Training log for my new alpinism (aka the shaft needs more endurance)

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 08:56 AM

I can sometimes lack motivation - this is especially true after a period of true laziness, where I find it incredibly difficult to break the habit of not getting out and exercising (even in the form of fun activity). So, I'm going to log my training on here, using the maggot collective's legendary kindness and compassion to help motivate my lazy ass into making this last. I'm following Steve House and Scott Johnston's 'Training for the new alpinism' theory, so there isn't necessarily a tonne of gym/lifting time, but more of a focus on endurance. I'm hoping those of you who follow this theory (or similar, I was discussing a biking one with my soon-to-be brother-in-law this weekend) will be able to not only help motivate me, but also to help critique the workouts and let me know if I'm pushing too hard, not hard enough, etc as this is a completely knew way of looking at fitness for me. If you have a similar disposition towards laziness and want to log your workouts here, too - feel free.

Let the kind and compassionate words flow forth, ye maggots.

For those of you with the book, I'm following the recommended transition workout, but stretching weeks 1-2 into 4 weeks, and overall extending the transition into 10 weeks, given my current fitness level.

Today's morning log:
First day back in what has to be months (we're talking maybe 4-6 months, if memory serves). Did strength this morning - Scott's Killer Core routine and the general strength training for transition. Only body weight for all exercises except the Turkish Getup, where I used 5# just to have a token weight in hand. Good God I'm out of shape. Feel good now, but some of those exercises were brutally difficult (either in form or couldn't do 10 reps). Required weight assistance to do 6 pull-ups (will be further reducing the weight next strength session so as to be able to do 10), the gymnast L-sit was incredibly difficult (lasted a mere second or so with feet in the air) and could only do 3 of the hanging leg raise with only knees to chest. The Turkish getup is awkward for me, wall-facing squats are not difficult strength wise, but definitely flexibility-wise. How can you mimic isometric hangs from ice tools? My gym doesn't have them...

Will look at doing the special max strength plan for pull-ups once I get through at least 2 weeks of my initial transition workout, or should I leave that to the base building period? I don't want to crush my arms right off the bat...

Zone 1 this evening.

Eta: the strength workout, including core and jogging to and from gym took about an hr.

**neufox47** · 10-03-2016, 10:28 AM

Good luck!

Almost everyone finds the Turkish Getup awkward. It helps to start just doing a 1/2 getup to start, (don't go to a knee, stop at the bridge). Pullups aren't arm strength but back strength. I disagree with increasing the assistance to get to 10 reps, you need to build your strength first before worrying about endurance. 4-6 reps is about perfect for that. Also, pullups are a lot more technical than people think. Changing your body position will significantly impact how many you can do. I would just do dead hangs from the pull-up bar since you can't mimic ice tool grips. You could also use a cable machine and hold onto the rope attachment with one hand from a kneeling position.

**Dantheman** · 10-03-2016, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by shafty85

How can you mimic isometric hangs from ice tools? My gym doesn't have them...

Length of thick rope or a towel hung over a pullup bar.

Originally Posted by shafty85

I don't want to crush my arms right off the bat...

Lats do most of the work in a pullup.

**Cruiser** · 10-03-2016, 04:36 PM

I have nothing special to say here except that pullups are hard

**mtngirl79** · 10-03-2016, 05:00 PM

get a mountain bike?

**mcski** · 10-03-2016, 05:02 PM

Get a hooker?

**JayPowHound** · 10-03-2016, 06:19 PM

I am also hoping to get off the couch and into shape.. I was riding mtb 3-4x / week all summer, but since school has started again I'm lucky if I get out once.

I've never done a "program" and will readily admit I know nothing about training.

I'd never heard of this book... just ordered it! Can I make it work at home with minimal - no equipment, or will I need a gym membership?

Best of luck to us both!

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 07:44 PM

^^^ I believe you can make it work without the gym (they give options for how to accomplish that), but I'm going to use it - it helps with my motivation as I'm a 10min jog to one. It's definitely a new way for me to look at fitness, YMMV, but I drank the coolaid and am running with it

**Bronco** · 10-03-2016, 08:41 PM

Get some good fitting running shoes and a HR monitor. You'll use them a lot with this program.

**BCJC** · 10-03-2016, 08:43 PM

Wait, you have a sled now, you don't need to be in shape.

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 08:44 PM

Haha, true. Back to the couch my lazy ass goes!

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by Bronco

Get some good fitting running shoes and a HR monitor. You'll use them a lot with this program.

Any recommendations on the HR monitor? Been trying to determine which one to get... Watch seems more convenient, and not sure I need the accuracy of the chest (I'm not winning any medals... Ever)

**Bronco** · 10-03-2016, 09:59 PM

I'm not sure anything without a chest strap is accurate enough yet but I haven't been on the market for a couple years. Older tech is significantly cheaper and more accurate in this situation. Just get a cheap HR monitor off your favorite discount website and get going. Shoulder season is the perfect time to start this program, 12 weeks till ski season.

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 10:17 PM

Evening training log:
Ate a good dinner - salad with homemade dressing and ramen with pesto (store bought) and goat cheese. Delicious.

Ran about 3km, in what I believe was zone 1, in something shy of 30min (didn't actually time it). Breathing thru my nose the entire time (made more difficult than usual, I suspect, by the fact that I've just recovered from a cold and my nose is still plugged at times). When I ended the run, my breathing was normal quite quickly, I believe reinforcing that I was running in zone 1. It's mentally difficult for me to adjust, as my training in the past has always involved pushing as hard as I could. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

Thanks for the tips regarding the HR monitor.

