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Sheltered And Simple

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Another rainy day, same skinned knee. 24kg swings to start my day, and my usual once an hour push ups during my work day. I need to always be able to flow into an appropriate workout when gyms aren't open or equipment is available or the weather is uncooperative or my knee is healing or whatever. Training programs are often about controlling all of the variables, but sometimes training is about persisting even when so few variables are under one's control.
 
With the 24kg bell, I did 10 sets of 10 in 5 minutes. It was possibly a few seconds over. I didn’t look at seconds after the minute when I started.). Then I did a 40 minute run with some jumping, balancing, and climbing thrown in for good measure, then a rest before an intense final sprint. It was fun in a way I never knew back in the days when I just identified as a runner.
 
I did 24kg swings, then my longest run in many months. (Long is relative. After my third marathon in 2018, I haven’t ever since then had a run longer than 11 miles.). I think my psyche is being drawn back into the comfort of something old and familiar. The pandemic took jiu jitsu away from me when I was only a week into it (and online learning for it leaves me cold.). The pandemic took the gym — any gym — away from me. But the pandemic can’t take away my ability to put one foot in front of another (and I’m pretty good at avoiding people when I run.). I don’t pause my running watch when I slow down to climb on something or jump on something or balance on something. My efforts in these areas are amateurish, and I’m fine with that. But I’m building up immunity to being controlled by a running watch. When I am sprinting, I care about how fast I am going, but I know that it’s not good for me to have every moment of every run by ruled over by my running watch. I like to keep tabs on my overall mileage which is why I still wear it at all. But I’m tempted to go back to running device-free. Then I have to be fully attuned to myself to know how I am doing.
 
24kg swings then out for a run. The run included me climbing into a tree for the first time in... well, a long time. I don’t climb objects high enough to risk serious injury or to look impressive. But in addition to having fun, I suspect I may also be encouraging ankle strength when I jump down. And it’s great for physical distancing ( a more appropriate term than “social distancing”). I don’t have to deal with others also trying to climb the tree or low wall or whatever it is I am climbing. It is space to myself

My knee scab is getting better but I still don’t want to aggravate the injury with Turkish Get Ups or kettlebell squats. I value both the TGU and kettlebell squats, but in a weird way, I am grateful for my injury. It’s given me a good excuse to explore alternative activities at a time when these alternative activities can be good for my spirits.
 
24kg swings, then a series of quarter mile sprints. The sprints have a rhythm that is much like the swings: work hard, recover, repeat.

For the last 6 months,I've been getting used to minimalist running shoes (Nike Free Run RN). I am pleased to see that the supination problem I have with cushioned running shoes is a non-issue with the minimalist shoes. With cushioned shoes, the outer right heel is pulverized within 100 miles of usage, making the shoe quickly unreliable. With the minimalist shoes, I am at 130 miles of usage, and no sign of uneven wear. These shoes have a lot of life stoll in them. My foot landing is a lot more even and running feels much more pleasant overall. I have no plans to go to full fledged bare foot running. I appreciate these shoes when I get done with a run and pull one or more pointy stones, sharp objects, etc. from the grooves on the bottom of my shoes. Better for this to happen to my shoes than to my feet.

When kettlebells cease to be rare exotic purchases and become mundane once again, my training log will like more recognizably S & S again on many days.
 
I don’t normally check e-mail, etc. upon waking, but this morning I did so and got a Kettlebell Kings restocking notification. Bell choices were already quite limited by this point, but I was able to get in an order for a 22kg bell, which means that full TGU’s could be in my future once again.

This morning, my cat sat there, head swiveling back and forth as I did my KB swings. I love my cat, but I look forward to maybe being allowed to use my building’s gym again someday and not have to deal with feline spectators.
 
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Swings and sprints. Swings and sprints. No open track for me to use right now, so I'm relying on the fact that my foot pod measures distances fairly accurately. While I am an unexceptional runner, my best performance has always been when I made speed work a regular habit. And I need to get me the right dose of weekday morning speed work to counterbalance both the running I do for transportation and the meandering running / exploring / jumping /climbing / balancing I do on weekends.
 
