Even though my Dri-Tri went well, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped it would be. I wasn’t down on myself, but it did make me realize that I did need to make improvements when I had a chance to do so. And this past week of workouts did give me some chances to do that.
Monday’s workout was another signature workout. It was the Orange X workout that we had a few months ago! I love when workouts repeat like this because I can measure what I was able to do before and what I can do now. I like to see my progress and these workouts are a good way for me to prove that I have improved.
Because I wasn’t as early as I usually am to class, I had to start on the rower instead of the treadmill. But that didn’t end up being that bad because the workout was a switch day so I didn’t have to wait until the second half of class before I was on the treadmill. The beginning of class was a block that had the same pattern on the rower and the treadmill. We had a 90 second push pace, a 30 second base pace, and a 30 second all out pace. It wasn’t easy for me to do a push or all out on the rower. And when I was on the treadmill I broke the 90 second push pace into 30 second intervals so I ran for 30 seconds 2 times. But after that, I realized it was going to be a walking day so I walked the base and all out paces.
After that quick rowing and treadmill switch, it was time for me to be on the floor to do the Orange X floor work. My group on the floor had the Orange X challenge for the second half of that block so for the first half we had sit-ups, lunges, and mountain climbers so the other half of the floor group had all the weights to use. When it was my group’s turn, I knew I wanted to challenge myself with the weights. For the chest press, I had to stay at 30lb weights because the 35lb ones are just a bit too heavy and I’m not challenging myself when the weights are above my body. But 30lb is still a lot! For the single arm low row, last time I used a 35lb weight but went for 40lb this time. And for the goblet squats last time I used 45lb and this time I went with 50lb! While both of the heavier weights were a bit of a challenge, they weren’t as bad as I expected them to be. But I still don’t think I could have done more than the 10 reps we were supposed to do.
After that, I was on the treadmill for a short run/row block. For power walkers we had a .1 mile walk and then a 200 meter row after. Each time we were on the treadmill we were supposed to increase the incline 1%. My rowing was a bit slower than normal because I really was tired from the floor work, but I just used that time to work on form and counting the pattern of going back and forth. I made it a few rounds in the run/row before it was time to be back on the floor again for my last floor block.
We had the same exercises as the Orange X challenge but with decreasing weights with the hope that we could increase our weights. But because both halves of the floor group were working on it, there weren’t as many weights for me to pick from. I still got my 30lb weights for my chest presses, but for the low row and squats I could either use 40lb or 60lb. As much as I would have liked to go heavier for my squats, I knew I wasn’t ready for 60lbs so I went with 40lb for them. I didn’t mind having lighter weights but I could really feel the difference in how much lighter they felt.
And finally I was back on the treadmill for my last block which was a regular treadmill block. It was 3 rounds of 1 minute push paces with a base pace in between and ended with a 1 minute push pace to a 30 second all out pace. I walked all of this block but was
Wednesday’s workout was a strength based one. We had regular blocks on the treadmill but on the floor it was a floor/row set up. Run/row days are some of my favorites because the time on the treadmill is limited, but floor/row days are starting to be up there too. I know that rowing is one of the best workouts and I like having time to work on my endurance and form.
On the treadmill, we had 3 blocks that all had a similar pattern. We started with a push pace to a base pace that didn’t have any incline (except the standard incline that power walkers have). Then we had a base pace at an incline followed by a base pace at no incline. Then everyone had a power walk at a very high incline and then we ended with an all out pace. Some of the inclines were getting a bit too high for me when everyone was power walking. I really am not comfortable at the very high inclines. I usually don’t like to go higher than 10% and this time we were supposed to do work at 12 and 15%. I tried 12% and managed to do it, but my hips weren’t feeling the best. So for the last one that was at 15% I kept it at 10%.
