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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
AKOS KONYA

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who, only a few short days ago, claimed victory at the Lean Horse 100 Mile Ultramarathon in Hot Springs, South Dakota.

In a sport where completing the 100 miles in 24 hours of straight running is considered an elite accomplishment– Wait, in a sport where even completing the 100 miles in one go at all is considered extremely impressive– You know what? It would still be pretty impressive if somebody only got through half the distance, then broke down crying and quit.

Anyway, Akos Konya won the event by running 100 straight miles in an unbelievable 16 hours, 46 minutes and 20 seconds.

Now, I’m in pretty good shape and there’s pretty much no way I could run a four-hour marathon. If, by some chance, I was able to pull it off, I would be carted immediately to the nearest hospital where I would be bedridden for the next week or two. What Akos Konya did there was run a four-hour marathon, and then run three more of them, all back-to-back, without slowing down.

The amount of training that goes into achieving this level of physical endurance, and moreover, the mental strength required of anyone who crosses the finish line of a 100-mile ultramarathon is essentially beyond our abilities to measure.

Akos Konya has also enjoyed a 2nd place finish in the grueling 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon.

TODAY: CALVES (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and BICEPS (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)

SEATED CALF RAISE (PROPER MACHINE) (8 sets)
140 x 6
140 x 7
140 x 6
140 x 5
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 9
90 x 8

STRAIGHT LEG CALF PRESS (DECLINE MACHINE) (5 sets)
360 x 11
360 x 10
360 x 11
360 x 10
360 x 10

REVERSE CALF PRESS (DECLINE MACHINE) (5 sets)
360 x 7
360 x 4
270 x 10
270 x 8
270 x 9

BARBELL CURLS (3 sets)
95 x 8
135 x 3
135 x 3

PREACHER HAMMER DUMBBELL CURLS (3 sets)
35 x 8
50 x 5
60 x 2

PREACHER MACHINE UNDERHAND CURLS (3 sets)
70 x 12
100 x 8
130 x 3

BARBELL OVERHAND CURLS (3 sets)
45 x 20
45 x 20
45 x 20

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Calves): 18
Total Sets (Biceps): 12

As happy as I am to now have access to an actual seated calf raise machine, sparing me the need to stack plates three fight high on top of my lap, the machine to which I do have access seems to have been designed by and for pygmies as my knee can’t extend to anywhere near 90 degrees when I put my thighs under the bar. It’s something like 60 degrees at the most and I think this is limiting the weight I can do. If I were to put my legs at 90 degrees, the edge of the bar for the weights would be basically resting on the far edge of my kneecap, a great setup for shearing off my knee tendons.

Oh well, the search continues!

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
MARSHALL ULRICH

For inspiration today, we turn to one of the most accomplished ultra-endurance athletes in history.

One of the most grueling tests of willpower and endurance available to humans is undertaking a race known as the Badwater Ultramarathon. This particular race consists of 135 miles of sweltering elevation gain and elevation loss, a stretch of continuous running that would break almost every human on the planet.

In addition to having held the course record for time of completion, Ulrich is also the only person to ever successfully undertake the “Badwater Quad” – an endeavor that consists of running the full length of the Badwater course (135 miles), then back to the beginning, and then there and back again. The effective result is over 500 miles of continuous running (the length of more than 22 marathons), a distance Ulrich covered in 10 days.

As of 2008, Marshall Ulrich had officially completed the Badwater Ultramarathon a total of 15 times (including 4 victories). His most recent finish, in 2008, was at the age of 57. With his dogged determination, he has established himself as not only a legend of the ultra-endurance field, along with the likes of Dean Karnazes and David Goggins – but also as one of the pioneers of ultramarathons.

Also an avid mountain climber, Ulrich has scaled his way to the tallest peak on each of the seven continents.

In short, if there is a physical challenge or test of will that you can think of, Marshall Ulrich has probably already thought of it and done it.

REBUILDING THE MACHINE…

Okay, on to our more modest exploits. Triceps day. I’ve definitely been toeing the overtraining line with the fairly frequent and heavy two-a-days as of late. Just a plain old triceps day.

TODAY: TRICEPS
…5 COUNT UP, 5 COUNT DOWN

SKULL CRUSHERS (HAMMER GRIP) (5 sets)
45 x 10
65 x 7
65 x 6
65 x 5
85 x 4

KNEELING ROPE-SPREAD CABLE TRICEP PRESSDOWNS (3 sets)
50 x 5
40 x 6
50 x 4

UNDERHAND-GRIP CABLE TRICEP PRESSDOWNS followed by
OVER-HAND GRIP PRESSDOWNS AFTER FAILURE (4 sets)
UH 50 x 5 / OH 50 x 4
UH 30 x 8 / OH 30 x 8
UH 40 x 5 / OH 40 x 4
UH 50 x 4 / OH 50 x 2

SEATED MACHINE TRICEP EXTENSION (3 sets)
40 x 6
40 x 6
50 x 4 / 30 x 5

BACK EXTENSIONS (5 sets)
Torso x 10
Torso+10 x 10
Torso+10 x 9
Torso+25 x 6
Torso+25 x 7 / Torso x 2

TRAINING NOTES

I found myself able to stand on my injured foot a lot better today, so it was barely a factor in any standing exercises. The Wolverine healing powers have kicked in again.

Total Sets (Triceps): 15

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