speed was an ideal jog/recovery one for me, when in fact 8.0mph, 7:30/mile pace speed didn't feel that much different.
Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new KB training protocol book I ordered, should be here on Friday, I think. There's a lot of good discussions on this protocol for improving VO2 Max, so I can't wait to start reading it.
That's all for now...
Run Strong, Run Fast,
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
The "Zone" Workout...?
Greetings,
Have you ever heard of the "Zone" diet? The one that's 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat in its daily percentages?
Well, I have a good workout favorite of mine that's similar to "The Zone"s diet structure, but its distance-based. Here's how it goes...
40% of a mile at easy pace, then
40% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace.
Cool-down with whatever you wish to.
Today's workout was done in the following speeds on the treadmill for me.
40% at 8.0mph
40% at 10.0mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.2mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.5mph
Time: 13:45 for 2 miles total.
Cooled down with half a mile at 7.5mph.
I must say this went better than expected, after a 2 week layoff from running, mostly doing (get this...) snow shoveling for 30-60 minutes a day, and kettlebell power workouts for 15-20 minutes in the Tabata format with clean & presses.
It felt like I haven't skipped a beat when I got back to running today. This really felt good. I like the 40/30/30 format because its not quite like doing a 50/25/25, where you do a half-mile fast, then finish it with 1/4 mile runs. You almost go as long as a half mile, and then you just do a little longer then a 1/4 mile to wind it down.
We used to do a similar workout on the track for the 5K in cross-country, where we'd do a 2000m run, then a 1500m and another 1500m. We'd also do a 40/40/20 workout with 2, 2000m efforts with a 1000m effort to end it.
On a treadmill, you can easily do this percentage-style format by simply looking at your mileage totals on the machine as you're runninig.
That's all for now. I've been in a good stretch of training clients again and its keeping me busy, but not taking up too much time either for me. Its a really good balance.
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
Have you ever heard of the "Zone" diet? The one that's 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat in its daily percentages?
Well, I have a good workout favorite of mine that's similar to "The Zone"s diet structure, but its distance-based. Here's how it goes...
40% of a mile at easy pace, then
40% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace, then
30% of a mile at easy pace, then
30% of a mile at hard pace.
Cool-down with whatever you wish to.
Today's workout was done in the following speeds on the treadmill for me.
40% at 8.0mph
40% at 10.0mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.2mph
30% at 7.5mph
30% at 10.5mph
Time: 13:45 for 2 miles total.
Cooled down with half a mile at 7.5mph.
I must say this went better than expected, after a 2 week layoff from running, mostly doing (get this...) snow shoveling for 30-60 minutes a day, and kettlebell power workouts for 15-20 minutes in the Tabata format with clean & presses.
It felt like I haven't skipped a beat when I got back to running today. This really felt good. I like the 40/30/30 format because its not quite like doing a 50/25/25, where you do a half-mile fast, then finish it with 1/4 mile runs. You almost go as long as a half mile, and then you just do a little longer then a 1/4 mile to wind it down.
We used to do a similar workout on the track for the 5K in cross-country, where we'd do a 2000m run, then a 1500m and another 1500m. We'd also do a 40/40/20 workout with 2, 2000m efforts with a 1000m effort to end it.
On a treadmill, you can easily do this percentage-style format by simply looking at your mileage totals on the machine as you're runninig.
That's all for now. I've been in a good stretch of training clients again and its keeping me busy, but not taking up too much time either for me. Its a really good balance.
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
Long Time Bloggin'...
Greetings,
Yes, it has been about 2 weeks since my last blog, and actually, from my last run. That doesn't mean I haven't been getting in any workouts, however. I have had a majority of my workouts from Mother Nature herself, in the form of snow removal. My job at the school has me in charge of removing snow around a building that is mostly done by hand a majority of the time. I've also been on a 15-day consecutive stretch of some form of snow removal, either blowing, scooping, or sweeping. Some days its been over an hour of shoveling work, as I'm all bundled up in heavy clothing to keep me warm. Let's say you burn up quite a sweat, and get in a good, fully body workout by the end of it.
