Week 6 – Detroit FreePress International Marathon prep (Feb 09 – Feb 15)

Time flies quickly. Welcome to the week number 6. If you missed, please check week #5 here.

As always, let us start the first day of the week with the “Sunday”.

Day 1 – Sunday, February 09, 2020
This was a 6-mile run day for me. I was pretty excited to start the week. This week, I do not have any major runs longer than 6-mile, so it was motivating enough for me to give my 100% for these 6 miles.

Fortunately, the run was quite uneventful and I did not face any difficulties finishing this “long” distance.

For the last few days, I have not gotten chance to trim my body hair, so I had to run with a T-shirt on, giving me an epic post workout picture.

Take a look. My cap, t-shirt, and the towel were completely drenched in sweat after the run.

I finished the 6-mile run in 1 hour 12 minutes 36 seconds. I maintained an average speed of 12.05 minutes per mile.

I have been consistent enough with my pace. Here is my Apple Watch.

Day 2 – Monday February 10, 2020
Rest day for running, time for some CrossFit.

This day was quite special for me as a couple of my friends became U.S. Citizens this day and we celebrated that with some Mexican food. I ordered Carne Enchilada, a dish also known as Chilli Marinated Pork. I was cautious enough not to overeat as I had my 6 P.M. CrossFit session at the back of my head.

Here is my dish.

And here is the CrossFit workout that we did.

Our trainer, Jeff, warned us that it will be a tiring workout, but, frankly, we (myself, Monika, and Anupam) did not feel that much exhausted and could have gone for some more exercises. May be, our body is more immune to the pain now and can handle more severe workout regime. Just a theory!

Day 3 – Tuesday February 11, 2020
New day, new running regime!

Tuesdays have been my morning run-day. I was in the gym at 6 A.M., so technically right before 12 hours when I did my workout on Monday. I spend an average of couple hours at my CrossFit gym, and I love every single second of it!

The run was very good. I did not feel tired at all, and I had a company of 6 people who were doing their 6 AM-7 AM bootcamp class. It was fun to meet them after almost a week and chat with them. I loved it.

I finished this 4-mile run in 48 minutes 15 seconds with an average pace of 12.03 minutes per mile.

Here’s my Apple Watch after this 4-mile run.

Day 4 – Wednesday February 12, 2020
Remember when I told that we did not feel much pain during Monday’s workout, Jeff really took that seriously and made sure we do not repeat the same words again!

Wednesday’s workout was not only body aching, but soul crushing also. The one word that could explain the workout completely was “HEAVY” and when Jeff wrote that word on the whiteboard, we knew, we were in trouble.

To give you an idea, this is how the workout looked like.

To explain the workout in short, it was EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute) for seven rounds each for five different movements. The once condition that Jeff had was to go for heavy weights for each movement.

I started off with Thrusters with two 45 Lb dumbbells. I could do only 6 thrusters each round, but was happy with it, given that I took the heaviest dumbbell for that exercise.

The second one was Manmakers. I went with 45 and breezed through it for the first five rounds. I won’t lie, the last two rounds almost killed me and I could feel my pumped biceps.

I don’t know from where he got the 80 Lb Medicine Ball, but he made me do 8 over-the-shoulder slams with that medicine ball. Everyone in the gym could hear me scream in pain, but I was happy that I could complete it.

Sled push was the one where I stood out. I stockpiled all possible weights I could on my sled and it was filled to its brim. Here’s the picture of that sled.

It was so satisfying to push that sled and finish it, outstanding feeling.

The last one was single leg deadlifts. Pretty uneventful before calling it a night.

I will remember this workout for a long time!

Day 5 – Thursday February 13, 2020
Run day. This time, it was 4 miles. I was staying at my friend’s place who stays near the gym, so I could save some time for the run.

I woke up at 5 AM for this run and was not that excited about it. I could feel the lack of sleep and tiredness as I was running just 12 hours after finishing the crushing workout. I had to pull myself out of bed and force myself to get ready for the run. Plus, the weather did not help. It was snowing, it was dark, my car was covered in snow. First world problems, right?

Anyway, I reached my gym and was glad to look at 8 CrossFitters working out. We greeted and I started with my run. It was a fun run. I could maintain my speed, even though I did not feel up for it. I think having people working out, helps me run and that’s why I do not listen to music while running.

I finished this 4-mile run in 48 minutes 35 seconds with an average pace of 12.08 minutes per mile.

After finishing my run, when I was heading to my friend’s place, it was still dark and many parents were taking their kids to school, so had to fight a light traffic. It was snowing, with few water puddles on the way.

Take a look at the video to see what I am talking about.

Here’s my Apple Watch.

Since I talked about the snow, here’s a short video of the snow when I was heading to work.

Day 6 – Friday February 14, 2020
A much needed break and a very happy Valentines day to you all! Cheers!

Day 7 – Saturday February 15, 2020
It was not a regular Saturday for us. If you have been following my schedule, you know I finish my run before starting my CrossFit workout, followed by the Saturday brunch.
Well, this Saturday, my CrossFit gym had an event going on and there were more than 100 CrossFit athletes flocking our gym and competing for the coveted title. That led us to not having any sessions on Saturday and no run too for me, as it was so cold outside.

Therefore, you can safely say that this was my second rest day in a row. But, having missed both the run and the workout on Saturday, I promised myself that I will finish my Saturday’s miles during Sunday’s run, extending it by 3 miles. I was excited about Sunday’s run.

Now, for those of you who are interested in checking out the atmosphere at the gym, here is how it looked like.

Now, this does not mean that we missed our Saturday brunch. No, not at all.

Here’s the delicious food at I had at my regular Saturday restaurant Leo’s Coney Island. This time, I ordered an additional side order of bacon. I was craving for those for a long time.

And with this, week number 6 came to an end. Damn, Sunday’s 9-mile run is going to take some efforts.

Off I go…