Christmas training. We left home the day before Christmas to spend it together with the family. We visited my pops earlier and then drove to Klaukkala to cool down with Pauliina's parents for the past couple of days. Didn't concentrate in writing the blog this time, hopefully you guys survived =)
Thursday.
Rest day
My upper body was jammed from all the training in the week so it was perfect to have a day off at Christmas Eve. It was a "busy" day anyway with all the traditions taking place. It was a spectacular day as the entire rest of the week spending it in the best company.
Friday.
Metcon,
5 rounds of:
3 rope climbs
450m run
It was going to be lots of outdoor activities while being in Klaukkala. I had pretty much every fitness equipment with me in the trunk of the car. Agenda was totally open. I just went by feeling. Friday was a good shoulder burn in the rope climbs. It was awesome to go for them after a long break. Felt great. Kari ran with me on the run. Had to save some gas for the rope climbs.
Saturday.
Every minute on the minute x 10min: 10 thrusters (40kg)
Metcon, 4 rounds of:
16 overhead walking lunges, 40kg
400m run
This was a two-part training session. It was nice to have Kari and Pauliina train with me outdoors at the yard. There were a lot of lunges completed with the trio. My first piece was thrusters at 40kg. Ten reps per set. Didn't have a timer running at all. It was something like one set per 60 or max 90 seconds. It also got to my shoulders finally, and they got nasty.
Right after that I took a metcon with the same barbell, lunging with it overhead. Went 8 steps down, and 8 steps back. Kept the bar overhead all the time. It was strange to turn around having a bar overhead. With this weight it was okay but having more weight might have felt exotic. Running and lunging made my legs burn and breathing go heavy.
Sunday.
Metcon, 5 rounds of:
20 walking lunges, 45kg barbell in back rack
20 kettlebell snatches, 16kg (10/10 per hand)
Wear a 9kg vest
On Sunday I got a chance to go two-a-day. We got snow on the ground on Saturday. It was pretty freaking awesome to train outdoors in this kind of weather. It was sunny, bright and the air was crispy. Great to breath heavily. My butt and quads were sore from training but I guess today made it's last effect on my lower body to break down. In a good way. I like it when it hurts.
I went to 45kg, put the barbell in my back, and lunged for 20 steps / meters. This was a bit longer distance than I'd normally lunge. It was a bit torturing on my butt and legs. The idea was of course to go unbroken, and I did. Kettlebell was light as that was probably the only thing I didn't have with me on this trip. Kari had this one so I wanted to borrow that one for the workout.
It suited well for this metcon. One-hand snatches, 10 with right hand, then 10 reps with left hand. Total of 5 rounds. This really hurt in my legs and made my breathing go heavy. I liked it a lot. There was a mental side of the wod too with the longer distance of the lunges.
Evening session.
Push press 1x8 (73kg). Did 10 reps
Front squat doubles, 7x2 across @ 120kg
Power clean, 5x3 @ 80kg
In the evening we drove home and I went to the gym because there was some work to be done. Purely a barbell session. I had my overhead progress going on and it was time for that final set of 8's today. One set of 8 reps @ 73kg. And there was the permission of going more than 8 reps if possible. Warm-up was 10x40, 5x50, 3x60, 2x70, 1x80kg. That 80kg press was probably the easiest I've done in the past couple of weeks. Then dropped down the only working set. Got 10 reps on that one which pleased me tremendously.
Even though my lower body and especially quads were killing me I wanted to get real squats done. My back prevented to squat in the past week so I missed them a lot. Did some doubles in front squat. Not super heavy. Felt heavier than they looked. Quite solid sets. In the end couple of sets of light power clean triples. Just to get a good touch on the movement.
We had a lot of last call errands to be taken care of for the wedding on Friday so there was no chance in getting to the gym at all during the day. We wanted to sleep at different locations so Pauliina stayed at our home with her mother in Helsinki, and my father-in-law Kari took me to their place in Klaukkala. We arrived there at around 8-9 pm and I was anxious to put my sneakers on and do something.
Tornimäki @ Klaukkala
Sprints.
Run uphill for about 15 seconds
Recovery was walk down
Repeat for 5 sprints without rest in between
Rest 2-3 minutes and repeat for a total of 3 rounds
Every single time when we drive to Klaukkala we go by this good looking hill on our left. During winter, it's used for skiing purposes. In the summertime people use it for outdoor activities, hiking and such. I always look at this place with great respect. It is a killer place, I've been there couple of times doing my thing.
Today was perfect opportunity to hit it right there. I wasn't going to carry wall balls and kettlebells with me but sneakers were easier to hide in my carry-ons so that the future wife wouldn't see that haha. She hoped for me not to work out (at least heavy) so I didn't make a big number of this one. That was kinda cute because she wanted me to be in the best shape of my life on Saturday. That is quite understandable.
I have no idea of the distance and on the video the hill doesn't look that steep but it really felt it, and it has always felt like it in this place. The start is easier but then in the middle there's a sudden change in the game. It becomes heavier and that about 15 second sprint brings lactic acid to my thighs big time. I went continuously up and down for a total of 5 sprints. Recovery was the jog back down. Coming down also puts pressure on quads so it's practically no rest.
First set of sprints
After 5 sprints I recovered for a while, best guess is around 2-3 minutes, and then repeated this cycle for a total of 3 rounds. That means 15 total sprints. Good quick stuff. It took about 5 minutes per round. Warm-up and cool down was the jog from Pauliina's parents house. As I went back Kari had prepared dinner for the two of us, and we spent the night eating and spending quality time with each other, thinking about the upcoming day and what it might look like eventually. Never thought it would become such a dream come true!