On lighter days, I have been doing 10-20 minute kettlebell workouts with clean & presses, Tabata style, which has been a great staple of my training this winter. I plan to get back into the running groove this week.
This past week has been pretty emotional as well. Our small school, where every kid knows every kid, just lost one of our greatest friends, Lance, a 6th grader. Lance fought cancer for the past 7 years of his life. Through it all, however, he always had a beaming smile, and would never complain about his pain. He enjoyed the simple things in his life: his time with friends, his family of course, his Lego's, and everyone knew he loved his joke books, because he'd always stop to tell you a joke he liked. Personally, we grew a connection over both of us being members of the "Junior Nation" of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans. On my 2nd or 3rd day of work, he spotted my Dale, Jr #88 coffee mug on my work cart, and we started talking about racing. Lance got to meet Dale Earnhardt, Jr back in 2005 through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Lance's life left us all a reminder that we should always smile, tell some jokes, and enjoy the simple things in life, no matter what the battles you are going through. He was certainly unique, precious, and unrepeatable, just as the way God made him to be. I feel that God always put Lance in our lives exactly when we needed him. I know there would be some bad moments at work, and as I'm walking through the hallway, Lance would be there. Sometimes he'd tell a joke, other times he'd give me a high-five or a fist bump. Most of the time he'd just ask me what I was up to. Another sign of the simple things in life, being there to lift us up.
God bless you, Lance, and thank you for the ways you touched us all.
- Coach Rick Karboviak
Yes, it has been about 2 weeks since my last blog, and actually, from my last run. That doesn't mean I haven't been getting in any workouts, however. I have had a majority of my workouts from Mother Nature herself, in the form of snow removal. My job at the school has me in charge of removing snow around a building that is mostly done by hand a majority of the time. I've also been on a 15-day consecutive stretch of some form of snow removal, either blowing, scooping, or sweeping. Some days its been over an hour of shoveling work, as I'm all bundled up in heavy clothing to keep me warm. Let's say you burn up quite a sweat, and get in a good, fully body workout by the end of it.
On lighter days, I have been doing 10-20 minute kettlebell workouts with clean & presses, Tabata style, which has been a great staple of my training this winter. I plan to get back into the running groove this week.
This past week has been pretty emotional as well. Our small school, where every kid knows every kid, just lost one of our greatest friends, Lance, a 6th grader. Lance fought cancer for the past 7 years of his life. Through it all, however, he always had a beaming smile, and would never complain about his pain. He enjoyed the simple things in his life: his time with friends, his family of course, his Lego's, and everyone knew he loved his joke books, because he'd always stop to tell you a joke he liked. Personally, we grew a connection over both of us being members of the "Junior Nation" of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans. On my 2nd or 3rd day of work, he spotted my Dale, Jr #88 coffee mug on my work cart, and we started talking about racing. Lance got to meet Dale Earnhardt, Jr back in 2005 through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Lance's life left us all a reminder that we should always smile, tell some jokes, and enjoy the simple things in life, no matter what the battles you are going through. He was certainly unique, precious, and unrepeatable, just as the way God made him to be. I feel that God always put Lance in our lives exactly when we needed him. I know there would be some bad moments at work, and as I'm walking through the hallway, Lance would be there. Sometimes he'd tell a joke, other times he'd give me a high-five or a fist bump. Most of the time he'd just ask me what I was up to. Another sign of the simple things in life, being there to lift us up.
God bless you, Lance, and thank you for the ways you touched us all.
- Coach Rick Karboviak
1MileNation Treadmill Race Results
Greetings,
Yesterday & today were the 2 days to complete your 1-mile treadmill 'virtual race' efforts. No one has sent in any times over email to me, but I had myself & 4 others on DailyMile.com take the challenge & submit their times over that.