Ten sprints of a quarter mile each was how I started my day. During each rest period, I enjoyed the bird calls and the majesty of the trees, because I knew I had to be ready to push myself when the next sprint started. Now that I’ve had several months in minimalist running shoes and having my body respond better to them than “regular” running shoes, I look forward to doing more of this type of training.

I still don’t want to do a marathon ever again. Among many reasons, here’s a more light-hearted one. At my last marathon, I was making good time, but I needed to relieve myself and the porta pot lines were too long and the finish line was still many miles away. As a middle-aged dude with an unexceptional bladder, I thought: I shouldn’t have to choose between getting a PR and getting to pee.
 
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I recognize how in the absence of a gym, attention can wander. I do a set of swings, then get out the coffee grinder. I do another set of swings then get out the coffee beans. Etc. I need to make sure though I am actually present for my swings when doing my swings. I need to do the swings properly regardless of circumstance. I recognize now just how much a good gym can help focus one's attention.
 
Given that gyms being opened, etc. in Illinois may not happen for awhile, it’s time for me to take inventory of the equipment I own:
  • Running shoes and running clothes, etc.
  • Yoga blocks that I primarily use for elevating my feet during push ups
  • Kettlebells (I currently own a 24kg, a 15lb, and a 25lb. I should be in possession of a 45lb and a 22kg later this month. The 45lb will allow me to pick up with TGU’s where I left off when I lost gym access in March, whereas the 22kg will allow me to progress. I make no apologies that my strength is unexceptional and that I must progress slowly to avoid injury. Meanwhile, I am on a notification list for news of 28kg availability for the sake of my swings.)
  • A jump rope that sees no use as there’s not a good spot in my place to use it. (I used to bring it to the gym.)
  • A pair of inch thick yoga mats, great for Turkish get ups and break falls and practicing methods of rising from the floor, such as methods that don’t involve using hands or arms. Yoga even gets done on the yoga mats now and then

Looking at this list, I recognize that this equipment list gives me a lot of flexibility. When the weather permits, using the lighter kettlebells to resume exploring kettlebell juggling could be fun. The jump rope could be used outdoors. The running gear lets me do a lot of exploration/play beyond what narrowly fits into the category of running. Not to mention that with my kettlebell collection getting rounded out, lack of gym access will not mean lack of kettlebell access.
 
After swings, it was outside for running. The first two miles were playing around. At one one point, I alternated between weaving among trees and climbing tree trunks. The next two miles were more of a solid effort run. The play that I did for the first couple of miles seemed a much more satisfying warm-up than the conventional approach of just running more slowly for the first mile or two. If one considers the ruts that many runners get themselves into, the variety going on here feels magical to me,
 
My knee scab has healed enough that I was able to resume prying goblet squats without the sensation of the scab being pulled open. I still want the knee more fully healed and my most recent kettlebell purchases to arrive before resuming TGU.

I also have shin guards arriving. Over the weekend, I found myself delighted how well I did when I tried a particular vaulting move I hadn’t done before. I immediately did the move a second time and banged my shin in such a way as to break the skin.

The whole lockdown thing reminds me that I shouldn’t deny my introvert nature in my training. I had been one week into starting BJJ when the school closed due to mandated closures. That was disappointing at first, but I’m not inclined at the moment to return to BJJ if the opportunity presents itself. As I find myself rekindling my joy of the solo run and am becoming the sort of person who will pause a run to climb a tree or vault a park bench, I’m not sure I’m ready to face the demands of working closely with classmates and instructors. This is not a dig against BJJ itself, but just me figuring out how to train in a way that works with my nature. Of course, if I do not go back to the class, this doesn’t mean I am abandoning martial arts altogether: being able to sprint away quickly is my most basic self-defense practice. And a lot of what I am doing now involves intimate awareness of my environment and how to interact with it, which has a self-defense element as well.
 
My knee scab is at a point where it seemed to be time to ease my way back into TGU. I did full TGU with a very light bell... 25 pounds. But I also took the opportunity to explore the TGU. When I am in the early part of the lunge and need to align my legs before I stand up, I find that my lower back likes it a lot better if the front leg moves to align with the back leg rather than the back leg moving to align with the front leg. I should take this opportunity with the light bell to not simply get used to the TGU again, but to explore what movement patterns are most suited for my body.
 
