Jim vs. 800m Run, Kettlebell Overhead Walk, and Kettlebell Farmers Walk

I wanted to do some running today. I also wanted to see if I could do a kettlebell overhead walk using the 53lb bell. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to combine the two.

Two rounds for time of:
800m run
100ft. kettlebell overhead walk (right hand)
100ft. kettlebell farmers walk (right hand)
Rest 1 minute
100ft. kettlebell overhead walk (left hand)
100ft. kettlebell farmers walk (left hand)

I finished this in 15:02, and next time I do it I’m dropping the rests. They weren’t necessary — or at least, mandating a full minutes wasn’t necessary — and this felt more like a mid-range than a long slog.

And doing the overhead walks with the 53 went fine.

Jim vs. The Sandbag Half-Mile

My warm-up for this was mowing the lawn.

anyway, this is a simple workout: heft the sandbag to your shoulder, run half a mile. I used the 25lb sandbag, and finished in 5:20. It’s a pretty bad time for me; usually, I can get this done in under five minutes.

Guess who needs to run more?

Jim vs. Kettlebell Workout, Week 8 Day 3

I didn’t want to do this, but I damn sure wanted to be done.

1/2 mile run

Turkish get-up + windmill, 5 x 1/1

KB goblet squats, 5 x 8

For time:
Push-ups x 100
Recline ring rows x 100

1/2 mile run

I noticed that nothing in this workout’s write-up required that I do all the push-ups in the fourth part prior to doing any of the ring rows. So I broke them each up 40-30-20-10, and finished the whole thing in 9:08. It did not feel like cheating, and I got some cardiovascular fatigue in with the muscle fatigue.

And so, that’s it. The eight-week kettlebell/bodyweight hybrid program is done. I really enjoyed it, and if nothing else I’m much more comfortable with the kettlebell movements than I was two months ago.

Now to get re-acquainted with the barbells.

Jim vs. Kettlebell Workout, Week 7 Day 3

I’m not sorry to see Week 7 go.

1/2 mile run

Turkish get-up + windmill, 4 x 1/1

KB goblet squats, 5 x 6

For time:
Push-ups x 80
Recline ring rows x 80

1/2 mile run

Good news was, I was getting my hand much closer to the ground on the left-handed windmills. The rough stuff came in that timed portion: it took me 9:35 to  finish, and only 2:23 was spent knocking out 80 push-ups. The rest was the ring rows, and they were just brutal. Not in a cardio way, but in the muscle fatigue way. Glad I pushed through it, though.

Jim vs. A New Kettlebell, 800m Run

My new 35lb kettlebell arrived yesterday. I’ve had the 53 since December, but I can’t do snatches or cleans with it. After much delay, hemming, and hawing, I got the 35 as an anniversary gift. Woo!

So this morning after my warm-up, I set my timer to 15 minutes and then spent that time playing with the new bell. Swings, one-hand swings, cleans, clean and jerks, snatches, Turkish get-ups, goblet squats, shoulder press, push press, hot potatoes, the whole shebang. Good stuff, though my left arm is much, much weaker when it comes to KB work. I noticed it on the 53, but it was still there on the 35. But hey: I can start working on my KB cleans and snatches, now. I’ll get ‘em with the 53 soon enough.

After that, I went out and did an 800m run. Finished in 4:12, which is terrible. I hate running in the morning, which is why I should do it more.

Jim vs. One-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 800m Run

Home again, and doing a home workout before work.

One-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)

No real issues there, except a bit of frustration at the fact that I had enough dumbbell weights to go up to 35lbs, but they were too wide to get on the bar and fasten them.

Then I went running. Ugh.

800m run
4:34

That’s a horrendous time.  I mean, just inexcusable. Nothing else to say about it.

Jim vs. Half-Mile Sandbag Run

Today was a day I really didn’t want to work out… but I want to have worked out. So I got me my sandbag and went for a run.

Run a half-mile with a sandbag on your shoulder
25lb bag, finished in 4:48

That would be a PR, except that I let myself run too short a distance. I find msyelf doing that a lot: “Oh, I know how far it is. I don’t need to check MapMyRun. [checks MapMyRun after] Huh, ran too little. Damn.”

At this point, I’m concluding that it’s a psychological thing in my head. So I’m registering an account and saving my 400m, 800m, and 1 mile loops. This needs to stop being an excuse that messes with my progress tracking.

Jim vs. Half-Mile Sandbag Run

I was sore as hell yesterday from Death by Deadlifts, so I didn’t do my workout until this afternoon.

Run a half-mile with a sandbag on your shoulder
25lb bag, finished in 4:54

Cut another four seconds off my previous time, which surprised the hell out of me. I still don’t think I’m quite ready to make the jump to the 50lb bag on this one, but this week my conditioning’s been proving better than expected.

Jim vs. Half-Mile Sandbag Run

I can assure you that yesterday’s Thanksgiving feast only made this workout more pleasant.

Run a half-mile with a sandbag on your shoulder
25lb bag, finished in 4:58

Cut four seconds off of my time since September. I think that means I can now count this as “Nasty, Brutish, and Short”.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, 800m Run

Huh, I guess this is technically my third workout day in a row. Been a while since I’ve done that.

Deadlift
365 x 3
330 x 4
290 x 5

This went well, and I got some excellent feedback on my form along the way. Good to know I can still do my 3RM, and hopefully I picked up some things that’ll make this even smoother next time: mainly that re-setting between reps doesn’t really count as rest, and that it makes my form on the subsequent rep much better.

800m run – 4:01

That one felt really slow as I was running, but it didn’t end up comparing badly to some of my recent attempts. But I can surely do better; this was 10 seconds slower than my PR.