**I've seen black diamonds!** · 10-03-2016, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Bronco

I'm not sure anything without a chest strap is accurate enough yet but I haven't been on the market for a couple years. Older tech is significantly cheaper and more accurate in this situation. Just get a cheap HR monitor off your favorite discount website and get going. Shoulder season is the perfect time to start this program, 12 weeks till ski season.

I have a chest strap and an optical arm strap. I bought the latter because the chest strap irritates my skin if I use it regularly (I'm sensitive that way). If you're using the HRM to make sure you stay in a lower heart rate zone they're both fine. If you're trying to use it for interval training (which is problematic anyway) the chest strap is much better (less lag).

**::: :::** · 10-03-2016, 10:56 PM

You will find that the HRM will keep you honest (and much slower than you'd expect) when you are starting. Eventually, you will speed up, but it seems like it takes forever following a HR zone program.

**shafty85** · 10-03-2016, 10:58 PM

^^^ Yeah, right now I'm just going with the very rudimentary 'breathing thru your nose' measuring stick. I hope to get the HR monitor in not too long and then hopefully be able to find my max HR so I can figure out what I should be at. It felt like slow running, but the breathing was still difficult (not laboured, just not super easy).

**Cruiser** · 10-04-2016, 06:43 AM

As a data point, Mrs Cruiser is really satisfied with her Tomtom spark both for the GPS and the HRM functions. She gets some aberrations in the HRM data but overall it does a fine job of keeping her updated about whether or not she's training in her target zone.

**shafty85** · 10-04-2016, 08:12 AM

Morning log:
Did a brisk walk for a little over 26min. Same loop as last night (3km), so I'm guessing last nights time was probably more in the 20min range. Feel good, just sleepy, but I think my body is having to adapt to doing exercise again. I'd give this training session a B - felt good, but also felt I could have gone harder (I know, not the point here). I think I'll feel better about the workouts once I am able to track my hr and, hopefully, find my max hr so I know what zone(s) I am in during it. I honestly think this would have been more of a recovery workout, rather than a true z1, but I'm just shooting from the cuff there.

**shafty85** · 10-04-2016, 11:27 PM

Evening log:
Off. Had a nice dinner and watched the ball game with the boys.

Question regarding zone 2 training - what is zone 2? Is it still being able to breathe thru your nose? I understand the concept of 'top of conversational pace' but only in a limited way - I should still be able to hold complete conversations? Only short sentences? Any advice would be much appreciated - still working on the HR monitor.

**I've seen black diamonds!** · 10-04-2016, 11:39 PM

You can speak pretty normally and breathing should return to normal almost immediately when you stop talking. I can get well past zone 2 while breathing through my nose, but if I'm breathing somewhat comfortably through my nose I'm generally still in zone 2.

**neufox47** · 10-05-2016, 06:49 AM

If you arent sure take your pulse manually and gauge that to how you feel.

**shafty85** · 10-05-2016, 08:16 AM

Thanks for the ideas. ISBD, is it possible your zone 2 threshold is higher, due to training?

Morning log: ran 3km in 22:20. Felt okay. Had to talk to myself to judge my ability to speak

didn't check my pulse. Hips were a little tight but loosened up. Recovery tonight, will stretch again and should be good for the rest of the week.

I think one of struggles is that the duration is currently quite short, coming from playing soccer my entire life including last season. But, I'm taking it slow and keeping the training volume low to start - on pace for 4hrs plus my climbing session and long zone 1 (so I'm guessing 6hrs by end of the week?). When they say that the lone Z1 session should be 25% of the aerobic training for the week, does that include the strength and climbing sessions?

**I've seen black diamonds!** · 10-05-2016, 08:56 AM

Sorry, I was referring to a different definition of zones (in which 1 is recovery and 2 is the main aerobic training zone). I just look up the TFNA definition. I should have said that I can breath through my nose well into zone 2, not past it. But what I said about talking remains true. Maybe I should have said pretty normally.

My understanding is that you can't train your heart rate (or your zones) up, but you can train your resting heart rate down.

I was a wrestler and a wrestling coach for 2.5 decades. I lifted and did Crossfit. I did sprints and hill sprints. When I switched the bulk of my training to focus on endurance it took my a while to feel like I was doing any work at all while staying in zone 1. Even sustained effort in zone 2 felt easy. When you're wrestling you get used to zone 5.

But it comes around. After a about a year I was able to run with my heart rate in the recovery zone at a pace that would have been in zone 2 when I started.

I recently moved to CO where there are more hills and less air. It feels a bit like Im starting again, especially compared to all the ultra runners around Boulder who chat while running up mountains. But I can run up moderate inclines and hike steep trails and stay in zone 1.

**Bronco** · 10-05-2016, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by shafty85

Evening log:
Off. Had a nice dinner and watched the ball game with the boys.

Question regarding zone 2 training - what is zone 2? Is it still being able to breathe thru your nose? I understand the concept of 'top of conversational pace' but only in a limited way - I should still be able to hold complete conversations? Only short sentences? Any advice would be much appreciated - still working on the HR monitor.

Do you have a copy of the book? There's a pretty detailed description of all of the zones on pages 55-63. My unsolicited but free of charge advice is to quit screwing around with the nose breathing and get an inexpensive heart rate monitor so you're not wasting your time. There's currently a Polar FT4 on Amazon for $47. I can maintain a long conversation with myself and sing songs to the trees in my Zone 1. Running up a hill of any magnitude used to push me right out of Zone 1 so I walked a fair amount of the hills when I started this type of training. It's pretty boring and took a long time to feel like I was doing anything and frankly is kind of embarrassing. FWIW I've read (not sure of the source) that Zone 1 workouts should be a minimum of 60 minutes.