I don't have any last names of these guys, due to DailyMile.com keeping last names omitted in a privacy manner. I do, however, can view where they live. So, we have 2 guys from California, a guy from North Dakota, a guy from the Phillipines, and one from Taiwan? Pretty sweet! The internet is just sweet!
So, here are the results:
1. Rick Karboviak, Finley, ND 5:45
2. Nathaniel G, Manila, PH 6:17
3. Wayne, San Francisco, CA 6:27
4. Andrew T, Taipei City, TW 6:36
5. Logan, Temacula, CA, 6:39
If by chance you forgot to turn in your times to me, go ahead & do so by sending it to Rick@ASAPWorkouts.com.
Thanks once again to Nathaniel, Wayne, Andrew, & Logan for participating!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
Yesterday & today were the 2 days to complete your 1-mile treadmill 'virtual race' efforts. No one has sent in any times over email to me, but I had myself & 4 others on DailyMile.com take the challenge & submit their times over that.
I don't have any last names of these guys, due to DailyMile.com keeping last names omitted in a privacy manner. I do, however, can view where they live. So, we have 2 guys from California, a guy from North Dakota, a guy from the Phillipines, and one from Taiwan? Pretty sweet! The internet is just sweet!
So, here are the results:
1. Rick Karboviak, Finley, ND 5:45
2. Nathaniel G, Manila, PH 6:17
3. Wayne, San Francisco, CA 6:27
4. Andrew T, Taipei City, TW 6:36
5. Logan, Temacula, CA, 6:39
If by chance you forgot to turn in your times to me, go ahead & do so by sending it to Rick@ASAPWorkouts.com.
Thanks once again to Nathaniel, Wayne, Andrew, & Logan for participating!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
1MileNation Treadmill Race
Greetings,
I know I haven't been plugging this race a whole lot, but I can still let you know about it taking place this weekend: the 1MileNation.com Virtual 1-Mile Race: on the treadmill!
All you have to do this weekend is test yourself on the 1-mile distance on a treadmill. If you wish to run outside and can do so, that is fine, too. I chose the treadmill because for people like me in the northern part of the country, we have icy, snow-covered roads to run on. Just not really safe to try & run hard on that, as well as trying to run hard in super-cold weather (we had -23 wind chills this morning up here in ND!).
So, that's why I picked the treadmill as the main option to take.
Later in May, I plan to have another "Big 1" race that's made for the track, which people can do throughout the world, as the last one was done that way in April of 2009.
So, check out the really-simple-instructions at http://asapworkouts.com/1mnvr.html to submit your times!
Thanks!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://asapworkouts.com
http://1MileNation.com
I know I haven't been plugging this race a whole lot, but I can still let you know about it taking place this weekend: the 1MileNation.com Virtual 1-Mile Race: on the treadmill!
All you have to do this weekend is test yourself on the 1-mile distance on a treadmill. If you wish to run outside and can do so, that is fine, too. I chose the treadmill because for people like me in the northern part of the country, we have icy, snow-covered roads to run on. Just not really safe to try & run hard on that, as well as trying to run hard in super-cold weather (we had -23 wind chills this morning up here in ND!).
So, that's why I picked the treadmill as the main option to take.
Later in May, I plan to have another "Big 1" race that's made for the track, which people can do throughout the world, as the last one was done that way in April of 2009.
So, check out the really-simple-instructions at http://asapworkouts.com/1mnvr.html to submit your times!
Thanks!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://asapworkouts.com
http://1MileNation.com
My Last Week of Workouts
Greetings,
I've been a bit busy as of late, trying to get my training business going once again at our community fitness center. I haven't been slacking on the workouts, though.
I gotta tell you, if you run, you should be using http://DailyMile.com. If you're a fan of Twitter & Facebook type sites, this is ideal for runners, triathletes, etc. It's been a great online log, and with Twitter/Facebook sharing applications already in place with it, I can share more of my workouts with others.
