Training Log: Entry 2789

AM WORKOUT (0440 wake up via alarm) FASTED (unintentional: literally forgot to eat this morning)

**TO VALHALLA** Week 2, Workout 1: "Erik, Baleog and Olaf Get Lost in the Woods of DanJöhneimr"

* 575 kettlebell swings w/24kg bell in as few rounds as possible, BUT…
    * EMOM: First 25 minutes: 2x 1 burpee into 1 Viking thruster w/110lbs on axl
    * EMOM: Remaining rounds: 1 burpee into 2 Viking thrusters (so effectively 1 fewer burpee per             round)

Finished inside of 42 rounds, then 17 burpees I felt I owed to Lee Hazard for cutting them out of my remaining rounds

OFF CAMERA

300 bodyweight squats and 300 push ups

2 mile walk with dog

THEN breakfast (figured, I was already fasted, might as well extend it.

Notes:

**DECLARATION OF INTENT**

* I am doing 15k swings in 26 days on top of my "To Valhalla" Viking WODs to close out June. It breaks down to 575 swings a day for 24 of the 26 days, and 2 days of 600 swings. Sticking with 24kg bell. Lonnie123 at t-nation infected me, and for that I thank you. In addition: I am LIVING intuitively through the month of June. That’s already what the diet is. I am eating what I want (meat) and I am eating until I am done eating. That’s already been a huge positive, and yesterday was a demonstration of such, as I had my massive feast, I gorged but did NOT binge, when I was done, I was done…and I was DONE. A half chicken breast for dinner 8 hours later and some protein to feed the muscles while I slept, a fasted workout in the morning (which wasn’t by design, but a testament to how I still wasn’t hungry), and still continuing the protein sparing modified fast while the appetite returns. But this is intuitive TRAINING. I noted that, the morning I was supposed to start “Feast”, I just plain didn’t want to…so I didn’t. What I wanted to do was all these crazy Viking WODs, so that’s what I’m doing.

* THIS was an awesome way to get there. I was hurting, to the point that, as you see, I had to shave off a burpee just to get some swings in. Enough rounds of 3-4 swings let me know that I had swam into the Deep Water and needed a life-preserver if I wanted to make the swim back home.

* This was a cleansing workout. I’ve really dug these the day after my Rampage. Despite that giant opus on nutrition I just put out, I could keep going, and part of that is that the hard/sharp fast following the feast has really been a positive for me. I come into these workouts still surviving off the feast and I sweat grease and Crisco out of my pores and, when it’s over, I finally have an appetite again and feel “right”. Being able to throw my walk in immediately afterwards was all the more perfect. I’m still going shirtless, to get in maximum sun exposure, but I do wish I could also work the weight vest in there that way.

* Level change and overhead: when you can do them BOTH, you’re onto something, and that’s why I go from burpee into thruster. It’s really worth pursuing.

* As for the way forward with June: 575 swings a day will be the feature, with the 300 squats, push ups and 2 mile walk also remaining. I’m planning on employing similarly structured workouts as the first week of Valhalla, but including swings where I can to get in my daily 575. However, there’s a noted absence of max strength work here, so my plan is, on Wed/mid-week, I’ll do a pseudo powerlifting meet WOD dubbed “Festival of Orm Stórolfsson”. In addition, I don’t have the small parts work here that was in feast, so I’m thinking of using my Valkyries workout to include some “curls for the girls”, because when the Valkyries come to carry you away, you wanna look JACKED.

* And on THAT subject: I call my wife my Valkyrie. She loves it. And then the other day she said “If I’m you’re Valkyrie, that makes you my Viking…but you’re really my Berserker”. And I told her I didn’t think I could love her any more before that moment and somehow proved me wrong, haha.

WORK LUNCH

Double hamburger. Added bacon and egg because I wanted that. Ate until I was done. Knife and fork. It just makes sense. I used to be such a martyr at these things.

Breakfast for dinner and another 2 mile walk with my kid afterwards. Thats a great day right there.