On the floor, the first block was a regular block that was all mini-band work. We had forward squat walks, lateral squat walks, and hip bridges. Then it was time for the floor/row block. It started with an 800 meter row and then 3 rounds of lunges and pop jacks. I did my pop jacks using the bench like I do with burpees so I could jump my feet back and forth. Then we had a 400 meter row with pop squats and swimmers. The goal was to do the 400 meter row in less than half the time of the 800 meter row and I did get right under that goal. There was also a 200 meter row, but I didn’t make it to that round before class was over.
Friday’s workout was also a strength day. But since this one was a 3 group class the treadmill work wasn’t as tough as the work on Wednesday and the inclines weren’t as high. We had 2 rounds of a 6 minutes for distance challenge, but since I was power walking I wasn’t as competitive with myself as I usually am.
Each of the distance challenges was a push pace for a distance and a base pace for a distance. And the goal was to do as many rounds as possible to get the furthest distance you could do. The first round was a slightly higher incline as the second round so I knew I’d be able to do a little bit better on the second attempt. The first round was done at my normal power walking speed and the second was .1mph higher. It’s easy to beat a distance challenge on the treadmill since you can set it and guarantee you will do better. It wasn’t that much of a difference between the 2 rounds, but I did do better the second time.
Next was the rowers which was one long block. We started with 2 rounds of 500 meter rows. After the first one we had ground to presses with medicine balls and after the second one we had calf raises. After those 2 rows we had 2 rounds of 300 meter rows with the same exercises after each round. For the 500 meter rows, I wasn’t focused too much on my time because I wanted to focus on my stroke rate. I know that for some of the longer rows it might help to have my stroke rate a bit lower. But it’s not something that I can feel on my own without looking at the screen. So I was focused on seeing what my normal rate was and how much slower I had to go to be at the slower rate I was thinking I’d want to be at. I was still under the time we were supposed to be under, but I know that I could have done it a bit faster if that was what I was focused on. I tried to do the same thing with my 300 meter rows, but I realized that the block was going to be ending and ended up just going faster so I could make it through the 2 rows and 2 exercises.
And on the floor, we also had 1 long block. We had a range for the number of reps to do for 2 exercises and that was to allow us to challenge ourselves. Those exercises were hip hinge low rows and bicep curls. I usually would use 20lb for the low rows and 15lb for the bicep curls. So I went with 30lb for the low rows and 20lbs for the bicep curls. The range was 6-10 reps and I was able to do 8 reps with using those heavier weights. In that block we also had single arm low rows using the TRX straps, double crunches, and plank weight pull-throughs. It was an exhausting floor block because I was using heavy weights, but it was worth it.
Saturday’s workout had a bit of a different format. When you started on the treadmill you had 1 block on the treadmill and 1 block on the rower. And when you did the floor work 1 block was the floor and rower and the second block was the floor and the treadmill.
The treadmill and rower block that we had when starting on the treadmill were the same pattern. It was 4 rounds of push pace to all out paces, and the push pace went down each round. I did walking for everything and did my normal speed and inclines. I thought about doing a bit of running, but I stuck with walking since I knew that I still had a lot of rowing and some more treadmill work ahead. The rower is a bit tougher to do push to all out paces, but I tried to increase my speed each time. I didn’t get it up as much as we were supposed to, but there was a bit of difference in speed.
On the floor, the strength work was the same for both blocks. But the first block was adding on exercises and the second block was taking away. We had single arm snatches, push-ups, v-ups, single arm presses, and squats. For the first block, we started with a 300 meter row and the first exercise. Then we went down 50 meters on the row and added another exercise on. I only made it through the 3rd round before that block was done. Then we had sprints on the treadmill followed by all the exercises. Then the sprint increased and we took away the first exercise. I only made it through 2 rounds that time, but that meant I did all the exercises at least twice which is good.
Even though it might not sound like it from my recap, I feel like each day this past week had some sort of improvement. Sometimes I used heavier weights, sometimes I used higher inclines, and sometimes I improved on my form or pace with rowing. Each day had something that I pushed for and that’s exactly what I need to do. This should help me get ready for the next Dri-Tri, but even sooner it will be getting me ready for Hell Week later this month!
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