Here were my workouts from last week:
Sunday:
Upright Bike – 6.18 mi / 00:20 18.5mph pace
Tried a new workout today: .4 mile @ 8.0, .4 mile @ 10.1, .3 mile @ 7.5, .3 mile @ 10.2, .3 mile @ 7.5, .3 mile @ 10.2. This is my '40/30/30' workout, doing 40% of a mile at easy, then hard, then 30% of a mile at easy, then hard, and 30% of each one more time.
As you can see, its a lot of varied workouts on the bikes & the treadmill. I also did 3 strength workouts intermixed on these days. Friday was a kettlebell workout-only day.
This month is going pretty well for me, with the occassional quirk when I'm doing my deadlifts. I have backed off a lot once again. I find that snow-shoveling work mixed in or around on deadlift days are not back-friendly. On Friday night & Saturday, we got nailed with a lot of wet, heavy snow, and I really got spent doing that for just a half-hour. I think part of why I got so spent was because of the outdoor clothes I was wearing: insulated, heavy stuff. The heavy shovel fulls didn't help me out, either. I don't care how in-shape you are, snow shoveling can still make you feel like you're out of shape sometimes!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
I've been a bit busy as of late, trying to get my training business going once again at our community fitness center. I haven't been slacking on the workouts, though.
I gotta tell you, if you run, you should be using http://DailyMile.com. If you're a fan of Twitter & Facebook type sites, this is ideal for runners, triathletes, etc. It's been a great online log, and with Twitter/Facebook sharing applications already in place with it, I can share more of my workouts with others.
Here were my workouts from last week:
Sunday:
Upright Bike – 6.18 mi / 00:20 18.5mph pace
20 minute Tabata workout of 4 easy at 6 level on bike, 4 Tabata @ 8, 4 easy at 6, 4 Tabata @ 8, 4 easy. Nice little ride...Roughly half my tri distance for the bike.
Treadmill Run – 1.5 mi / 00:09:45 06:30 pace
1/2 mile at 8.0, 1 mile at 10.1. This was done after the 20 minute ride.
Tuesday: Recumbent Bike – 6 mi / 00:20 18.0mph pace
3 min easy, 3 min Tabata x 3, 2 min recovery ride at the end.
Wednesday: Upright Bike – 3 mi / 00:10:00 18.0mph pace
Tabata ride with 3 min easy, 4 minutes Tabata, 3 min easy. Transitioned to a 2 mile run on treadmill.
Treadmill Run – 2 mi / 00:13:42 06:50 pace
1/2 mile @ 8.0, 1 mile at 10.2, 1/2 mile @ 7.5. Done after a 10 minute upright bike ride.
Saturday: Recumbent Bike – 5.25 mi / 00:15:00 21.0mph pace
Did a quick 15 minute ride on the recumbent bike, doing a 3 minutes easy, 3 minutes Tabata pattern for the 15 minutes. Tried it out on our 2nd new recumbent bike and liked this bike better than the first one.
Sunday: Upright Bike – 4.63 mi / 00:15:00 18.5mph pace
Did another 3 min easy, 3 min Tabata pattern for 15 minutes on the upright this time, then transition into a treadmill run
Treadmill Run – 2 mi / 00:13:45 06:52 pace
As you can see, its a lot of varied workouts on the bikes & the treadmill. I also did 3 strength workouts intermixed on these days. Friday was a kettlebell workout-only day.
This month is going pretty well for me, with the occassional quirk when I'm doing my deadlifts. I have backed off a lot once again. I find that snow-shoveling work mixed in or around on deadlift days are not back-friendly. On Friday night & Saturday, we got nailed with a lot of wet, heavy snow, and I really got spent doing that for just a half-hour. I think part of why I got so spent was because of the outdoor clothes I was wearing: insulated, heavy stuff. The heavy shovel fulls didn't help me out, either. I don't care how in-shape you are, snow shoveling can still make you feel like you're out of shape sometimes!
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://MakeVarsity.com