One of my new bells is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. This bell matches the weight of the heaviest bell I did full TGU’s with before my building’s gym closed in March. But I continue today to practice the full TGU with a lighter weight to help ease me back into the routine.

Meanwhile, I find that May may soon turn out to be the month with the most running volume for me in the last 20 months. On the one hand, I am no longer a marathon runner or otherwise a runner who looks at running volume as a critical metric for measuring my running. I am after all becoming the sort of runner who stops to climb trees or tries to vault low objects. But trying to hit the highest running volume I’ve hit in a long time gives me a goal that is under my control, when there is just so much in the world right now that is not under my control at all.
 
UPS tracking claims that one of the two kettlebells I bought this month is currently in Kentucky, though Kentucky is not a location that is good for my training, so I continued to get back into the TGU groove with a light weight. As I work with this light weight, I know it’s not giving me the most intense workout, but it is giving me a chance to explore better ways for me to handle the movement rather than just be stuck in blind habit. The TGU can be a chance to learn about myself. While many on the Internets may argue about THE right way to do the TGU, I know that I have my own idiosyncrasies and I need to do the TGU in a way that has enough self-understanding to be able to control that cannonball with a handle effectively.

I skipped squats today because on my day off on Wednesday, I did enough running, tree climbing, jumping, mild vaulting etc. that my butt hurt a bit today. It was the sort of pain that wasn’t injury, but the sort of pain that says: Nope, I am not doing squats today.
 
One surprising thing about training during the pandemic is the impact on my imagination. I don't dwell on my deep desire to be free along the Chicago Lakefront, which is still off-limits. That would just be mental head-banging. And while I don't typically watch a lot of movies, I find myself fascinated by vintage Bruce Lee footage, both the fantasy action in his movies and his real-life training and philosophizing. While martial arts will not likely become a major part of my life and I will never be anything like Bruce Lee, I need his sort of attitude, to prepare for and face whatever one needs to face.
 
Timmer C said:
I don't dwell on my deep desire to be free along the Chicago Lakefront
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Sigh. I have very fond memories of running along the Lake in May. That really is a deprivation.
Timmer C said:
And while I don't typically watch a lot of movies, I find myself fascinated by vintage Bruce Lee footage, both the fantasy action in his movies and his real-life training and philosophizing.
Click to expand...
But Bruce Lee is pretty good compensation for a lot of deprivation. Speaking of which, I really liked the Ip Man series. Bruce Lee is a major character in 4, which is now available for streaming.
 
UPS delivered a 45 pound kettlebell to me yesterday afternoon, and so I can once again do the full TGU with this particular weight for the first time in 2 months. I had some false starts at first with the new bell, where I was getting lower leg cramps/foot cramps on the side that has me putting weight on the knee, and I was concerned that I had perhaps had too much deconditioning in the last 2 months. But this morning, I got it straightened out and did 5 full get ups with this weight held in my right arm. (I did no reps on my left arm because my skinned knee is still a bit sensitive.) I’ve perhaps lost a bit of ground in owning this weight, as the get ups felt harder than they were 2 months ago. But the fact that I can still handle this weight means I have a path forward.

It’s nifty to see there’s enough manufacturing going on that I managed to get this kettlebell at all....
 
I got through today’s full Turkish Get ups with the new bell in the right hand with no false starts and no leg/foot cramps. I think I now understand what was going wrong previously and causing the cramps. If I allow the angle of the knee bend on the leg I’m kneeling on to be too slight when I first do the kneel, my calf and feet then have to work extra hard (due to the kettlebell weight) to get the leg back up to the appropriate angle. To use an analogy, I am perfectly capable of standing up from seiza without using my hands. However, if I had to stand up from seiza while holding a good sized kettlebell overhead, then the act of standing up from seiza would become a hard core resistance exercise and my calf muscles and foot muscles would rebel and be in pain.

I am very glad I got this figured out with a kettlebell weight I can manage. Had I been wrangling a heavier kettlebell, I could have injured myself quite nastily.
 
Everything outside was still wet and slippery from Sunday’s non-stop rain, so at my current skill level, it didn’t seem safe for me to practice the safety vault. So it was a morning of straightforward running and Simple & Sinister. I did the swings with Haddaway music playing, which may be my version of Electro Swing....
 
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