1/5/2014 Sunday January 5, 2014 (4 mile run, interval 4 sets of P/U x 5)

OK so I did my first "StrongFirst Roadwork" inspired training session today at Greenlake.  Ran 10 minutes, nasal breathing, stopped and did 5 pull ups on rings, dead hang full lockout at the bottom of each rep, and did this 4 times - 40 minutes of running, 4 sets of P/U x 5 for a total of 20 P/Us.  This was consistent with Kevin's suggestions to start.  I will say I had a few observations.  First going into the running I had been feeling really, really good in the ankles and arches but did notice a strange soreness in my R ankle Saturday morning, which carried over to Sunday.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what that might be from and I suspect it was actually from dragging the kids up and down the tubing hill at Snoqualmie on Thursday.  I was in some snow boots, it was slippery and awkward.  I then snatched on Friday.  That R ankle has been the somewhat tender one in the past and I have had to work the mobility much more diligently than on my L ankle.  So with that said I tried to stretch it out a bit before the run, it felt ok and I went for it.  It never really "bothered me" significantly on the run today but I did notice it at times, whereas last week did not notice anything at all, ankles and feet felt the best they had in months.  Something to watch for and see if it gets better.  As to the pull-ups, frankly every single rep was easy until the very last rep on the last set - so I think that was about exactly the right amount of work to start with.  I will probably stay at this exertion level until Kevin suggests doing more, but I don't think that is really the point of this "roadwork".  Greasing the groove again just a bit with a pull-up motion, and on rings which I think is a little more challenging then with a bar, is all I am really looking for at this point, not trying to push the pull-up numbers per se.  Also I did not raise my legs at all on these, which I did last week, which made it very hard.  Decided just to do strict pull-ups today and see how recovery goes tomorrow which is a press day with the KBs.  One other interesting thing is that after doing the pull-ups when I went back to running again, I somehow felt lighter on my feet, it was a weird phenomenon and not what I was expecting.  Perhaps the stretching out of the pull-ups and releasing some tension on my spine etc. is the opposite of the effect of running, so it was a good tonic.  Kevin and I will discuss.  In any event it felt great and it was a lot of fun to get in some pull-ups again.