Thursday 11/5 - Cleans in a Corner

Last night I did one of the sneaky-hardest workouts I have ever done. What I mean by that is, the difference between what I expected and what actually transpired was so different that I felt totally unprepared for the consequences. The workout literally snuck up on me. I found my lungs burning all the way down to my stomach, my legs extremely heavy, and my dinner a few burps away from the floor of the gym. All of this I attribute to a piece of equipment that I NEVER use, and deeply distrust in all facets: the treadmill. However, this day, it shredded me.

3 rounds for time:

20 DB squat cleans (16 kg DBs)

40 pushups

400 m treadmill hill run (15% grade)

In order to discourage myself from splitting the run like so often happens on treadmills (grabbing the handlebars, jumping to the side for a breather while the belt still moves), I instituted a 10 burpee penalty for every time I used my hands for anything besides adjusting speeds. This worked, as I never split the run-- and there were plenty of times when I wanted to--and I paid the intended price, cardio-vascularly.

It took me a total of 19:51 to complete. Waaaaay too long, in my opinion. It just felt like the runs were so long, and so taxing that the cleans and pushups (normally no big deal) were devastating. Using the treadmill for hill work was something I used to do in Washington as part of a larger circuit, but never for such a long distance. It's legit hard. If you haven't done it in a while, crank that sucker up to max incline, refuse to get off before you hit the distance, and see what I mean.